Jeffrey Johnson is a legal writer with a focus on personal injury. He has worked on personal injury and sovereign immunity litigation in addition to experience in family, estate, and criminal law. He earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has worked in legal offices and non-profits in Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina. He has also earned an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman Univer...

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UPDATED: Sep 15, 2020

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Once the company has offered a policy and the customer has accepted it, the company is committed to the terms specified in the policy. The exception is provided by a clause in the policy called the “contestable period” (usually one or two years). During this period, the company can cancel the coverage and return the premiums if it discovers that the information given by the policyholder to qualify for the insurance contains major misstatements. Suicide is also not covered during an initial period which may be the same as the “contestable period.” The “contestable period” provides the company a reasonable opportunity to protect itself against people getting insurance they would not qualify for if they gave truthful information on their applications, and it also provides the vast majority of honest policyholders the assurance that their policies will be honored.