Posts Tagged ‘life cover’

Types Of Life Insurance Policies

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

All life insurance policies are either term, whole, or some combination of these two types of policies. However, there are many different forms that life insurance can take, even within these types.

Universal life insurance allows you to adjust the premium and policy amount to what you feel you need.

On the other hand, a person who wants control over the financial and investment aspects of their insurance policy should choose variable life insurance.

Description of a Term Life Insurance Policy

The term life insurance policy provides insurance protection for a particular period of time. The term may be extended to 5, 10, or 20 years. When the term ends the policy also expires without any benefits and without any saved or accumulated cash value. But if you die during this term then the death benefit will be paid. The term insurance policy can be said as insurance that is actually designed to expire before you do.?

Although premiums on term life policies tend to be low, they increase significantly as you age. Because of this, a term life policy is usually purchased when you’re young, to cover a long term. While short term renewable policies are initially less expensive, the premiums begin to make them less reasonable after middle age.

In a term life policy that renews annually and carries a $200,000 death benefit, the annual premiums might look like the example below. Remember, these are just examples to show the differences in cost with age:

$300 / year age 35

Age 50: $900/year

Age 65: $2,500/year

What’s a whole life insurance policy?

A whole life insurance policy remains in force until you either die or reach age 100, so long as you pay the premiums on time. Whole life is the most common type of life insurance sold. Whole life is also known as “ordinary life” or “permanent” insurance. The main characteristics of a whole life insurance policy are level premiums, level face amounts, guaranteed values, and a relatively high degree of safety. Whole life policies accrue cash value over the life of the policy; a policyholder can access this cash for emergencies, as a supplemental source of retirement income or for any other needs.

Whole life insurance includes both insurance and savings: whole life policies are often used in long-term financial planning. The level premiums of whole life policies also mean that the premium will never change. This gives you the peace of mind of always knowing how much your premium will be; it will not increase as you grow older.

The risk factor of whole life insurance policies is quite different from that of an auto insurance policy, by definition. With auto insurance, the insurer hopes that the policy holder will drive safely so that they never have to pay out the claim; with whole life insurance, however, the insurance company knows that they will have to pay the claim someday.

In these days it has become very easy and convenient to compare and shop for policies from different companies through the net. You can be sure that you get the best deal out of the market rates, which will meet your needs. It is also very important to check up with the BBB and check how these different companies are rated. You must have a careful eye for the financial standing of the insurance companies you are about to sign up for the policies. When you get thorough of all the information you need, you can compare and select the best whole life insurance policy online.

Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator a leading South African Life Insurance and Life Cover website.

Getting Life Insurance If Your Are HIV Positive

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

Life insurance is an important part of planning for your future. If you have dependants or loved ones who rely on you for their financial well being then life insurance can offer you a peace of mind and some comfort knowing they will be taken care of after your death. Finding out you are HIV positive can be stressful enough but when you try to obtain a life insurance policy it can create more stress when you are rejected on the spot. There are way to protect your loved ones after you pass away, some insurance companies will offer burial costs to you but very seldom will you be offered lump sum payments.

You should check to see if you have any existing policies in place already. You may have life insurance from your employer or through your home mortgage. Check to see if any existing policies include rider policies. Your employer may have a life insurance policy that is automatically extended to you and will pay out a percentage of your wages to your beneficiaries. If you have any policies that are in effect be sure to keep them active, if they lapse you will most likely not get them back with an HIV diagnosis.

Social security offers death benefits to your beneficiaries. Go to your local social security office and find out what the benefits are and make sure you have updated the information for the correct beneficiaries to get it. If any changes need to be made they will assist you on how to do this.

If you need more information on your current death benefits or need help in selecting your beneficiaries an attorney can be helpful. You can have any questions answered that you might be confused about as well as make any changes to your will with their assistance.

Your employers human resource department can be extremely helpful in assisting with finding any available programs or life insurance policies that are part of their employment package. Several employers have a group life insurance policy program that is automatically extended to their employees and will require no pre qualification or underwriting to be accepted. The policies pay out a percentage of your wages to the beneficiaries you name on the policy at the time of your death. If you are not on this policy and it is available the human resource department will assist in getting you started.

If you are employed where no policies are available for death benefits then you may choose to look for an employer who does offer the benefits and switch jobs. Even if you take a cut in pay it is worth the peace of mind that your loved ones will be taken care of. Be sure this does not affect your health insurance coverage as many policies will refuse pre existing conditions.

