The common disaster clause addresses situations in which the insured and primary beneficiary die as a result of the same accident or disaster within a relatively short period. Its purpose is to establish how the insurer should treat the order of deaths for purposes of determining who receives the life insurance proceeds.

Without such a provision, if the primary beneficiary legally survives the insured—even only briefly—the death benefit could become payable to that beneficiary or the beneficiary ' s estate. That result could frustrate the policyowner ' s intention to have the proceeds pass to a contingent beneficiary when both the insured and primary beneficiary die in essentially the same event.

A common disaster provision may require the primary beneficiary to survive the insured for a stated period. If that survival requirement is not met, the primary beneficiary is treated for policy-payment purposes as having predeceased the insured, allowing the contingent beneficiary to receive the proceeds.

An accidental death rider increases benefits for qualifying accidental death. A spendthrift clause protects proceeds from certain creditor or beneficiary actions. A facility-of-payment provision permits payment to specified persons under limited circumstances.

Study Guide Reference: Life Insurance Policy Provisions, Options, and Riders — beneficiary designations; contingent beneficiaries; common-disaster provisions; simultaneous-death considerations.