Suicide Clause
Also called suicide exclusion, suicide provision
A standard provision excluding death by suicide from the death benefit for the first two years — after which suicide is covered like any other cause of death.
The suicide clause is a standard provision stating that if the insured dies by suicide within the first two years of the policy (one year in a few states), the insurer will not pay the death benefit. Instead, it typically refunds the premiums paid. The purpose is narrow: to stop someone from buying a large policy with the specific intent of dying and enriching a beneficiary right away.
The most important thing to understand — and the thing that gets stated wrong constantly — is that this is a temporary exclusion, not a permanent one. Once the two-year window passes, a death by suicide is covered exactly like any other cause. There is no lifetime suicide exclusion in a standard US life policy. A family who lost someone years into a policy should not assume a claim will be denied; after the clause expires, the death benefit is owed.
The trap is the reset. The two-year clock runs from the policy’s effective date — so if you replace an older policy with a new one, or let a policy lapse and then reinstate it, the suicide clause starts fresh from zero. A buyer who has quietly cleared the window on a six-year-old policy can be talked into a “better” replacement and unknowingly restart the exclusion — along with a new contestability period on the same two-year clock. That’s a real, rarely-disclosed cost of churning policies.
If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out — in the US you can call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. On the coverage question specifically: know your policy’s effective date, know whether a replacement or reinstatement reset the clock, and don’t let anyone tell you suicide is never covered — after the window, it is.
The suicide clause is one of the most misunderstood parts of a policy. It is not a permanent exclusion: it's a temporary window, almost always two years, after which a suicide death is fully covered. Knowing that the clock exists — and that it resets — matters to grieving families.
A policy is issued in March 2024. If the insured dies by suicide before March 2026, the insurer refuses the death benefit and instead refunds the premiums paid. If the death occurs after March 2026, the full death benefit is paid, the same as any other covered cause.
The clock resets when you replace a policy or let one lapse and reinstate it. Swapping a 6-year-old policy for a shiny new one can restart both the suicide clause and the contestability period from zero — a hidden cost of replacement.