An insured dies by suicide 18 months after a Virginia life policy was issued, within the policy's two-year suicide window. Under Va. Code § 38.2-3106, what does the statute require the policy to provide in that case?

Why D is correct

Va. Code § 38.2-3106 provides that if the insured dies by suicide within the exclusion's two-year window, the policy's liability is limited to a refund of at least the premiums paid. The statute sets a floor, not a ceiling — a policy may promise more, but it may never promise less than the premiums back. This softens what would otherwise be a total forfeiture and gives beneficiaries a guaranteed minimum outcome within the window.

Why the other options are wrong

• A) Total forfeiture contradicts the statute; the minimum outcome within the window is a refund of the premiums paid.
• B) The exclusion runs up to 2 years, not 10 days; within the window the recovery is the premium refund, not the face amount.
• C) The reserve value is not the statutory measure; Va. Code § 38.2-3106 guarantees at least the premiums paid.

Memory hook

Suicide inside the window? Beneficiaries get at least the premiums back.