A common disaster provision is designed to control payment of life insurance proceeds when the insured and primary beneficiary die in the same accident or as a result of the same event within a short period. For purposes of determining entitlement to the death benefit, the provision generally operates by treating the primary beneficiary as having died before the insured if the applicable survivorship requirement is not satisfied.
Stated another way, the insurer proceeds as though the insured outlived the beneficiary. This allows the proceeds to pass to the contingent beneficiary rather than first becoming payable through the estate of the primary beneficiary.
This provision is particularly important when the insured and beneficiary die close together but the beneficiary technically survives for a brief period. Without an applicable survivorship provision, the policy proceeds might pass through the primary beneficiary ' s estate, potentially producing a result inconsistent with the policyowner ' s intended beneficiary succession.
The provision does not mean the beneficiary was never named, and its operative assumption is more precise than merely saying both individuals died simultaneously. Nor does it treat the beneficiary as having survived the insured.
Therefore, C correctly states the contractual treatment.
Study Guide Reference: Life Insurance Policy Provisions, Options, and Riders — common disaster; beneficiary succession; primary and contingent beneficiaries; survivorship requirements.