Your HIV AIDS counselor will also be able to help with finding you programs or life insurance companies that may be able to assist you in your search for peace of mind. There are several insurance companies that are now accepting clients that are HIV positive because of the great results the AIDS medications has on their life span.

Guaranteed insurance companies are available to anyone even if they are terminally ill. The policies will usually only cover the cost of your funeral or burial and will have much higher premiums.

Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator a leading South African Life Insurance and Life Cover website.

Life Insurance And The Underwriting

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

So many people apply for life insurance policies, but only a few of them get approved for the same. It is certainly not the easiest of jobs to get a life insurance policy. You may have enough money to pay the premiums, but it does not make you eligible for the policy. Your application for a life insurance will be assessed and analyzed. In other words, a thorough underwriting would be done on the application. Underwriting consists of the risk analysis to approve the application, and the decision on appropriate premium amounts to be paid by the individual.

Underwriters are therefore hired by most of the insurance companies that help in underwriting the applications. The insurance companies are on a look out for the profit and hence the risk assessment. There are a total of three steps included in the process of underwriting, namely examine the application, decision to insure or not, determine the premium. Let us discuss these steps one by one.

Examination of the application is all about collecting the client information. Various details about the applicant are collected and stored for assessment. The details could include marital status, sex, type of living area, age, and current health status etc. The applicant is measured against each of these parameters.

After the details are collected, the decision making phase starts. Here all the parameters are gauged one by one, and the applicant is remarked for each parameter. These parameters are also known as the risk factors. For an applicant to have his application approved, he must score low on these risk factors. Although each of the risk factors has its own weight and importance, it is common belief that most insurance companies emphasize more on the age and health of the applicant. A young age and a good health of the applicant make it easy for the insurance company to approve the application. Similarly, an old aged and ailing applicant may not get a nod fro the insurance company. Living environment is another aspect considered by the companies. A good living environment implies that the applicant would suffer lesser ailments, and hence live long. As against this, a polluted and unhygienic living environment creates doubts in the minds of the insurance company. The gender of the applicant can also play a role at times. Many companies believe that women live healthier and fitter than men, for they do not take depressions. Interestingly, married men are believed to live a healthier life than the married women, indicating that the marital status also plays a role in the approval or denial of the insurance policy application. Lastly, the living habits of the customer also determine the fate of the application. If the applicant is a smoker and/or drinker, the chances of an approval are bleak.

The above discussed risk factors not only help in deciding about the approval or denial of the application, but also the premium amounts to be paid. If the application is approved, the next step if underwriting is to measure the correct premium amounts. Younger and fitter individuals are likely to pay lesser premium amounts, as compared to the older and ailing individuals.

Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator a leading South African Life Insurance and Life Cover portal. For tips on how to save on your life insurance visit our website.

How Did Insurance Begin

Saturday, June 19th, 2010

The word insurance refers to any contract where a person pays another person or business to insure the safety, but to be more precise, pay for the replacement of any such personal property if said property is lost, destroyed, or damaged in some other way other then the neglect or purposeful destruction of the owner of said property. There is insurance for just about anything, insurance is generally divided into four areas; vehicle, property, health, and life insurance.

The imbursement sum usually goes to the agreed beneficiaries in the result of the policy holder?s death. The beneficiaries are usually predetermined when the insurance is purchased but can be altered by the policy holder at any time before his/hers death. The acknowledged sum is usually at least one hundred thousand dollars for your average plan. The amount can be increased but the premiums also increase. Another way to increase the sum is to have several life insurance policies for one policy holder.

The earliest known form of a true form of a contractual insurance agreement came as early as 3 or 2 millennia B.C. These simple agreements stated that a merchant, trader or transporter of goods would guarantee the safety of said cargo or shipment. If the goods were lost, the transporter of said goods would pay either the sender or receiver for the loss or both. Other agreements were simply a fee paid by the transporter so that of the goods were lost then the fee would cover said loss of goods. These agreements were usually done by a verbal agreement, but they were later back up by laws etched in stone and papyrus.

As human society became more modern, many traders would hire retired soldiers, i.e. mercenaries, to help shepherd their goods from place to place. These men could in some ways be called the first security guards of human society. But it was hazardous and difficult work, but for the soldiers of fortune of that time it was some of the best work one could get.

Now in the modern age insurance is now a necessity for a normal life in every nation on Earth. Insurance now covers Life, property, health, and even liability from lawsuits. The insurance commodity is now a multi-billion dollar business. The first known insurance business was started after the Great London Fire in 1666. The fire destroyed-,200 houses. After this tragedy, Nicholas Barbon opened an office to insure buildings. In 1680, he established England’s first fire insurance company, “The Fire Office,” to insure brick and frame homes.

