Term life insurance can be contrasted to permanent life insurance such as whole life, universal life, and variable universal life, which guarantee coverage at fixed premiums for the lifetime of the covered individual unless the policy owner allows the policy to lapse. Term insurance is not generally used for estate planning needs or charitable giving strategies but is used for pure income replacement needs for an individual. Term insurance functions in a manner similar to most other types of insurance in that it satisfies claims against what is insured if the premiums are up to date and the contract has not expired and does not provide for a return of premium dollars if no claims are filed. As an example, auto insurance will satisfy claims against the insured in the event of an accident and a homeowner policy will satisfy claims against the home if it is damaged or destroyed by, for example, a fire. Whether or not these events will occur is uncertain. If the policyholder discontinues coverage because he has sold the insured car or home, the insurance company will not refund the full premium. This is purely risk protection.
Usage
Because term life insurance is a pure death benefit, its primary use is to provide coverage of financial responsibilities for the insured or his or her beneficiaries. Such responsibilities may include, but are not limited to, consumer debt, dependent care, university education for dependents, funeral costs, and mortgages. Term life insurance may be chosen in favor of permanent life insurance because term insurance is usually much less expensive (depending on the length of the term), even if the applicant is an everyday smoker. For example, an individual might choose to obtain a policy whose term expires near his or her retirement age based on the premise that, by the time the individual retires, he or she would have amassed sufficient funds in retirement savings to provide financial security for the claims.
Annual renewable term
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.
Some policies offer a feature called guaranteed reinsurability 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.
Level term life insurance
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 remains the same for the duration of the contract. This cost 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 period of time during which the premium remains level, the higher the premium amount. This relationship exists because the older, more expensive to insure years are averaged, by the insurance company, into the premium amount computed at the time the policy is issued.
Most level term programs include a renewal option, and allow the insured person to renew the policy for a maximum guaranteed rate if the insured period needs to be extended. The renewal may or may not be guaranteed, and the insured person should review the contract to determine whether evidence of insurability is required 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 the individual from being able to provide proof of insurability.
Most term life policies include an option to convert the term life policy to a Universal Life or Whole Life policy. This option can be useful to a person who acquired the term life policy with a preferred rating class and later is diagnosed with a condition that would make it difficult to qualify for a new term policy. The new policy is issued at the rate class of the original term policy. This right to convert may not extend to the end of the Term Life policy. The right may extend a fixed number of years or to a specified age, such as convertible to age seventy.
See also
- Buy term and invest the difference
- Family income benefit insurance
- Life Insurance
- Permanent life insurance
- Theory of Decreasing Responsibility
- Universal life insurance
- Variable universal life insurance
- Whole life insurance
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