How does life insurance affect a wrongful death claim?

If you’ve suffered the tragic loss of a loved one due to someone’s negligence, you might want to hold that negligent party accountable for the carelessness that robbed you of your family member, but not at the cost of life insurance proceeds.

There’s a good chance you can file a wrongful death lawsuit and receive money from a life insurance policy. An Americus wrongful death lawyer with the Shrable Law Firm can help you file your claim and steer you in the right direction if you’ve run into any difficulties. To schedule your free consultation, use our online form or call (229) 349-6291.

In the meantime, here’s a look at how a typical life insurance policy can sometimes impact wrongful death lawsuits.  

The “accidental death” life insurance provision

Most life insurance policies will pay death benefits to the beneficiaries of someone if they died as the result of an accident including an accidental drowning, an accidental poisoning, or some other unfortunate event. However, this isn’t always the case, however. 

Life insurance exclusions

All life insurance policies have what are known as “exclusions” which means that if a death occurs under certain circumstances or situations, the insurer won’t pay out the death benefits. Here are some of those exclusions. 

Aviation and other hazardous activities

Some activities are inherently risky, and if the deceased passed away while engaging in one of them, the insurer may claim an exclusion. Aviation is one example. If your loved one was flying their own plane or was a passenger in a private aircraft and perished in a crash, the insurer may refuse to pay. Other potential exclusions include activities such as skydiving, scuba diving, hang gliding, and motorcycle racing. 

War

Life insurance policies sometimes exclude a death that occurs due to or in a war. So, if a loved one dies while serving in a branch of the military, you’ll likely have to pursue other options in order to obtain death benefits. 

Suicide

Most life insurance policies exclude suicide during the first two years after the policy is purchased to eliminate the possibility that someone intending to commit suicide will buy coverage so their loved ones can receive money. Some policies have a suicide exclusion for the duration of the policy. 

If the person died in a drug overdose, it can get complicated. In most cases, in order to refuse to pay the death benefits, the insurance company would need to prove that the overdose wasn’t an accident.

Shrable Law Firm is here for you

This is just a very brief look at how a life insurance policy might impact a wrongful death suit, but the correlation between the two is much more complex than can be discussed and generalized here because no two cases are the same. 

Americus wrongful death lawyers at The Shrable Law Firm, P.C. provide compassionate and zealous representation for every client. If you would like to learn more, schedule a free case review by using our online contact form or by calling (229) 349-6291.