In the 21st century all insurance companies sell some form of life insurance. It is the number one form of insurance purchased globally. Much of it is sold to people after they have children in hopes that in the event of a premature or unexpected death the sum paid to the survivors will be able to use the money to bury their loved ones and support them financially.

Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator a leading South African Life Insurance and Life Cover portal. For more information on the different types of life insurance visit our website.

What Is Whole Life Insurance?

Friday, June 4th, 2010

Whole life insurance helps your family with compensation money if you die, but it also has some other plus points too. Whole life insurance provides cover for your entire life, though it is little more expensive than other insurance plans. Some part of your each premium is invested; you can either choose to take that money once you reach to certain age or in case of any emergency.

After your die, your family members may have several kinds of expenses to bear. By buying a life insurance you are shielding them from several financial breakdowns. Based on your style of living, your family may have to face more expenses than you expected. First the funeral expenses, which now costs almost a fortune. Another important fact is that now your family has one working member less. This can be tough with families having young children. You too may also wish to defend your business, or give some funds to charitable trust after death.

If you pay your premiums on time your family can anticipate huge compensation money. This compensation money is largely influenced by the amount you have fixed for your insurance plan, though it is generally greater than five times of your annual earnings. You can also withdraw your funds early if there is any emergency. This can be done only because the insurance company has invested some part of your each premium. You can also fix your plan by either withdrawing your funds after you reach to a certain age or in case of any disaster. This plan is very important if you require extra money for your home or at the time of retirement or even for tuition. In such situations this whole life insurance plan works like a loan, but it is not essentially as rate competent as standard loan.

While assessing your suitability for insurance, the insurer considers factors like your credit record and well-being. If you want to insure yourself when you are young and healthy you will get some discount on premiums as compared to others. Even by improving your style of living you can lower your rates. This may includes losing weight, leave smoking, and improving your food habits. You can meliorate your credit by clearing your old dues and maintaining correct credit record by making complaints against the wrong entries, if any.

At times a whole life insurance is too much that what is really required to cover your needs. There are other kinds of life insurance schemes available in the market which you can go for if excluding whole life insurance. There are some plans which provide you cover temporarily and have lower premiums too. Even if you think your family will require a huge amount of money as compensation after your death, there are still some other insurance plans to look into. You must do adequate research on insurance providing companies and their representatives in your locality before selecting one on which you belief. You have to use all your resources such as internet, your friends, and your phone book to find out the best plan which offers you lower premiums than others.

Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator at Lifeinsurance-Southafrica.co.za South Arica?s leading Life Insurance and Life Cover portal.

Finding Security For Life

Friday, May 28th, 2010

These days investing in life insurance makes more sense than ever, and with the new profits and advantages of today’s insurance companies, it can really be a great option. It’s especially convenient that we’re also able to customize the type of policy we want based on our individual needs, thus allowing for the best possible fit policy wise.

With a little added work in regards to our investments, life insurance can go a long way towards securing our future and creating a worry free life. By sharing the benefits of life insurance with friends and family, we can make smart investments that will save us from all of life’s misfortunes and protect us from hardships.

Life often presents little opportunities that can make a big difference in our lives in years to come. Investing in a life insurance policy is one of those little opportunities, putting away small amounts of money, which can make a big difference, paying out large returns to those left behind. When we begin our investments, then our financial planning for life is well underway.

Many formerly rich people made that mistake,but pride leads to disaster, and if you don’t compensate for the worst then the worst will surely happen. Recent economic troubles have shown us that no amount of money makes someone safe from disaster. Money is worthless without the wisdom to keep it throughout your life. No matter how good things look right now, it’s always smart to have something to fall back on if things take a turn for the worst tomorrow. With maturity, self-discipline, and an eye on the long-term, you easily get insurance that is both affordable and useful. Once that’s done, you can relax in knowing the insurance company’s got your back.

A few years back, my aunt unexpectedly lost her husband. However, because my uncle had been investing in the universal life insurance policy for a couple of years, she was getting good returns, allowing her children to complete their education with no added financial hardships.

I gladly accepted all the terms and regulations and was able to rest easily once I knew my family was taken care of into the foreseeable future. By investing in life insurance, I made the right decision for myself and for my family. The quality of life improves dramatically knowing that such an important task is done, and I couldn’t be happier about my decision.

