Insurance World

The average man in the street assumes that Life Insurance and Life Assurance are names for the same form of insurance. How wrong they are! But don’t hang your head in shame, many financial commentators get it wrong too! Life Insurance and Life Assurance perform different financial roles and are poles apart in cost - so it helps to surf for the correct product.

Life Insurance provides you with insurance cover for a specific period of time (known as the policy’s “term”). Then, if you were to die whilst the policy is in force, the insurance company pays out a tax-free sum. If you survive to the end of the term, the policy is finished and has no residual value whatsoever. It only has a value if there is a claim – in that context it’s just like your car insurance!

Life Assurance is different. It is a hybrid mix of investment and insurance. A Life Assurance policy pays out a sum equal to the higher of either a guaranteed minimum underwritten by the policy’s insurance provisions or its investment valuation. The value of the investment element is then a reliant on the Insurance Company’s investment performance and length of time you have been paying the premiums.

Each year the insurance company adds an annual bonus to the guaranteed value of your life assurance policy and there is normally an extra “terminal bonus” at the end. Therefore, as the years go by your life assurance policy increases in value as the investment bonuses accumulate. The value of these bonuses are then determined by the insurance company’s investment performance. Once investment value has been assigned to the policy, you can cash it in with the insurance company. However, most people get a far better price for their life assurance policy by selling it to a specialist investment broker rather than cashing it in with the insurance company.

If you were to die during a Life Assurance policy’s term, the policy pays out the higher of either the guaranteed minimum sum or the accumulated value of the annual investment bonuses. However, if you are still living when the policy terminates, you usually get a bigger payout. This is because with most insurance companies, an additional terminal bonus is awarded.

There is a also a specialised form of life assurance called “Whole of Life”. These policies remain in force for as long as you live and as such, have no preset term.

There is also a practical difference for the internet user. Whereas you can buy life insurance online, the Financial Services Authority view life assurance as fundamentally an investment product. As such they believe it is best suited to being sold by a Financial Adviser with advice based on the Advisors full understanding of your personal details. Therefore, you will be unable to buy life assurance online. However, you can use the internet to find a suitable financial adviser with whom you can meet and discuss your requirements.

What are Life Insurance polices and Life Assurance policies used for?

Life Insurance is usually a focal point of the family’s financial protection. It is ideally suited to ensure that known debts such as a mortgage, are repaid in full in the event of the policyholders death.

When it comes to providing a lump sum for general use in the event that the policyholder were to die whilst the policy was in force, either life insurance or life assurance can be used. The differences are that with life insurance the size of payout would be preset whereas with life assurance it would depend on the guaranteed minimum and the insurance company’s investment performance. But remember, at the end of the policy’s term life insurance is worthless, whereas life assurance should payout a sizeable investment sum. In this context Life Assurance seems far more worthwhile but in practice more people elect for life insurance. Why? It’s a matter of cost. Life Insurance is considerably cheaper than Life Assurance. Furthermore, in recent years, investment returns on Life Assurance policies have fallen significantly and many insurance companies have placed penalties for cashing in policies early. This has adversely affected the resale value of Life Assurance policies.

Finally, if you want a product to provide a lump sum on your death whenever that is with a minimum payout guaranteed, you’ll probably elect for Whole of Life insurance. It’s really a form of lifetime investment with the benefit of a guaranteed minimum. They’re particularly useful for Inheritance Tax Planning.

Getting an insurance is one of those ‘life’ requirements that you should be looking into early in your career, especially now when you are still able to work and earn money. in addition to being better able to pay for the insurance, younger individuals also pay less. This is one of the principles of insurance. Since younger people are less likely to die, they are given cheaper rates as compared to older individuals.

Insurance protect financially you and your family in the future. Depending on the kind of insurance that you will choose to get, insurance can even provide for your health concerns, for your retirement and even for your death and burial.

But while it is important that we are protected against any unexpected eventualities, some people still shy away of availing insurance on their own, preferring their companies to do it for them. Like legal matters, all those insurance mumbo jumbo tend to confuse and sometimes even frighten people.

Here are some of he frequently asked questions about insurance.

What are the kinds of insurance?
There are two major types of insurance. The life and the non-life insurance. The life insurance, as the name suggests, protects the family of the person in case something happens to him. When a person who is insured dies, the money that he insured will be given to the beneficiary that he has chosen.
The non-life insurance is an insurance that protects properties. Under this category, there are several different types. There car insurances, which protect automobiles from wreckage in case of accidents; property insurance, which protects properties especially houses from fire and other forms of destruction; deposit insurance, which most banks have in order to protect their depositors from losing their money in case the bank suffers financial setbacks; and health insurance, which helps in covering for medical and hospital costs. Among the various non-life insurance, the most popular is the health and car insurance.
Some insurance also provide for the future. Some of the insurances are retirement plans and death plans, which covers for burial costs.

What is the difference between a premium and a face amount?
Premium refers to the amount that you have to pay every year for the insurance. Some insurance companies also offer to divide the premium into monthly installments to help their clients. The face amount on the other hand is the amount that you have insured yourself into. For example, if the face amount in your policy is set at $500,000, then your beneficiary will receive $500,000 when you die.

What do you mean by double indemnity?
Some insurance policy offer an accidental clause that would double the face amount in case death has been established as accidental. This is done to protect the insured’s family in case of an untimely death. Double indemnity means that the face amount will be doubled when death is accidental.

Is the beneficiary always the legal spouse?
No. Contrary to popular opinion, it is not always the spouse who is the beneficiary. It is up to the person to choose, who he names as beneficiary. It can be any member of the family as long as insurable interest is established. If in case, the children are named beneficiaries and are still not in legal ages, a ardian will be named to assume control of the money for them.