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說到購買保險，相信很多人第一時間都會想起人壽保險。這一節「長者法網智多聲」，就為大家說說人壽保險保甚麼，購買時有甚麼要注意。
人壽保險是保險公司與投保人訂立的合約，一旦投保人過身，保險公司就會根據仍然生效的保單，向指定的受益人支付特定金額。人壽保險亦可以附加其他保障項目，例如危疾或傷殘保險，亦可以有儲蓄成份。投保人需要定期付保費，好像是每個月、每季或每年支付。
香港有很多種類的人壽保險，例如定期壽險、終身壽險、儲蓄壽險、投資相連計劃、傷殘保障計劃和危疾保險等等。
與醫療保險一樣，人壽保險的保單，都會列明特定的不保事項，所以投保人一定要留意保單的條款和細則，了解一下有甚麼是不保的，亦要留意賠償限額。不保事項一些常見例子，包括重大失實陳述、自殺、欠交保費、參與危險活動等等。
如果想知道各種壽險的特點，以及還有甚麼常見的不保事項，可以到長者社區法網文字版參考，想再詳細了解，就要看清楚人壽保險公司提供的壽險內容了。
購買人壽保險之前，有很多東西要考慮的，好像是要衡量個人財政需要、目前是否有購買其他保險、保單合約期的長度、您可以負擔多少保費、以及保單有多少賠償、賠償種類等，還要看看如果退保或提早取回保費是否要罰款。如果經紀遊說您「轉保」，有甚麼潛在風險呢？
即使買了壽險，還有機會改變主意的，因為客戶會有冷靜期，可以在指定時限內，撤銷保單和取回保費。我們在長者社區法網文字版，列出一些購買壽險要注意的事，供大家參考。
無論購買甚麼保險，保險合約是建基於信任，投保人有責任向保險公司披露所有實情和交代所有資料，讓保險公司可以準確地評估風險，保險公司亦相信保單持有人會這樣做，這叫「至誠原則」。如果資料不齊全或有錯，又或是保單持有人沒有遵守保單條款，保單就可能無效了。
保險公司核保期間，如果懷疑投保人違反至誠原則，就有可能惹起爭議。這個情況下，投保人可以翻查保單是否包含「不可爭議條款」，即列明如漏報事實不涉及欺詐，只要投保人還在生，保險公司便不能在保單生效一段指定時間之後，例如保單生效兩年之後，才表示拒絕承保。不可爭議條款可以保障消費者，以免保險公司以受保人違反至誠原則為理由，逃避賠償責任。
除了人壽保險，醫療保險也是很常見的保險，我們在長者社區法網也有介紹，有興趣的老友記，可以到我們網頁了解。多謝大家收聽。
PrintSuicide and incontestability
One of the features of life insurance is that the benefit may be payable even if the cause of claim was a deliberate act of the policyholder. This arises from the underlying reason for life insurance, which originally was primarily to make provision for dependants, rather than to benefit the policyholder personally.
Nowadays, certain safeguards against taking out life insurance with suicide in mind are catered for, and it is very common for Life Insurance Policies to provide that if the policyholder commits suicide within a certain period from the start of the policy, the death benefits are excluded totally or limited to a refund of the premiums paid. It is important to pay heed to the terms and conditions contained in your Life Insurance Policy.
In some cases, disputes over the validity of an insurance contract may arise with an alleged breach of utmost good faith, due to certain material facts having been omitted or misrepresented during the underwriting process. Policyholders should check whether there is an Incontestability clause under the policy. The Incontestability provision states that, except for fraud and while the policy is in force, the insurer cannot normally dispute the validity of the contract after it has been in force during the lifetime of the policyholder for a certain period of time: e.g. two years. In some cases, the Incontestability provision will not apply to a misstatement of age, sex or smoking habit of the policyholder.
The Incontestability provision often serves as an effective shield against an insurer’s attempt to repudiate liability on the basis of breach of the duty of utmost good faith.