Susan Reynolds is the webmaster for a leading South African Life Insurance provider. For more information visit: http://life.insurance123.co.za/

Life And Health Insurance ? The Difference

Sunday, May 23rd, 2010

Don?t get perplexed with the several different terms in the insurance industry. Life and heath insurance plans are quite dissimilar and offer you coverage in various ways. It is important for you to research well about the various plans offered before you buy one.

Life insurance offers coverage to your family members in case of your death. The compensation offered to your family is according to the plan you receive. Many people opt for six years value of their annual salary or more from their plan. Your insurance plan depends on you making timely monthly payments.

Before providing you any life insurance plan the insurance company wants to decide about the amount of risk they are taking to provide you cover. It is always difficult to get cover for life once you start getting older, or you may be suffering from any serious illness. Insurance companies may consider your credit to decide on your ability of making monthly premiums. Once their research on your living style and your credit history completed they will put forward you a premium, which you will have to pay every month to secure your coverage.

There are two main different types of life insurance. One type is called term insurance, and it lets you get coverage for the time during which you are making your payments. This is suitable if you just want to be covered for a short about of time. Some people get term life insurance while they have children so that they are protected while they are young, and get rid of it when they get older.

Health insurance is very different from life insurance. It is planned to pay your medical treatment charges either partly or fully. People take health insurance either to cover their expenses on small doctor visits or for defend if they receive huge and unpredicted medical expenses.

Full coverage is one of the most expensive types, but it covers any type of medical bill that might come up. You can also get an 80/20 plan, which lets you pay for 20% of the bill, no matter how much it is. Another type of plan pays up to a certain amount of money, and lets you cover the rest. The type of plan that?s best for you depends on your situation.

Many types you can get life or health insurance through your work. Check to see if they have any deals for you that might allow you to have smaller payments. Your health insurance plan premiums will be determined just like your life insurance. If you are involved with any kind of risky hobbies like sky diving or rock climbing it can be hard to get covered at an affordable rate. If you want to lower your payments there are several things you can do. First try improving your credit by disputing any charges and paying off any bills you have. If you are a smoker you can have your rates reduced by half if you are able to quit for a year.

Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator at Lifeinsurance-Southafrica.co.za South Arica?s leading Life Insurance and Life Cover portal.

Life Family Protection

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

Risk coverage is the change of someone dying during a fixed time period. Insurance companies always use medical records and family medical history to check a person?s eligibility for life insurance. Life insurance makes a lump sum payment upon the death of the insured. Life insurance is often used as a savings or an investment, but there are certain options and costs involved.

Term life coverage is a temporary measure of protection. It will help to clear off the debts and serve as an extra security of the insured. Individual?s demand and obligations differs from person to person. At the time of its maturity, it would be helpful to meet out the immediate obligations and necessaries.

The price to be paid for a life insurance depends upon your health. Those having good health records, secure coverage at cheaper prices. Good healthy person will get lengthy policy for the coverage selected and the terms that are at your choice are many, like 10,20,25 years.

Your alternative to term life insurance is whole life insurance. Guess how long that lasts you? That’s right, your whole life (usually)! Whole life policies are a long term solution to life coverage worries, and are almost certain to be there for your loved ones when you pass on. They’re also quite useful as investments, since they can build up substantial interest over time. However, they’re not very useful unless they’ve had all those decades to acquire value, and the premiums you pay for all this are higher than the premiums of a term life policy. Be certain which of the two types of policies is best for you before deciding on one or the other.

This is otherwise an investment, since life assurance and term insurance are merged. So the premium paid goes to cover the insurance policy and also for investment. Only a long period, say more than 20 years, insurance coverage would be beneficial, both in insurance point of view and investment point of view. The return would be modest compared to that low term insurance. More over, paying premium for a long period other gives you tax saving benefit also.

The premium is the price for the life insurance policy. Finding out lower premium insurance company is not much harder one. Such low priced insurance can be searched over online easily. The life coverage that can be secured differs based on the age of the insurer. A person aged 20, may get high insurance coverage, say for example, he may get coverage for 500,000 dollars for 25 dollars monthly premium, whereas, a person aged 50, can get coverage for only 100,000 dollars. This is the same case in between female insurers also. So, it would be better to take up life coverage at younger age.

A life insurance agent can help you determine which policy is best suited to your financial situation. Using the internet to research life insurance policies and prices allows you to get the best policy and help secure you and your family?s financial future.

