Oct 07
Heath Ledger’s life insurance company may deny his claim
Last week, Heath Ledger’s life insurance company, ReliaStar, was sued for not paying out $10 million in benefits to his daughter, claiming the actor may have committed suicide, according to court papers.
The 28-year-old Australian star of “Brokeback Mountain” and “The Dark Knight” was found dead in his New York apartment in January in what officials ruled was an accidental death from an overdose of painkillers and other medicines. But lawyers for ReliaStar, where Ledger took out a life insurance policy in 2007, have claimed his death was suspicious and possibly a suicide.
This case has prompted many questions about how life insurance companies deal with death claims when possible suicide is involved. The fact is, life insurance companies are not obligated to pay death claims if death occurred by suicide during the first two years of the policy. They have a right to investigate the case and determine whether or not it can reasonably be deemed a suicide. The fact the officials initially ruled the death accidental is probably going to help his family’s case for getting the carrier to pay. However, it is not unfathomable that if the insurance company discovers additional information to indicate that it was, in fact, a suicide, the official cause of death could be modified.
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October 8th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
In most life insurance policies there is a Suicide Clause that excludes coverage if the death of the insured person was a result of suicide within the first 2 years of owning the policy. In some stats the suicide exclusion applies for 1 year, for example, in Colorado.
October 12th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
“The fact is, life insurance companies are not obligated to pay death claims if death occurred by suicide during the first two years of the policy.”
No problem with that. If I have a shotgun in my mouth or I leaped off of a building then I agree. I have not seen the policy, but if I take a handful of sleeping pills, it’s not going to be an obvious, open and shut determination. Which means, the carrier should pay.