Family wins in suicide insurance suit

By Lee Kyung-min

A district court ordered Samsung Life Insurance, Wednesday, to pay life insurance money to the family of a policyholder who committed suicide.

The family filed a lawsuit against the firm after the latter refused to pay the full amount, claiming deaths by suicide were excluded from full benefits under the contract terms.

A clause in the contract says full life insurance benefits are only available to family members of those who commit suicide from mental illness or those who kill themselves more than two years after the contract was signed.

The policyholder, surnamed Park, signed the insurance contract in 2006, and committed suicide in March 2014. He did not have any mental illness.

However, the firm paid only 63 million won of the life insurance money, to his family.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled that Samsung Life Insurance should pay an additional 100 million won ($98,000) to Park’s family.

“The clause specifically states that the special coverage applies two years after the suicide. The company arguing it otherwise is only an attempt to minimize their expenses,” the judge said in its ruling.

The ruling is likely to affect other insurers who avoided paying full life insurance money in similar cases.