Accidental death benefit necessary?

by Guest » Thu Jun 07, 2012 01:43 pm
Guest

I love to ride bikes, and have got a term life insurance policy for 20 years. Do I really need to add an accidental death benefit with my policy? Or my present coverage is enough ?

Total Comments: 9

Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 04:48 pm Post Subject:

If you drop dead of a heart attack today, is there enough money for your family?

If "no", you need more life insurance and it needs to be coverage that pays you regardless of how you die.

Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 01:37 pm Post Subject:

Do I really need to add an accidental death benefit with my policy? Or my present coverage is enough ?

If you drop dead of a heart attack today, is there enough money for your family?


Although the response above is reasonable, it is insufficient. No one can answer these questions based on the lack of information supplied.

However, if $100,000 of term life insurance costs $150 per year and $100,000 of ADB increases the cost of the policy by $25 per year, that is an indication that very few accidental death benefit claims are paid.

As was stated above, dead is dead. If your family needs $200,000 of total life insurance protection, $100,000 of term + $100,000 of ADB is NOT the best solution to the problem. Dead by an accident is not always the cause, and if the death is not accidental, the beneficiary would only receive $100,000.

People are told that persons under age 65 have a higher likelihood of being disabled from an accidental cause than a medical cause, but the same cannot be said of death. The fact is that at almost all ages, non-accidental causes are more likely to lead to a person's death than accidental ones. (And the morbidity tables also show that sickness causes more disability than accidents for persons age 20-65.)

Understand, also, that in comparison to a basic death claim, which only requires a valid form of proof of death, insurance companies look for every possible way NOT to pay ADB claims, which require proof of an accidental cause.

A most recent appellate court decision involved an ADB claim that was denied by the insurance company. The driver of an automobile suffered a seizure and collided with a wall, resulting in his death. The insurance company denied that claim as being caused by a medical condition.

The claims denial eventually went to trial and the insurance company obtained a "summary judgment" which was overturned on appeal. The appeals court determined that the "proximate" cause of the death was the accidental collision, not the seizure, since a seizure does not necessarily result in death.

Who wants to wait 2-5 years to go through all that trouble in order to collect on a claim that would have been paid without question if the policy was any form of honest-to-goodness life insurance instead of an accidental death benefit (or an ADB rider attached to a life policy)?

Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 08:52 pm Post Subject:

I had read a report saying that in the US, the chances of dying as a result of an accident are 4.4%. Who knows ho accurate that is. Anyhow, with accidental death benefits, there are often a lot of exclusions - you can't be under the influence of alcohol, drugs, etc. - can't be committing a crime during death. I've seen some where you have to die within a certain number of days after the accident, otherwise you died as a result of complications, not the accident itself. Just keep that in mind when looking at increasing coverage. Usually, IMO use accidental death coverage if you can't get any cause coverage.

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 12:12 pm Post Subject:

Term life insurance policy can cover you for a specified period of time and with the end of term the policy coverage will expire.

But accidental death insurance offers a financial benefit to your beneficiary only if you die in an accident. You can purchase a policy that is attached to a life insurance policy as a rider.
It will help you provide compensation for permanent loss of limbs, sight and so on. A few accident policies also cover hospital expenses and any surgery required because of the accident.

You can renew the term life policies for additional years or convert it to a permanent life policy for instance whole life and universal life.

There are limitations and restrictions on some accidental debt insurance policies as it will give coverage only if accident is the common carrier. But a regular life insurance simply covers you if you die regardless of cause.

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 11:57 pm Post Subject:

You can renew the term life policies for additional years or convert it to a permanent life policy for instance whole life and universal life.



This applies ONLY if the term policy ALLOWS for both renewability and convertibility. Not all term policies allow for that and it has to be written into the policy.

InsTeacher 8)

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 03:09 pm Post Subject: accidental death benefit

My uncle expired on 25/12/2001 due to road accident. His wife received sum assured amount of all the 9 policy's in 2002, but she didn't claimed accidental death benefit due to some problem. Now she can claim for the same & get accidental death benefit after 11 years ?

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 04:26 pm Post Subject:

Maybe. The insurance company will tell her.

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 02:26 pm Post Subject:

I would suggest to consult with the private solicitors which are not associated with the company. These people can guide you in the best possible way and will tell you the clear picture. In your case 11 years have been passed so no company will give you guaranty for winning the claim but the soul solicitors will definitely fight for your rights if he will see any possibility.

[Link deleted per TOU]

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 05:21 pm Post Subject:

I read this a little differently:

I love to ride bikes, and have got a term life insurance policy for 20 years. Do I really need to add an accidental death benefit with my policy? Or my present coverage is enough?



jakeM, if you die from of an accident, while riding bikes, horses, or anything else, your 20-year Term policy will provide money to your beneficiary.

As long as your policy's contestability period has been met, your term insurance policy will pay off for virtually any cause of death. For an ADB policy to pay off, you'll need to die of an approved accident.

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