by sdchargersfan » Thu Nov 26, 2009 01:16 am
Does anyone have Life/Universal Life through USAA? If 'you' do, can you tell me your experiences with it? Do you think they are a 'positive' or 'negative' comapny to work with? Thanks!!!!
Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 08:32 am Post Subject:
In the WL Policy, does it include a Death Benefit or do I need to 'add' it on?
I'll try to be delicate . . . the whole purpose of life insurance is to provide a death benefit. Term, cash value, doesn't matter. You don't get a life insurance policy without one.
Did you perhaps mean "Accidental" death benefit?
If you did, my answer is: Don't waste the money. And here's the reason: Despite your son's tender age, and the likelihood that if he were to die sooner rather than later the cause would probably be accidental, you get what you pay for.
If $100,000 of life insurance for him is $20 per month, and $100,000 of accidental death benefits is an additional $4, why is there such a huge difference? The $4 premium on $100,000 Accidental Death ("double indemnity") should alert you that the offer of a lot in return for very little up front probably means the insurance company expects to win this bet -- that your son's death happens many years later and not by accident.
Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 02:13 pm Post Subject: life insurance
Ok...yes...Accidently Death..that's what I meant. Good clarification...thanks. GOD FORBID anything happens to my 'precious baby'!! You just never know what the future holds. Also....another question 'Dear MAX'.....if something DID happen to my son soon ( and I just got the policy) could I STILL use it? I mean, it's a new policy..only one payment into it. Would the policy still 'cover' him? I hope you're understanding my question.
Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 03:48 pm Post Subject:
An ACCIDENTAL DEATH BENEFIT rider (or policy, as in a travel accident policy) is not the same as life insurance, in the sense that the cause of death is limited specifically to "accidents".
However, there are two definitions of accidents -- only one of which will be used in the rider or policy language. The most common is, variously, "accidental bodily injury" or "accidental injury" or "accidental result". You will see in the language of the document something similar to:
This policy/rider will pay the amount stated in the policy specifications in the event of an accidental bodily injury resulting in the death of the insured within 90 days of the accidental bodily injury, unless excluded by the terms of this policy/rider.
This definition of "accidental bodily injury" is concerned only with the "result" of the event that causes the injury. A person could be riding in a friend's car while the friend is driving 100mph. As a passenger, they have no true "control" over the events as they are unfolding. Driver loses control, car crashes, all occupants are injured and/or die immediately. If covered by this definition, all deaths are payable, because they were not the intended result of simply driving too fast. (We'll get to exclusions in a moment.)
The other definition is "accidental means injury" and this is much more restrictive because it is concerned first with the cause of death, specifically, then with the result (the death itself). The policy/rider language is so subtly different, that many folks overlook it.
This policy/rider will pay the amount shown in the policy specifications in the event of the insured's accidental death within 90 days of the insured's injury which results from an accidental cause not under the control or direction of the insured, and not otherwise excluded by this policy/rider.
Let's take the driving example and change it ever so slightly. The driver is the insured with the "accidental means injury" policy. All others in the car have an "accidental bodily injury" policy.
The driver is the only person in control of the vehicle (assuming no one tries to take that control from him). If the driver loses control, crashes the car, and all are killed instantly (or before help arrives, or die from their injuries within 90 days), all policies will pay a death claim . . . EXCEPT the driver's. Because the "accidental means" definition requires that BOTH the cause and the result are out of the insured's control. Not the case in this example.
Exclusions are another matter. Accidental death benefits are almost always limited in regard to what's covered and what's not. The common "WASH" exclusions (war, aviation, suicide, hazardous occupations/hobbies) are almost certain to be seen. But there will be others as well.
Regardless of the definition of accident, some policies/riders are very creative when it comes to listing exclusions. You'll see "ascent in or descent from an aircraft or spacecraft" (covers just about any type of airplane, glider, hangglider, ultralight, balloon, helicopter, or rocket, and the "descent from" is certainly intended to covers skydiving or parachuting (as in the case of a paratrooper), but could also include a passenger in a commercial aircraft that breaks apart and they fall out). Speaking of commercial aircraft, normally as a passenger in a commercial aircraft, a policy would not exclude for accidental death, but often the language says something like "on a regularly scheduled filght" which excludes those gambling and other charter flights which are not "scheduled" in the same manner (yes, they leave every Saturday at 10am, but it's not the same thing to the insurer, because they are not scheduled with the FAA).
