Denied life insurance. . . Is it right???

[WebDesigner]

I was denied life insurance (Virginia) a few months ago and have been going round and round with the company to find out exactly why.

I have had a number of phone calls and sent letters and finally received a letter from them stating, "due to medical information". I thought this was very vague and am now in the process of finding a more detailed explanation of why I was denied.

A service rep. eluded to the fact that it had to do with an 'incident a number of years ago'. The only thing, in my mind, is when I was FOURTEEN I was committed for attempted suicide.

My questions are:

1) Is it legal for them to deny me for something that happened so many years ago. . .on top of the fact that I was minor at the time?

2) And, is it legal for them to use mental health facts against a person in the first place?

Thanks to anyone who can help.

 

[ALawyer]

Yes, it is perfectly legal for life insurers to refuse to issue an individual policy seeking to insure the life of a person who is a member of a category that has a significantly higher risk of premature death than the average person on whom their rates are based. The fact is that suicide attempts and mental conditions are highly relevant to future life expectancy. .

This may not sound "fair" and admittedly many insurance companies are backwards when it comes to understanding mental health and modern treatments. But the fear is that if a person goes off the medications, or faces future stress, the conditon that lead to a suicide attempt may recur.

Not every insurer follows the same underwriting rules, and some may issue a highly rated policy (rated policies are much more expensive -- like the kind someone with diabetes or 100 pounds over weight may buy) or issue a whole life policy but not a term policy. And if you have a job, most GROUP policies sponsored by employers provide coverage for all employees, and many allow you to buy multiples of salary.