The Disability Clause In Practice

There are, as previously stated, nearly one hundred and fifty life-insurance companies in the United States which had adopted a disability clause by the beginning of the year 1915. In the brief space of time since the clause first appeared, or since it has come into general use, there has.been slight opportunity for its provisions to become standardized by. practice, or for any standards to be set by state laws. Under, the pressure of competition, therefore, a great variety of clauses has resulted, They differ as regards the restrictions imposed on their use, benefits promised, and in other ways, and it is by a comparison of these differences that the relative merits of the several contracts may be established. The disability clause in practice may be studied from four angles, viz: (1) risks not covered by the clause; (2) the definition of disability; (3) age, and time limits to, the application of the. clause; (4) benefits granted.