Shannon Langhorne Insurance Services offers Life Insurance information and many varied Life Insurance policies. You deserve an insurance agent that is going to answer your call. We answer your call.
Life insurance is a contract between an insured and an insurer where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money (the “benefits”) in exchange for a premium, upon the death of the insured person. Depending on the contract, other events such as terminal illness or critical illness may also trigger payment. The policy holder typically pays a premium, either regularly or as a lump sum. Other expenses (such as funeral expenses) are also sometimes included in the benefits.
Life policies are legal contracts and the terms of the contract describe the limitations of the insured events. Specific exclusions are often written into the contract to limit the liability of the insurer; common examples are claims relating to suicide, fraud, war, riot, and civil commotion.
Life-based contracts tend to fall into two major categories:
- Protection Policies – designed to provide a benefit in the event of specified event, typically a lump sum payment. A common form of this design is term insurance.
- Investment Policies – where the main objective is to facilitate the growth of capital by regular or single premiums. Common forms (in the US) are whole life, universal life, and variable life policies.
Term life insurance is a way for you to help provide financial security for your family by giving you life-insurance coverage for a specified period of time, or “term”, such as 10, 20 or 30 years. If something happens to you during that time, your loved ones don’t have to worry. If not, your policy simply expires at the end of the term.
Whole life is permanent insurance, which means that a payout is guaranteed as long as premiums are paid as specified in the policy. And every payment you make helps grow a cash reserve, known as cash value. Your cash value may eventually reach a point where you can borrow money from it for emergencies and major expenses. It will be considered a loan, so you will be charged interest – but usually at a much lower rate than other types of loans. And you don’t have to pay it back – the outstanding amount will simply be deducted from the final payout to your beneficiary.