The Scoop On Life Insurance Exclusions!
Ah, the fine print. Somewhere in that life insurance policy must be something written so small and obscurely that it can never be found by a mere human that excludes my family from being paid no matter how I die. All I am doing is paying money to an insurance company so I can pretend ...read more
Life Insurance Contestability!
There is an urban myth about life insurance contestability that needs to be laid to rest. Not understanding how the suicide and contestability clauses work can lead to unpaid claims and unscrupulous replacement of perfectly good policies. Let’s deal with contestability first. Every policy has, by law, a two year contestability period from the date ...read more
Does A Suicidal Thought Nuke Your Chances Of Life Insurance?
I think we can all understand why life insurance underwriters might get a little squeamish about approving someone who has attempted suicide, especially if it was in the recent past. But what about suicidal thoughts or ideations with no real action or attempt? When I first started working with mood disorders and figuring out how ...read more
Was It An Accident Or Suicide?
I was reading a summary of a case that involved the denial of payment on an accidental death claim where the car accident may have been contributed to, or caused by the insured’s blood alcohol level of .17. Just to be clear, this involved an accidental death and dismemberment policy, not a life insurance policy. ...read more
Make Sure A Claim Is Filed!!!
Like cancer and car accidents, there are probably very few of us who haven’t been touched by the loss of a relative or someone we know by suicide. I try to address this sensitive issue a couple of times a year just because I believe a lot of life insurance claims go unpaid when the ...read more
Does Life Insurance Cover Winter Kill?
Winter kill, a term used to describe those wild animals that don’t survive an over harsh winter, or are old and/or weak from disease and succumb to the normal hardship of winter, holds a grip on my life also. About this time of the year, every year, I really wonder if I’m going to survive ...read more
Why Would A Life Insurance Policy Not Pay?
I was recently interviewed by bankrate.com and MSNBC concerning some aspects of why life insurance companies might refuse to pay a death benefit. From the perspective of the consumer it seems there is a belief that companies really search for ways not to pay. In spite of big headline life insurance challenges like Heath Ledger ...read more
Life Insurance. The Application Process!
I did a series of posts last year on life insurance policies and have referred back to those posts on several occasions when explaining some specific clauses and options such as the suicide clause and incontestability clause and the conversion option. Now I would like to start from the beginning and talk about the application. ...read more
Post #900. A Recap Of Almost Everything We’ve Talked About. A Veritable Key Word Salad!
It’s been a fascinating couple of years. I will sum it up by saying that we have helped a lot of people get life insurance who never thought they could. And what better way to celebrate the information we’ve shared and the victories we’ve had than with a shared meal, a key word salad. Diabetes ...read more
Life Insurance Does Too Cover Suicide!
I’ve often been told that life insurance has an out with people with severe depression or severe bipolar disorder because they’ve got that suicide clause thing. I’ve written about this before and I think life insurance companies would probably prefer I leave it alone, but it’s a subject that needs clarification. In virtually every traditional ...read more
