State RegulationsVA specificDifficulty 2/5
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?
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
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.