ING Life Insurance to pay out suicide claims
Published: 20 Jun. 2016, 21:14
ING Life Insurance said on Monday that it had bowed to a Supreme Court decision and is now paying accidental death insurance benefits to some policyholders who took their own lives.
The court ruled in May that insurers could not deny accidental death benefits for suicide if the policy had been issued before April 2010. Many local insurers, including the Korean arm of the Dutch insurer, changed their definition of accidental death during that month to exclude suicide, and applied the new definition retroactively. The court barred the retroactive element of that change, validating the claims if a policy was already in effect at the time. The suicide exclusion was left in place for policies issued later.
ING faces outlays of about 84 billion won ($72 million) to beneficiaries of 574 policyholders who took their own lives. That estimate includes past-due interest payments, and is the highest liability among local insurers. So far, ING has settled 127 cases with payments totaling 15.3 billion won.
The court ruled in May that insurers could not deny accidental death benefits for suicide if the policy had been issued before April 2010. Many local insurers, including the Korean arm of the Dutch insurer, changed their definition of accidental death during that month to exclude suicide, and applied the new definition retroactively. The court barred the retroactive element of that change, validating the claims if a policy was already in effect at the time. The suicide exclusion was left in place for policies issued later.
ING faces outlays of about 84 billion won ($72 million) to beneficiaries of 574 policyholders who took their own lives. That estimate includes past-due interest payments, and is the highest liability among local insurers. So far, ING has settled 127 cases with payments totaling 15.3 billion won.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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