Susan Reynolds is the webmaster for a leading South African Life Insurance provider. For more information visit: http://life.insurance123.co.za/

How to Structure a Group Life Insurance Policy?

Friday, May 7th, 2010

A group life insurance policy is a plan set up by an employer or organization with 5-10 or more members. The employer negotiates lower rates with the group policy, and the insurance company covers everyone that is involved. A group life insurance policy is a great asset to add to your company if you want more employees to stay. There are many different things you can do with a versatile plan like this.

Monthly payment system can be finalized in numerous dissimilar ways. You can select for the premiums to be paid exclusively by your organization, or half from employee and half from organization. It is completely depends on workers that whether they wish to be the part of this group or not, but organization needs at least 5, normally 10 workers to start this plan.

The group life insurance plan generally has a considerably lower coverage, which may be just once, or twice your annual salary. If you want then you can club your own life insurance with a group plan like this. Each employee is given the right to adjust the nominee for their insurance plan at any time they feel like.

Group life insurance comes with many benefits to the employees. Since it is a group plan, the insurance company does not take into effect any personal liabilities. A company instead is estimated as a whole, and the premiums are adjusted from there. No employee can be denied their coverage, so everyone will be very grateful for that. If an employee decides to leave they will be able to renew their coverage with the same company within a month of their leaving.

You can easily set up a group life insurance policy. Look around to find the most suitable plan with good rates, and see which insurance company offers a better plan. After you find a good company, you can get start setting up a group plan by involving the other people in your company who are willing to take part. You may have to collect information about each of the employees who wants to take part in the policy with you. The insurer will simply ask you about your business and its nature of work. This is required to know how much risk is involved in the workplace for the employees. When you recruit new staff, they may too become a member in the plan, by filling up some simple forms.

If an employee quits the job then they can still continue with the plan, however they must get it changed to a personal plan. The employee can get the nature of the plan changed within 30 days of quitting job. After that, they will have to themselves make the monthly installments and it is possible that the premiums get higher; however the employee can still enjoy coverage under the same organization.

Group life insurance plans are a way of making your company more desirable. It can be considered a fringe benefit for anyone who is hired. Employees will stick around longer, allowing you to invest less time and money into training. Many company group life insurance plans are accompanied by a disability plan, which can also be arranged with your insurance.

Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator at Lifeinsurance-Southafrica.co.za South Arica?s leading Life Insurance and Life Cover portal.

Stepping Into The World Of Life Insurance

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

Life insurance is very popular these days. Many people purchase policies, and advertisements for it are as prevalent as those for car insurance or home insurance. Yet most people don’t understand how life insurance works as well as they understand other kinds of insurance.

In life insurance line, there are two categories of policies. One is called term insurance policy and other one is called whole life coverage. Though these have many subsidiary branches, the main are the above two types.

Whole life insurance covers you for your whole life. In the event of your death, your beneficiary will receive a financial compensation set by the terms of your policy. It often comes with a fixed premium, which means that you pay a fixed amount your whole life, as opposed to paying less when you are younger and more when you are older. Whole life insurance policies could be said to blend insurance protection with some features of an investment fund.

Term life insurance covers you for a set number of years, or term, instead of your whole life. Term life insurance is generally less expensive than whole life insurance, and is generally a little more popular than whole life insurance for this reason. If you have term life insurance, then you must be careful about its expiration. If you don’t plan ahead, then you will find yourself looking for another life insurance policy at a time when life insurance will cost you more.

There’s no right or wrong decision when buying life insurance! It’s just a matter of figuring out what kind of policy best fits your needs at a particular point in time. Term life is cheaper, while whole life lasts longer, and they’re both fine choices for different people in different situations. So when you’re shopping for insurance, think hard about what your life is like and what you really need to get out of your insurance policy before you settle with a policy.

Whole life insurance can also be used as an asset. Many whole life insurance policies will allow you to borrow money against the value of your policy. This can be a valuable resource, and make whole life insurance a greater asset than term life insurance for some people. You can even decide to cancel your policy in exchange for its cash value. (This is called “cashing out” your policy.)

The World Wide Web known as ?www? contains different company?s quotes online. It is a very easy process to get quotes of various life insurance policies only, free of cost. After collection of quotes, compare them, and after consultation with your lawyer or your agent, go for that one at your choice. The main functioning and aim of the life insurance policies are to provide proper and considerable financial assistance after the death of the insured. Your willingness to go for a life policy changes based on your age and responsibility.

Susan Reynolds is the webmaster for a leading South African Life Insurance website. For more information visit: http://life.insurance123.co.za/