Article: Assessing the impact of suicide exclusion periods on life insurance

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TitleAssessing the impact of suicide exclusion periods on life insurance
AuthorsYip, P1
Pitt, D4
Wang, Y3
Wu, X4
Watson, R4
Huggins, R4
Xu, Y2
KeywordsAge-standardized mortality rate
Australia
Life insurance
Suicide rate
Suicide-exclusion period
Issue Date2010
PublisherHogrefe & Huber Publishers. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.hogrefe.com/periodicals/crisis-the-journal-of-crisis-intervention-and-suicide-prevention/
CitationCrisis, 2010, v. 31 n. 4, p. 217-223 [How to Cite?]
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000023
AbstractBackground: 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, and overall death, split by duration since the insured first bought their insurance policy, were computed. Results: There were significantly fewer suicides and no significant spike in the number of accidental deaths in the exclusion period for Australian life insurance data. More suicides, however, were detected for the first 2 years after the exclusion period. Higher insured sums are associated with higher rates of suicide. Conclusions: Adverse selection in Australian life insurance is exacerbated by including a suicide-exclusion period. Extension of the suicide-exclusion period to 3 years may prevent some "insurance-induced" suicides - a rationale for this conclusion is given. © 2010 Hogrefe Publishing.
ISSN0227-5910
2011 Impact Factor: 1.085
2011 SCImago Journal Rankings: 0.063
DOIhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000023
ISI Accession Number IDWOS:000281362600007
ReferencesReferences in Scopus
DC Field
Value
dc.contributor.authorYip, P
dc.contributor.authorPitt, D
dc.contributor.authorWang, Y
dc.contributor.authorWu, X
dc.contributor.authorWatson, R
dc.contributor.authorHuggins, R
dc.contributor.authorXu, Y
dc.date.accessioned2011-10-28T02:52:22Z
dc.date.available2011-10-28T02:52:22Z
dc.date.issued2010
dc.description.abstractBackground: 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, and overall death, split by duration since the insured first bought their insurance policy, were computed. Results: There were significantly fewer suicides and no significant spike in the number of accidental deaths in the exclusion period for Australian life insurance data. More suicides, however, were detected for the first 2 years after the exclusion period. Higher insured sums are associated with higher rates of suicide. Conclusions: Adverse selection in Australian life insurance is exacerbated by including a suicide-exclusion period. Extension of the suicide-exclusion period to 3 years may prevent some "insurance-induced" suicides - a rationale for this conclusion is given. © 2010 Hogrefe Publishing.
dc.description.natureLink_to_subscribed_fulltext
dc.identifier.citationCrisis, 2010, v. 31 n. 4, p. 217-223 [How to Cite?]
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000023
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000023
dc.identifier.epage223
dc.identifier.hkuros197421
dc.identifier.isiWOS:000281362600007
dc.identifier.issn0227-5910
2011 Impact Factor: 1.085
2011 SCImago Journal Rankings: 0.063
dc.identifier.issue4
dc.identifier.pmid20801752
dc.identifier.scopuseid_2-s2.0-77957105149
dc.identifier.spage217
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/142596
dc.identifier.volume31
dc.languageeng
dc.publisherHogrefe & Huber Publishers. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.hogrefe.com/periodicals/crisis-the-journal-of-crisis-intervention-and-suicide-prevention/
dc.publisher.placeUnited States
dc.relation.ispartofCrisis
dc.relation.referencesReferences in Scopus
dc.subject.meshAge Factors
dc.subject.meshAustralia - epidemiology
dc.subject.meshInsurance, Life - economics - statistics and numerical data
dc.subject.meshSex Factors
dc.subject.meshSuicide - prevention and control - statistics and numerical data
dc.subjectAge-standardized mortality rate
dc.subjectAustralia
dc.subjectLife insurance
dc.subjectSuicide rate
dc.subjectSuicide-exclusion period
dc.titleAssessing the impact of suicide exclusion periods on life insurance
dc.typeArticle
Author Affiliations
  1. The University of Hong Kong
  2. Biostatistics
  3. Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University
  4. University of Melbourne