Code of Alabama
Ala. Code § 27-14-17 (2026)
Construction of Policies.
✓ official Alabama Legislature (ALISON) text, current July 2026
(a) Every insurance contract shall be construed according to the entirety of its terms and conditions as set forth in the policy and as amplified, extended, or modified by any rider, endorsement, or application which is a part of the policy.
(b) A clause in any policy of life insurance, including burial insurance, providing that such policy shall be incontestible after a specified period shall preclude only a contest of the validity of the policy and shall not preclude the assertion at any time of defenses based upon provisions in the policy which exclude or restrict coverage, whether or not such restrictions or exclusions are excepted in such clause.
(Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §330.)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6
cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1986–2024 · leading case: Madison Cnty. v. Evanston Ins. Co., 340 F. Supp. 3d 1232 (N.D. Ala. 2018).
Madison Cnty. v. Evanston Ins. Co., 340 F. Supp. 3d 1232 (N.D. Ala. 2018). “" Ala. Code § 27-14-17 (a). "Insurance contracts, like other contracts, are construed so as to give effect to the intention of the parties, and, to determine this intent, a court must examine more than an isolated sentence or term; it must read each phrase in the context of all…”
James Snell v. United Specialty Ins. Co., 102 F.4th 1208 (11th Cir. 2024). “” Ala. Code § 27-14-17 (a). The absence of a comma before the clause “which is part of the policy” strongly indicates, to my mind, that an insured’s “application” should be deemed to “modif[y]” the contract only if it is made “part of the policy.”
James River Ins. Co. v. Ultratec Special Effects Inc (N.D. Ala. 2020). “2001) (quotation omitted); see also Ala. Code § 27-14-17 (a). “[I]t is well established ‘that when doubt exists as to whether coverage is provided under an insurance policy, the language used by the insurer must be construed for the benefit of the insured.”
Garber v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. (N.D. Ala. 2021). “” Ala. Code § 27-14-17 (a). “Insurance contracts, like other contracts, are construed so as to give effect to the intention of the parties, and, to determine this intent, a court must examine more than an isolated sentence or term; it must read each phrase in the context of all…”
Snell v. United Specialty Ins. Co. (S.D. Ala. 2022). “CODE § 27-14-17(a). “[T]he insurance application is to be construed as a part of the policy itself.”
Miller v. Prot. Life Ins. Co., 485 So. 2d 746 (Ala. Civ. App. 1986). “Such a construction of the clause is supported by Ala.Code (1975), § 27-14-17(b), which provides: “A clause in any policy of life insurance, including burial insurance, providing that such policy shall be incontestible after a specified period shall preclude only a contest of…”
— Ala. Code § 27-14-17(a) — 1 case
Snell v. United Specialty Ins. Co. (S.D. Ala. 2022). “CODE § 27-14-17(a). “[T]he insurance application is to be construed as a part of the policy itself.”
— Ala. Code § 27-14-17(b) — 1 case
Miller v. Prot. Life Ins. Co., 485 So. 2d 746 (Ala. Civ. App. 1986). “Such a construction of the clause is supported by Ala.Code (1975), § 27-14-17(b), which provides: “A clause in any policy of life insurance, including burial insurance, providing that such policy shall be incontestible after a specified period shall preclude only a contest of…”
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