Assessing the impact of suicide exclusion periods on life insurance

Abstract

Background: We study the impact of suicide-exclusion periods, common in life insurance policies in Australia, on suicide and accidental death rates for life-insured individuals. If a life-insured individual dies by suicide during the period of suicide exclusion, commonly 13 months, the sum insured is not paid. Aims: We examine whether a suicide-exclusion period affects the timing of suicides. We also analyze whether accidental deaths are more prevalent during the suicide-exclusion period as life-insured individuals disguise their death by suicide.We assess the relationship between the insured sum and suicidal death rates. Methods: Crude and age-standardized rates of suicide, accidental death..