UK or anywhere else it's got to look like an accident. If they have the slightest suspicion it was planned then they wont pay out. How can you be sure it will look like an accident? If you don't have any funeral expenses covered now all I can suggest is to save money while you can for the next year just in case. Also your country is turning into a police state. You have to make sure they can't dig up your browser history. Are you using any privacy measures? That's all I can think of right now.
This isn't accurate. I've researched this extensively, and nearly every policy has a clause that suicide absolutely is 100% OK after a given period (1 year in the UK/EU, and generally 2 year in the US with a few exceptions on a state basis).
I would agree that it's worth clearing browser history just for the sake of good hygiene, but an insurance company being able to go through your personal devices' browser history to try and claim it was preintended? Not going to happen.
I've been thinking about the people around me recently. If I do ctb, I want to die knowing they're taken care of and even if I'm poor, that I can leave behind anything for them and their sakes. It's just my father and little sister that I'm worried about.
Does anyone know about the UK's policies on life insurance, specific to suicide? From what I've read I need to wait an entire year to ctb for them to not cancel it, but is there anything else I can do? Anything to safeguard, or things maybe they don't mention?
I want to make sure I do this properly and get everything ready. I'm not in an incredibly rush, I just need things to be alright when I finally do. If anyone has any other advice, that'd be nice too.
Thanks everyone.
This is an interesting topic, and I applaud you for thinking of those close to you. It's something that I am also doing, and if our lives have to be cut short, surely we should leave those around us with something to help them get by.
In short, you've got the basics. In the UK it's always a 12 month period. The most you can generally leverage is 20x your annual income, but you can even get more depending on other things (if you have property or other assets, or even if you're due a sizeable inheritance). My logic is that if you're on 50k a year, you're good for a million pounds (tax free! which is honestly enough for everyone. Your family could buy property or index funds, and pretty much live on the rent or interest alone, without even touching the principal.
The biggest thing that if you do die from suicide, the insurance company will likely want to dig around to see if you've ever had treatment or diagnosis for anything of that nature. If you've gone to a private therapist, then there's no problem (it'd be hard for them to even find that person), but if you've ever been for treatment on the NHS, that will be found. If you have, you'll be best off disclosing that when you apply for your policy, and you'll likely be denied, or perhaps accepted but with sky-high premiums. It'll still be 'worth it' to CBT, but the monthly cost will be horrible, and will (ironically!) probably make you more likely to CBT to get your money's worth.
It generally pays to be honest in your application too. For example, I only smoke a cigar a few times a year, but I'm classed as a 'smoker' for my insurance policies, just because I am honest, and also because I hang round in smokey bars and pubs, and if I was to be tested post-mortem, I may have some traces that could invalidate my claim. Is it worth lying to risk a million pounds for my family? Not at all. Be honest with them.
There are a few interesting quirks too to be taken note of. Many policies exclude 'extreme sports' from paying out (with good reason). If you were to choose to throw yourself off a popular bungeeing location (which is an attractive option to many - easily accessible very high places), the insurance company could claim you were participating in extreme sports and try and block your claim. They may well fail in court, but you have to then rely on your family battling it out with their lawyers, and that's something they may not want to or be able to do when they're dealing with your death.
One of the most important things is that you need to have a trust set up if you want any say in how the cash is distributed. You want to donate some to a cause close to your heart - maybe a hospital, a charity or what have you. A trust will also shield the money from any potential legal claims to it. It's a powerful legal entity that isn't actually too hard or expensive to set up. If you just want it going straight to your dad and you trust him with it, then you can skip this and just put him down as the sole beneficiary.
If you have any specific questions, feel free to DM. I am preparing a resource for this forum which will detail all the ins and outs.
