Faced with a situation of State of Alarm in United States of America, which is spreading throughout the world with almost 180 countries affected by COVID-19 , and the declaration of a pandemic , we have many doubts about all the situations that we could face.
We are facing an unprecedented health crisis . The number of infections and deaths has skyrocketed in countries where there was an outbreak, since its origin in the Chinese city of Wuhan. We the people of USA have confined ourselves to our homes to help curb infections , since the peak of infected is yet to come.
Most of us who have contracted life insurance, we ask ourselves whether we are covered in the event of contagion or death from corona-virus.
Does my life insurance cover in case of death due to corona-virus?
It should be noted that generally life insurance covers death from any cause . Although certain companies make some exceptions , so it is essential to review the clauses of your life insurance contract to verify what it covers and what it does not cover.
Depending on the type of life insurance you have contracted, the clauses will be different. The exceptional cases that most life insurance does not cover are:
- suicide during the first year of the policy
- in the case of deception in the medical questionnaire
- in the event of natural disasters.
The first verification we have to do is to verify that our policy includes death due to pandemics, epidemics or outbreaks .
What is the difference between an outbreak, an epidemic, and a pandemic?
When a disease suddenly appears due to an infection in a specific place and time, we speak of an epidemic outbreak .
If that outbreak gets out of control and spreads, increasing the cases in a specific geographic area, it becomes an epidemic.
Finally, the two main characteristics that define a pandemic state, such as the one we currently live with with the corona-virus are:
The outbreak has spread to more than one continent .
The new infected cases in a country are due to local or community transmission , they are no longer imported cases.
Due to the state of global pandemic we are facing, health authorities and the WHO (World Health Organisation) have decreed measures that all affected countries must take to stop the accelerated spread of this virus, which is threatening the collapse of health systems.
What is corona-virus and how can we prevent it?
The 2019 corona-virus or, also known as, COVID-19 is a new virus that mainly affects the respiratory tract, spreads from person to person and is highly contagious.
Its symptoms are fever, dry cough, and breathing difficulties. Generally, it can resemble acute pneumonia or influenza but can present more serious difficulties in patients with previous chronic diseases or ailments (heart, lung or immunodeficiency) and in the elderly.
To prevent the spread of coronavirus is crucial hygiene and disinfection of continued hands, avoid contact with infected people, maintain a safe distance from other people and not touching your mouth, eyes and nose.
The use of masks is only necessary for people who have symptoms of coronavirus so as not to infect others and in health personnel or relatives who care for these patients so as not to contract the infection.
Check your policy
In short, despite the fact that some insurance companies in United States of America have exclusions for deaths due to pandemics or epidemics, we must consult our life insurance policy to verify if it includes this clause, since it will depend on the contract and company with which we have contracted our insurance .
After the declaration of a pandemic, many insurers are communicating to their clients that, as an exception and despite being contemplated in the clauses, they will assume the compensation due to COVID-19.