War Clause
Legal and regulatory terms governing life insurance contracts.
What Is War Clause?
A war clause is a policy exclusion that limits or eliminates the insurer's obligation to pay a death benefit if the insured's death results from war, act of war, military service, or related activities. Modern life insurance policies rarely include blanket war exclusions for individual policies, though some older policies do. However, many group life insurance policies — particularly employer-provided coverage — may contain war clauses or military service limitations. Some carriers offer specialized life insurance products for active-duty military members that provide coverage in combat zones. Individual applicants in the military or who engage in high-risk occupations may receive specific occupational exclusions rather than a blanket war clause.
Nevada Context
Nevada has a significant active military and veteran population. Nevada servicemembers and veterans seeking individual life insurance should ask carriers specifically about any military or war-related exclusions in proposed policies.
How It Affects You
If you are active military or plan to deploy to a conflict zone, review your policy's war clause carefully. Federal programs such as Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (SGLI) provide coverage without war exclusions for military personnel.
War Clause in Practice
A Nevada National Guard member with a civilian whole life policy confirms there is no war clause — his illustrative $500,000 death benefit applies in all circumstances; his employer group policy, however, contains a military service limitation he should be aware of.
Dollar amounts shown are illustrative. Actual amounts vary by carrier, applicant age, health status, and individual underwriting.
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