Drugs, alcohol, and accidental death coverage

Accidental death policies insure against what their name implies, but what is an accidental death? This is often not a question easily answered, and when alcohol and drugs (prescribed or illegal) are the causes of, or contributors to, the death, the issue becomes even thornier, and highly fact- and jurisdiction-specific. As this survey shows, the law in this area is inconsistent but nevertheless susceptible of coherent and organized analysis.