The term insurance claim rejections we see most often

Insurers now settle the large majority of individual death claims. The failures are concentrated, and they are avoidable at the point of buying rather than at the point of claiming.

Undisclosed tobacco use

The most common cause by a distance. Smoker premiums are 40–70% higher, so applicants tick “no”. Post-mortem findings, hospital records and even a prescription history can establish use. Declaring it costs money; hiding it costs the whole cover.

Understated income or inflated cover

Insurers underwrite the sum assured against income. A cover far larger than income supports invites scrutiny at claim, particularly in the first two years. Buy what the arithmetic justifies.

Pre-existing conditions left out

Diabetes and hypertension do not usually prevent cover — they adjust the premium. Left undeclared, they become the reason a claim is contested.

Policies allowed to lapse

A missed premium beyond the grace period ends the cover. Set the payment to auto-debit, and keep the nominee informed that the policy exists at all — an unclaimed policy is functionally the same as no policy.

The nominee cannot find the paperwork

Tell your family the insurer’s name, the policy number, and where the documents are. Register the nominee correctly, and update it after marriage, divorce or a death in the family.

The three-year rule that protects you

Section 45 of the Insurance Act bars an insurer from repudiating a policy on grounds of misstatement after three years from commencement or revival. It is a strong protection — and one more reason to buy early and keep the policy alive.