Accidental death benefit provisions are often found in insurance policies having a broader scope of coverage, providing protection against a variety of risks arising in or related to a particular factual context. For example, some policies, in addition to providing coverage for employment-related risks, will extend coverage to risks of travel and risks arising from the use of an automobile. In some cases, insurance policies whose coverage is explicitly limited to protection against accidental injury or death may also contain additional conditions restricting the scope of such protection to particular factual circumstances. These circumstances are often quite specific and narrowly drawn to limit the liability of the insurance company.
Whether additional conditions of coverage are imposed specifically by terms limiting accidental death coverage to specific factual circumstances, or generally by terms limiting all covered risks to a particular factual context, it will be necessary for the plaintiff to show that the death of the insured satisfied those conditions.