Pilcher v. New York Life Insurance

Opinion

COLOGNE, J.

On July 12, 1968, the defendant issued a policy of life insurance to Phillip R. Pilcher, plaintiff’s husband, insuring his life in the amount of $10,000. The policy included a provision for the payment of an additional $10,000 if “the insured’s death resulted directly, and independently of all other causes, from accidental bodily injury. . . .” The plaintiff and the children born of the marriage were the beneficiaries of the policy.

On April 9, 1970, while the policy was in effect, the insured died as a result of a self-administered overdose of heroin which caused acute…