# Life insurance question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 5, 2023, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-insurance-question/994124 "2023-12-05T05:58:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-insurance-question/994124/21 "2023-12-08T15:26:05Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > if you crash while driving the getaway car during a bank robbery. I suspect that the same applies in the UK. However, if my (fully insured) car was stolen and used in a robbery they would still pay up on third-party claims. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-insurance-question/994124/22 "2024-01-12T01:04:22Z")
Your insurer may not cover _your own_ losses if you have an accident while driving drunk. They don’t get to avoid liability to others. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-insurance-question/994124/23 "2024-01-12T01:18:07Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > I’m not an insurance expert, but I’m nearly positive the life insurance would just pay and be done with it. If the family got some kind of payout from their car insurance, then the car insurance company would probably go after the other driver’s insurance company. Exactly. Life insurance is not subrogated. [Property Insurance, Liability Insurance, and Life Insurance](https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_introduction-to-the-law-of-property-estate-planning-and-insurance/s18-02-property-insurance-liability-i.html#:~:text=Unlike%20property%20insurance%2C%20life%20insurance,person%20who%20caused%20the%20death). ## Subrogation _Unlike property insurance, life insurance does not permit subrogation. The insurer must pay the claim when the insured dies and may not step into the shoes of anyone entitled to file a wrongful death claim against a person who caused the death._ ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-insurance-question/994124/24 "2024-01-12T04:14:03Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > The insurance company is not the wronged party here. IANAL but this was my thinking. The insurance company does not have standing. They did not suffer damages; they made a payment according to an insurance contract. The victim’s family could sue the drunk driver, and his automobile insurance liability coverage would be on the table. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-insurance-question/994124/25 "2024-01-12T05:50:44Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > IANAL but this was my thinking. The insurance company does not have standing. My cite above made it clear. Life insurance companies do not have the right to subrogation. The question of the Op has been answered. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-insurance-question/994124/26 "2024-01-12T15:18:49Z")
I bow to your mastery. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-insurance-question/994124/27 "2024-01-12T15:29:41Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > (If Bob is 103 and falls down the stairs, is that an “accidental death” with a double payout?) Realistically, nobody at 103 is going to have life insurance as it’s prohibitively expensive. For my voluntary group term life plan, $30,000 in coverage at the age of 75 would be a little over $100 a month. And that’s assuming the insurance company chooses to insure them. With my plan, the guaranteed amount of coverage the company is willing to offer is $0 for anyone 70 or older. So that 103 year old would have to submit an evidence of insurability form to be evaluated by the company to see if they’re willing to insure him. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-insurance-question/994124/28 "2024-01-12T17:58:14Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Your insurer may not cover _your own_ losses if you have an accident while driving drunk. They don’t get to avoid liability to others. I assume though, that if you have worthwhile assets, the insurance company can come after you. the drunk driver, for what they had to pay third parties? > [@Odesio](#): > > Realistically, nobody at 103 is going to have life insurance as it’s prohibitively expensive. I see these laughable insurance things “$9.99 a month”. I presume soomeone who signed up for one of those (or any insurance) when they were young enough would still be able to maintain the coverage with payments at 103? (But then, I assume - never cared to check - that they are outright scams and by 103 they’ve recouped their payout amount and plenty more…) The question was more along the lines of - what is considered “accidental death”? I could see an insurance company wanting a full autopsy to ensure it wasn’t a dead fall down the stairs due to a heart attack. But that’s just my view of insurance companies. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-insurance-question/994124/29 "2024-01-12T22:55:38Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > I assume - never cared to check - that they are outright scams The small print on those policies tells you that if you miss a payment the deal is off. You may have paid them thousands over the years, but that just vanishes into their profit. Many people _assume_ that they are building up some kind of “pot of money” like with a pension, but of course they are not. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2024, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-insurance-question/994124/30 "2024-01-12T23:30:19Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > The small print on those policies tells you that if you miss a payment the deal is off. You may have paid them thousands over the years, but that just vanishes into their profit. This seems like wild speculation. The $9.99/month ads are nearly always for whole life, which build cash value, and missed premiums get taken out of the cash. And lapsed policies get renewed ALL the time. The scam on the late night ads are the fact that the rates are absurdly high, because they’re guaranteed issue, and get you barely any insurance. > [@bob\_2](#): > > Many people _assume_ that they are building up some kind of “pot of money” like with a pension, but of course they are not. These are usually universal life policies, which were the absolute bane of my existence when I was a beginner advisor. I got assigned all the UL policies set to implode because they were implemented in the mid-90s’ world of 10% interest rates and everyone thiught they’d last forever. (Spoiler alert: they did not.) ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2024, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-insurance-question/994124/31 "2024-01-13T05:05:24Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > The scam on the late night ads are the fact that the rates are absurdly high Yes, I did notice that for $9.99 they did not say what the payout could be… ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2024, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-insurance-question/994124/32 "2024-01-13T13:01:20Z")
Here’s a copy of the [Gerber whole life insurance application](http://orca.life/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Gerber-App.pdf), which includes the rate schedule. I ran into a very small handful of people where this policy was appropriate, and who were adamant against just an investment account. They were otherwise uninsurable, wanted a death benefit for their spouse for final expenses/tuition for the kids. The saving grace of the policy is that it has a 2 year waiting period where if the person dies from a non-accident, the policy will pay back all premiums plus a 10% interest rate. Most of these policies have a 2 year waiting period (so that they can’t cash in from their death bed), so they have some assurance they get their money back. Still, not great. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2024, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-insurance-question/994124/33 "2024-01-14T02:32:46Z")
Gerber insurance is actually intended for children, and can be cashed in by the child at age 21. I know there’s more to it. Anyway, most people are weirded out by the idea, but I have known more than one family who faced the ultimate grief and had to borrow money to pay for that child’s funeral, because they did not have life insurance on them. One of my friends died last month at age 66, and her husband told me that she had a policy that her uncle had purchased for her when her parents adopted her shortly after she was born, and he said it was a $3,500 policy, which would cover her cremation and an obituary. Thinking about it later, if she did pay premiums all these years, it would be worth more than $3,500. I’m sure the agent could tell them. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2024, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-insurance-question/994124/34 "2024-01-14T02:35:13Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Gerber insurance is actually intended for children Gerber sells life insurance for children, yes. But they also sell guaranteed whole life for adults. The application I linked to has a fee schedule starting at age 50. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-insurance-question/994124.md?page=1)