Do insurance policies pay on suicide?

Whattosell

Does anyone know if insurance policies, for eg mortgage protection policies or life assurance policies, pay out in the event of a suicide?

Just trying to find out for a recently bereaved friend.

TheInquisitor

Whattosell wrote: »

Does anyone know if insurance policies, for eg mortgage protection policies or life assurance policies, pay out in the event of a suicide?

Just trying to find out for a recently bereaved friend.

Life assurance do not pay out on suicide. I know this isn't exactly putting it the right way but it could be seen as profiting from suicide....For instance if i planned on committing suicide i could get a E1mil policy on my life. Wouldn't be fair on insurance company to pay out.

Whattosell

Hum, that's what I was worried about. Another of our friends said that it used to be like you said but that either the law changed or there was a test case where the general gist was that suicide was caused by depression and that is an illness and therefore the company must pay out. But he wasn't completely sure?

Shifty

similar question asked here

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=92723

jhegarty

I seem to remember mine will pay out , but only after a waiting period after the policy starts.

Whattosell

Thanks for that. So there is some hope that the policy/ies will pay out. I'm fairly sure that the policy in question must be over 2 years old. Sadly my friend's wife committed suicide recently and he is left with two children to bring up so, although money will never compensate, at least it might make it easier financially.

jhegarty

Checking the policy is the only way to tell.

amdublin

It depends on the terms and conditions of the policy - you will need to check these to see if the policy covers suicide or if there is a suicide exclusion.

(Should have got a copy of the t&c's with the policy when they took out the policy originally).

DRice

just ring the life assurance company , they will have faced this question a million times over, life companies will be simpathetic in their approach but ye might not pay out alright in this case , only way is to ring

Our man in Havana

Most policies have a 2 year period where they won't cover suicide. Also it will depend on what verdict the inquest delivers. Suicide is a very rare verdict.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Bond-007 wrote: »

Most policies have a 2 year period where they won't cover suicide. Also it will depend on what verdict the inquest delivers. Suicide is a very rare verdict.

It is ?

Our man in Havana

Yes. Accidental death and death by misadventure are more common. Unless there is a note it will be hard to justify a suicide verdict.

drkpower

Bond-007 wrote: »

Yes. Accidental death and death by misadventure are more common. Unless there is a note it will be hard to justify a suicide verdict.

While suicide requires the higher standard of proof (beyond a reasonable doubt), the absence of a suicide note does not, in many cases, make it hard for a jury/Coroner to justify a verdict of death by suicide. Intention can be inferred from the circumstances that surround the death. For instance, hanging as a mechanism of death in the majority of cases attracts a suicide verdict as the intention to commit suicide can be inferred from the mechanism of death. Suicide is not a rare verdict by any means.

Our man in Havana

It is rare in certain Coroner courts. I have come across 2 cases where verdicts of death by misadventure were returned. One was where the deceased jumped in front of a train and the other was a hanging. Neither inquest came back with a suicide verdict.

drkpower

Bond-007 wrote: »

It is rare in certain Coroner courts. I have come across 2 cases where verdicts of death by misadventure were returned. One was where the deceased jumped in front of a train and the other was a hanging. Neither inquest came back with a suicide verdict.

The former example is somewhat understandable as the mechanism of death (depending on the circumstances obviously) can often be accidental and, in the absence of other evidence, proof beyond a reasonable doubt can be difficult to satisfy.

However, on the latter, in the absence of some unusual circumstances, I can only surmise that the Coroner or Jury took the easy way out by failing to give a suicide verdict. Hanging is extraordinarily rare as an accidental death and is almost as extraordinarily rare as a form of Deliberate Self Harm.

Red Sleeping Beauty

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoerotic_asphyxiation

???

Wantobe

Have worked for a coroner. For a hanging the verdict would be ' asphyxiation due to ligature around neck' or similar wording. You can take from that what you want.

drkpower

Wantobe wrote: »

Have worked for a coroner. For a hanging the verdict would be ' asphyxiation due to ligature around neck' or similar wording. You can take from that what you want.

That would be the cause of death.
That would only be a verdict if the Coroner returned an open verdict or a narrative verdict which some Coroners do if they are not satisfied that suicide has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

Red Sleeping Beauty

I would imagine that David Carradine's death wouldn't bring back a suicide verdict if the reports are true.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8083479.stm

partyguinness

Wantobe wrote: »

Have worked for a coroner. For a hanging the verdict would be ' asphyxiation due to ligature around neck' or similar wording. You can take from that what you want.

I have seen that on a few Death Certificates and then the word "Suicide" written in the next line.