State RegulationsCO specificDifficulty 1/5
An insured in Denver dies by suicide three years after his individual life policy was issued. Under C.R.S. § 10-7-109, what is the insurer's position?
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why C is correct
C.R.S. § 10-7-109 provides that suicide after the first policy year is not a defense against payment of a Colorado life policy — the insurer must pay whether the insured was sane or insane and whether the act was voluntary or involuntary. The statute removes any contractual suicide exclusion once the policy is past its first year. The familiar two-year-and-refund model of the NAIC draft acts is not Colorado's rule.
Why the other options are wrong
- A) Colorado law expressly defeats suicide as a defense after the first policy year; it is not an automatic exclusion.
- B) Mental sanity is irrelevant after the first year — C.R.S. § 10-7-109 applies whether the insured was sane or insane.
- D) The two-year-and-refund model is not Colorado law; this statute keys to the first policy year only.
Memory hook
One year and suicide's dead as a defense — sane, insane, either way they pay.