Does life insurance pay in a Pandemic?

[Gypsy65]

Just curious if life insurance is going to pay from any virus related deaths or if there’s some rule that allows them to not cover something like this

 

[Passepartout]

Better look at your own policy under 'Exclusions'. Not all policies would be the same.

 

[Ralph Sir Edward]

Most likely they will. Check the exclusions, but most policies don't have a epidemic exclusion. (Nobody thought it would happen. . . .)

 

[Iggyearl]

The only exclusion in life insurance policies is the "suicide exclusion." If you kill yourself in the first 2 years, the company will not pay a death benefit, but will return the premiums paid. After that, you are fully insured. Falling off a cliff, murder (Lori Vallow didn't collect on her husband, but his parents did), cancer, the flu. Insurers may not issue you a policy if you have Covid-19, but that is an underwriting decision. Just like diabetes, heart problems, or cancer. They don't want to "buy a risk." Insurers will check your health history and may very well require a physical.

I just checked the policies advertised by AARP, and they return premiums if you don't live 2 years. Enough time to make sure you are pretty healthy. They also do underwriting.

 

[Conan]

Life insurance contracts will cover, the same way they paid out for people who died on 9/11, in Hurricane Katrina, etc.

A different story for people who are trying to be paid for losses under their business interruption insurance - - those policies often have force majeure exceptions.

UPDATE: Force Majeure Under the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

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[simpsontruckdriver]

It's kinda like insuring a major risk with Medicare. Seniors talk about how great (or not) it is, but when a person gets End-State Renal Disease (aka Stage-4 Kidney Failure), while they are going through Dialysis they can not switch from one Medicare Advantage Plan to another. That is their pre-existing condition. PFFS (aka "Basic" Medicare) does not have that requirement. Medicare Supplement may tell you it's a pre-existing condition. If you have a successful transplant (which would be covered under Part-A), you can switch MAPD plans.

I am pretty sure if you are currently diagnosed with severe Coronavirus, you will not be able to get Life Insurance since the chances of dying are relatively high compared to other diseases. But if you're healthy right now, maybe you have some chronic sickness that is controlled by medications, you can get insurance. Actually, getting life insurance now is a great thing! You can start with getting insured for 1 year salary. Chances are, you will not need a medical exam. The simple reason is, GoFundMe will not help you if you die today. If you have Term Life Insurance that pays out equal to one year salary, your survivors will be OK for the time being. I do not sell Life Insurance, but I was offered to get the license but felt I didn't really need it. I still encourage everyone to get it!

TS