A life policy sold in Boulder includes an accidental death benefit provision that doubles the benefit for accidental death. The insured dies by suicide well after the first policy year. Under C.R.S. § 10-7-109, how is the accidental death provision treated?

Why D is correct

C.R.S. § 10-7-109 removes suicide as a defense to payment of the life policy itself after the first policy year, but the statute expressly carves out accident-only policies and accidental-death provisions. A suicide is not an accidental death, and the statute's mandatory-payment rule does not compel the additional accidental death benefit. The beneficiary receives the base death benefit, but the doubling provision sits outside the statute's protection.

Why the other options are wrong

• A) The first-year rule protects the base death benefit; it does not force the accidental death provision to pay on suicide.
• B) The treatment is fixed by statute, not left to insurer discretion or unspecified policy terms.
• C) No conversion to a paid-up benefit arises here; the statute simply excludes accidental-death provisions from its scope.

Memory hook

The suicide shield covers the base benefit, not the accidental-death bonus.