With the rising tension in the Israel–Iran conflict, many families are worried about their financial safety if something tragic happens overseas. One major worry is whether life insurance claims could be denied if a policyholder dies in a war or conflict.
Here’s what both policyholders and nominees need to understand about how life insurance policies usually deal with these situations.
Can term life insurance claims be denied during a war?
In most cases, life insurance claims are not automatically rejected because of war, especially if the policyholder is a civilian.
“The short answer is usually no, you don’t need to worry. Most standard Indian term life insurance policies actually do cover deaths caused by war or terrorism for civilians. It is a bit different from health or travel insurance, which usually have those strict ‘war exclusion’ clauses, says Sarita Joshi, Head of Health and Life Insurance at Probus.
Life insurance is built to protect your family regardless of how the life was lost, as long as you were an innocent victim and not an active participant in the conflict. However, there may be some exceptions; it is always better to double-check your specific fine print, especially if you have an older group policy, just to be 100% sure there aren’t any ‘war-like situation’ exclusions hidden in there, she adds.
“Generally, if the policyholder is a civilian and not directly participating in combat or military operations, insurers assess the claim under normal policy terms,” says Venkatesh Naidu, CEO, BajajCapital Insurance Broking Ltd.
How do insurers determine if the death was war-related?
When a death occurs in a conflict zone, insurers assess the claim by identifying the primary cause of death.
“Insurers follow what they call the ‘proximate cause’ rule. It’s just a fancy way of saying they look for the primary event that led to the death. They don’t just take your word for it; they rely on official paperwork like hospital records, death certificates, and local police reports. If a civilian is caught in something like an explosion, the records will show that clearly. To make sure everything is handled fairly, even when things are chaotic on the ground, insurers usually coordinate directly with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy to verify the facts,” says Joshi.
In short, insurers rely on official documents and government verification to confirm the circumstances surrounding the death.
