Possible Disability Insurance Exclusions
Disability Insurance Exclusions - Some Reasons Carriers May Not Pay a Claim
There is some fine print in many disability insurance policies that most agents will not address with you. Every disability insurance policy does not have the exact same fine print, so again, it is vital that you read through a specimen disability insurance policy before purchasing a plan.
2-Year Max for Mental & Nervous
This is the most common exclusion within a disability insurance policy. Not every company has this exclusion within the policy, there are companies that put no limits for claims caused by mental and nervous disabilities. Basically if you own a contract with the 2-year mental and nervous exclusion, if your disability is caused by stress, anxiety, depression, Dementia, or any other mental-nervous disorder you may very well be limited to a two year benefit period.
1-Year Max for Alcohol & Drug Claims
This is the exclusion that scares me the most. Nobody, and I mean nobody knows if they will ever become dependent on drugs or alcohol. Most of the drug related claims that I have seen do not come from cocaine, heroin, or marijuana. They come from addictions to prescription medications such as Codeine, Percocets, and others. Alcoholism is also so widespread, and can ruin somebody's career at any age. Some claims I have seen with alcoholism came from a severe life event. Since many policies have a one year maximum benefit period for drugs or alcohol, and even more policies have no exclusion for it, why risk anything here?
Exclusion for payment of claims if caused during a crime
This is a fairly common exclusion, if you are disabled while committing a felony the disability insurance policy does not pay a claim.
Act of War
There are some disability insurance policies on the marketplace that do not pay claims for disabilities that are a result of an act of war. This is not extremely common, but it does exist in some contracts.
These are the personal views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America or its subsidiaries and affiliates thereof.