Vaccination against Covid-19 does not invalidate US life insurance policies

Social media reports that life insurance companies will not pay claims if someone dies within one year after the vaccination against Covid-19. According to the organization that represents U.S. life insurance companies and several U.S. state regulators, this is untrue.

“If you die within 1 year of the COVID V @ X, do not pay your life insurance because it is experimental,” said a Facebook post on March 9, 2021.

Similar claims that vaccination will invalidate life insurance policies spread through other Facebook posts and online articles.

The US Life Assurance Board (ACLI) told AFP in an email that the claims were ‘false information’.

In a statement published on his website on March 12, 2021, a senior vice president, Paul Graham, said: ‘Life insurance contracts are very clear about how policies work, and what cause, if any, could lead to the denial of an advantage. A vaccine for Covid-19 is not one of them. ”

He continued: “Insurance takers should be assured that nothing has changed in the claims process as a result of Covid-19 vaccinations.”

Insurance associations in Canada and the United Kingdom have also issued similar responses to the misinformation.

Asked if the claims had merit, major insurance companies Northwestern Mutual, MetLife and New York Life all responded to ACLI’s statement.

Several U.S. states have also addressed the demands.

Glen Mulready, Oklahoma Insurance’s commissioner, said in a statement, “This is simply not true.”

He explained: ‘Whether it’s Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson, these vaccines have received emergency permits after the Food and Drug Administration determined their safety and efficacy. I can assure you that your life insurance benefits will not have an effect on Covid-19. ‘

Similarly, the North Dakota Department of Insurance said in a Facebook message: “Receiving the Covid-19 vaccine has no effect on your life insurance policy.”

And in New York, the Department of Financial Services explained on its website that state law “does not exclude life insurance based on the insured who received a vaccination.”

AFP Fact Check had earlier circulated a similar claim in Canada and France specifically referring to insurance company Manulife, which said the claim was ‘false’.

AFP has virtually investigated numerous false or misleading allegations about Covid-19 vaccines.