MOST insurance policies will refuse to pay out if a death is drug related.

The small print in insurance forms for everything from mortgage protection to car insurance specifically excludes payment in cases such as drug abuse.

Aviva, one of the country’s largest insurers, is just one of many companies to specifically exclude payments in the event of accidental death linked to drugs.

The company’s standard mortgage- protection cover excludes everything from “taking alcohol or drugs (unless they are prescribed by a registered doctor in the Republic of Ireland)” to war, “engaging in a hazardous pursuit” or “taking part or attempting to take part in any aerial flight other than as a fare-paying passenger”.

The protection policy also says it won’t pay out in the event of “death in a country outside the EU” and following “an assault on the covered person which is not reported to the police”.