International Investors Life Insurance Co. v. Utrecht

AKIN, Justice.

The question presented is whether drowning is included within an accidental death benefit rider to an insurance policy excluding the following risks: “Suffocation, strangulation, or smothering when such death occurs prior to the policy anniversary nearest the insured’s fourth birthday.”

Plaintiffs Bettie and Candice Utrecht sued International Life Insurance Company for benefits under an accidental death rider to a life insurance policy on Alexander S. Utrecht, who drowned March 14, 1974, at age three years, five months. The death certificate stated that the death was by asphyxia,…