An insurer shall not be liable for payments claimed under an individual or group policy of life insurance if the duty to make those payments depends upon a factual determination of whether the death of the insured was an accident or a suicide and that fact cannot be established without an autopsy and the autopsy is prohibited under § 27491.43 of the Government Code. Insurers refusing or delaying payments in those circumstances in good faith shall not be liable for exemplary or punitive damages.

(Added by Stats. 1984, Ch. 1731, Sec. 2.)