Other common exclusions include "while serving in the military of this or any country" (can be interpreted loosely to mean from the time of enlistment to the time of discharge with no allowance for off-duty/vacation hours), and in addition to war, you'll see riot, civil commotion or insurrection, and the "suicide, while sane or insane" clause -- which, unlike a true life insurance policy limited to the first two years, has no time limitation. You'll also see language about intoxication, use of medications under the prescription of a physician (or not), and even things like mountain climbing, scuba diving, auto, motorcycle, or boat racing, or the commission of a crime.
So, it goes without saying, that reading and understanding the policy language is of primary importance. I have a personal friend, another insurance agent, whose mother-in-law died of a head injury suffered when she fell in her home and struck her head on the floor, and died there. Coroner's cause of death: head trauma. Solo event, no attempt at suicide. Purely accidental. Or so it would seem.
She happened to have a $10,000 accidental death benefit policy that was found among her other life insurance papers after the death. So my friend filed a death claim with that company, too. Insurer investigated the death, as it has a right to do -- didn't need to do an autopsy, the coroner did one on its own. But they got a copy of the coroner's toxicology report. Showed a larger than expected concentration of one of her prescription medications. One of the known side effects: dizziness.
Insurer denied the claim on the basis that she used prescribed drugs "in a manner inconsistent with its prescribed use." Guess what? Policy's definition of accidental death was the "accidental means injury" definition. She took the medication, it was under her control, she took too much, caused her to fall, hit her head, and die. We don't pay is what they wrote.
Wasn't even worth fighting over, the lawyer would have cost more than the $10,000. All true life policies paid their claims, no questions asked.
So, you have to know what the policy/rider says. Death by accident could easily be payable even if just one day into the policy. Or it could be excluded forever by just a few words.
See the attached copy of one policy's Accidental Death Benefit rider from my files. Notice what it says about death from "infection" -- only if caused by an accidental wound or cut. If you fall and break a bone, and require surgery to correct the accidental injury, but the surgical intervention causes an infection that results in your death (never would have happened without the accident), it is not payable as an accidental death because the surgical wound is not itself an accident. Sut your finger, die of tetanus, and it's a payable accidental death.
Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 04:08 pm Post Subject:
BTW . . . "90 days" is not meant to be the only discussion. That's just an example. The rider I posted above says "While the policy is in force" -- which means better keep paying the premiums while on your death bed.
There are also many examples of people who have purchased Accidental Death Benefits believing it is true life insurance. Especially true of home mortgage borrowers that receive a solicitation in the mail. "Your mortgage will be paid off if you or your spouse die as the result of an accident." But few see the word "accident". They're more interested in the $25 premium, because when they checked the price of life insurance and were told $150, they weren't too interested.
The husband dies of a heart attack instead of falling off the roof and breaking his neck, and the widow receives a letter from the insurer stating, to the effect, "Sorry for your loss, but he died the wrong way, and for that we don't pay. Good luck to you." I'll have to search a bit deeper in my files, but I know I have a copy of a letter just like that, which was passed along to me by a friend several years ago.
Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 04:30 pm Post Subject: insurance
I don't think I could hsve gotten a MORE clear answer than that!! Thanx,again, MAX.
Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 08:57 pm Post Subject:
Don't know what happened to the attachment I posted above. Here it is again.
Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 12:08 am Post Subject: life insurance
I spoke to a Rep, today (again) about the Life Insurance I have for my son. VERY knowledge person, I think. Answered ALL of my questions and made the answers very clear!! I feel pretty good about USAA. Thanks for all your help, MAX.
Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 02:09 pm Post Subject:
As it should be from USAA.
Posted: Sun May 06, 2012 07:46 pm Post Subject: suicide coverded @ ussa life insurance
There was a young man that shot himself in the head, can USAA life insurance pay out on a suicide in TX? What would happen if USAA paid out on that life insurance policy in TX?
Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 12:53 am Post Subject:
If death by suicide occurs more than two years after a life insurance policy becomes effective, the death benefit is paid to the beneficiary in full.
If death occurs within the first two years of the policy effective date, the insurance company pays the beneficiary an amount equal to the premiums that were paid.
It does not matter whether the death occurs in Texas or Timbuktu, dead is dead if it happens more than two years down the road.
If you have any trouble with your claim, contact me.
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