A basic life insurance quote has a few components to it.  The length of the the policy, the face amount, the company, and the underwriting estimate.

The length of the policy must be determined before you get your life insurance quote.  You can either have a level term policy that goes for a period of time or a permanent plan.  Level term plans are either annual renewable term, 5 year level term, 10 year level term, 15 year level term, 20 year level term, and 30 year level term.  The 10 year, 20 year, and 30 year can be return of premium plans as well.  A return of premium plan returns the full premium paid if you make it through the term alive.  The other type of plan that you can get a quote for is a permanent plan life whole life or universal life.

Obviously determining the face amount of the policy is necessary to get a quote.  Ask your agent to take you through the life insurance calculator if you don’t know how much you should buy.  The companies that offer the plan that you are seeking will be included in the life quote.    The final piece of the quote you will receive is the underwriting estimate.  This estimate will take into account whether you are a smoker or non-smoker, health, etc.  Based on these factors an insurance rating is guestimated and thus you will get an estimated rate quote (price).    The quotes can include riders also if you decide to select them.