Speeding triggers crime exclusion in life insurance policy

Workplace Issues

By Mark D. DeBofsky

Mark D. DeBofsky is a name partner of DeBofsky Sherman Casciari Reynolds P.C. He handles civil and appellate litigation involving employee benefits, disability insurance and other insurance claims and coverage, and Social Security law. He can be reached at mdebofsky@debofsky.com.

Posted November 6, 2019 3:49 PM

What is a crime?Because accidental death policies exclude coverage if death occurs in the course of a commission of a crime, the question can be challenging as a recent decision by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals illustrates.The ruling in Caldwell v Unum Life Insurance Company of America, 2019 WL 4463495 (10th Cir., Sept. 18, 2019) (nonprecedential), an accidental death insurance case, found that driving in excess of a speed limit fell within the criminal acts exclusion of an accidental death policy.What makes the …

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