To avoid hassle in settlement of claims life insurance companies in India consider suicides as natural deaths and not as accidental.
“There is a conception that most suicides are not pre meditated. So in order to settle claim smoothly it has to be proved that the life insured has committed suicide,” said a senior official of the industry. According to the official when an insured dies due to suicide the insurer has to look how old the policy is.
In suicidal cases, the insurers have a waiting period of one year; and only after the period they settle claims. It means if an insured commits suicide within one year of buying a life insurance policy, and it is proved that the insured had indeed committed suicide, the nominee in the insurance policy will not be able to get any amount from the insurer.
Further, the officials said that some life insurance products come with double accident claim benefits. In case of a suicide, the nominee in the policy cannot claim the extra sum assured for accidental deaths. In cases where the death is not due to natural causes and also it is not proven to be suicide, it is accepted as an unnatural death and extra claims for accidental deaths usually paid.
