Yesterday i was watching an episode ‘Crime Patrol’ on Sony TV. I have no clue of the names of the characters, but that does not matter.

The story is about a young businessman based in Gujarat…and he thought he was being smart. Sad, as the case is, he was actually getting his family into much more trouble….

One young businessman whose business was failing wanted to ‘help’ his family. He was in deep financial mess and he thought he could come out of all this by just insuring himself and then killing himself. He thought this would help his family get Rs. 1.25 crores – and they would be out of trouble.

Let us see what he did.

– He took multiple policies of Rs. 20-30 lakhs each totaling Rs. 1.25 crores.

– He paid all the premia promptly and on time

One day he was found murdered on the highway in his own car…..

To cut the long story short, he had asked his friend to travel with him, and KILL HIM so that his family could claim the money and well, be rich.

What did he think:

– As it was a ‘murder’ case, his family would get the full sum assured (he knew if he committed suicide within one year, the life insurance companies would not pay).

Mistakes of knowledge:

– he had not informed the insurance companies about the existence of ‘other’ policies. So when a company was issuing a policy of Rs. 30 lakhs they did not know that he had other insurance policies. This is a major, major error that many people make.

– he thought that a suicide attempt (he tried ramming the car twice in an attempt to kill himself) – would all go unnoticed by the authorities

– he did not know that a life policy will surely get investigated for an early claim (less than 2 years of the policy issuance)

Amazingly stupid plan, I am writing about this just to tell people that there are no short cuts to help your family. This guy who was in trouble financially was still driving a car, did not tell his family that he was in financial trouble, his ‘friend’ who helped him will spend another 8-14 years in jail.

Insurance companies are here to do ‘business’ not to do charity. Honest people with honestly filled forms have a 100% chance of the claim being paid. Not that all insurance companies are honest – they will do their best to delay or not pay, but if you fill up the form honestly and know somebody who will take up the fight on behalf of the person who has died, there is a very very good chance that the nominee will get paid…

sad, but true case.

Of course one of his policies was old – say 5 years old, this WILL SURELY get paid. Suicide / suicide made to look like murder will be seen as a fraud by the new policy issuers ONLY. Older policies cannot hide under suicide / some other clause.