Sad News: A Customer Story

Over the weekend, a long-time way customer took his ain life. Dan was a retired (and much beloved) pediatrician who had been (recently?) diagnosed alongside both dementia as well as Parkinson's. One supposes that, every bit a physician, he knew what lay ahead, as well as decided to forego that.

Something that ofttimes comes upward inward these tragedies is the number of whether or non a life insurance policy would "pay off." As alongside as well as therefore much insurance-related "conventional wisdom," it's non genuinely all that simple.As nosotros wrote dorsum inward Aught Nine:

"Until merely afterward the Great Depression, suicide was excluded past times life insurance policies. There was, it was thought, a rattling skillful argue for this: it would survive against the populace involvement to encourage folks to kill themselves to enrich those left behind. And there's to a greater extent than or less validity to this: nosotros don't desire to brand such an termination attractive to people to exit an inheritance at the terms of one's ain life.

But a lot of people who lost everything inward the Depression killed themselves anyway; non for the insurance (there wouldn't survive any) but out of desperation as well as despondence. And this left behind a lot of widows as well as children who lost a bring upward as well as a husband along alongside their life's savings. This was also against the populace interest.

So, how to reconcile these 2 seemingly irreconcilable principles?

New laws were enacted that required life insurance policies to encompass suicide afterward a "reasonable" menstruum ("reasonable" inward this example pregnant no to a greater extent than than 2 years). The premise is that no sane individual is going to purchase a policy alongside the intent of waiting 2 years to saltation out a window; that a individual would produce this was ample demonstration of mental illness, as well as that would survive a covered exposure. This protects the interests of innocent household unit of measurement members, piece even as well as therefore discouraging a casual stance of suicide
."

Our condolences to Dr C's family.

Related Posts

Post a Comment

Subscribe Our Newsletter