Term Life Insurance





One of the most popular types of life insurance is known as term life insurance or term assurance. Consumers are attracted to term life insurance policies for many reasons, and over the past couple of years this type of coverage has become even more popular. If you are interested in buying life insurance coverage, checking out the details of a term policy may be the best place for you to start your search. We can help. Our experienced consultants are here to answer any questions you might have.

ABOUT TERM INSURANCE: Term life insurance provides coverage for a limited period of time. For instance, a 10 year term life insurance would cover you for 10 years, not a day longer. This is different than a whole life policy which covers you for your entire life.

Once a term life insurance policy expires you can either drop it or purchase additional coverage. Keep in mind that adding more coverage may cost more money as your circumstances have changed and you are now older.

Term life insurance is one of the most cost effective policies available. With the average life expectancy increasing the cost of term life is on its way down. As a consumer you may not like the fact that term life insurance can expire, but it is hard to argue with the low cost of coverage.

With term life insurance consumers have options including the length and amount of coverage; this is similar to all types of policies.

Much more common than annual renewable term insurance is guaranteed level premium term life insurance, where the premium is guaranteed to be the same for a given period of years. The most common terms are 10, 15, 20, and 30 years.

In this form, the premium paid each year is the same, and is based on the summed cost of each year's annual renewable term rates, with a time value of money adjustment made by the insurer. Thus, the longer the term the premium is level for, the higher the premium, because the older, more expensive to insure years are averaged into the premium.

Most level term programs include a renewal option and allow the insured to renew for a maximum guaranteed rate if the insured period needs to be extended. It is important to note that the renewal may or may not be guaranteed and the insured should review their contract to see if evidence of insurability is requierd to renew the policy. Typically this clause is invoked only if the health of the insured deteriorates significantly during the term, and poor health would prevent them from being able to provide proof of insurability

Term life offers many benefits, and upon comparing this type of coverage to others many consumers decide that it is best for them.

MORE TERM LIFE INSURANCE INFORMATION: The simplest form of term life insurance is for a term of one year. The death benefit would be paid by the insurance company if the insured died during the one year term, while no benefit is paid if the insured dies one day after the last day of the one year term. The premium paid is then based on the expected probability of the insured dying in that one year.

Because the likelihood of dying in the next year is low for anyone that the insurer would accept for the coverage, purchase of only one year of coverage is rare.

One of the main challenges to renewal experienced with some of these policies is requiring proof of insurability. For instance the insured could acquire a terminal illness within the term, but not actually die until after the term expires. Because of the terminal illness, the purchaser would likely be uninsurable after the expiration of the initial term, and would be unable to renew the policy or purchase a new one.

This issue is frequently overcome by a feature in some policies called guaranteed reinsurability included on some programs, that allows the insured to renew without proof of insurability.

A version of term insurance which is commonly purchased is annual renewable term (ART). In this form, the premium is paid for one year of coverage, but the policy is guaranteed to be able to be continued each year for a given period of years. This period varies from 10 to 30 years, or occasionally until age 95. As the insured ages, the premiums increase with each renewal period, eventually becoming financially inviable as the rates for a policy would eventually exceed the cost of a permanent policy. In this form the premium is slightly higher than for a single year's coverage, but the chances of the benefit being paid are much higher.

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