Life Insurance is a type of insurance that covers the life of a person. It can be defined as a contract between the insured person and the insurance company.
As per this agreement, the insurance company pays a certain sum of money to the beneficiaries after the death of the person who has been insured by the policy. The insured person pays a premium at fixed intervals of time to the insurance company.
It is important that the death of the insured person happens because of an insured event that has been specified in the agreement. Serious illness is the most common type of insured event that is specified in insurance plans.
Life insurance policies can be of different types. On the basis of the needs and requirements, a person can purchase the plan that appears to be the most feasible.
A term life insurance plan is also known as a temporary insurance plan. This plan is the simplest and easiest one which can be purchased for insuring the life of a person. This type of a plan is the one which covers the life of a person buying this plan only for a specific period of time. If the person for whom the insurance plan has been purchased for dies within the term of the plan, the insurance company pays the sum of money. However, if the term ends and the policy is not renewed, the cash benefits are not paid out.
Whole Life Insurance plans are the ones which cover an individual for his or her entire life. There is no fixed time interval after which the policy expires. When the policy holder dies, the insurance company pays a specific sum of money to the beneficiaries named in the policy.
Term life insurance policy requires the policy holder to pay the same amount of premium as the cost of this policy is spread across several years. The cash benefit is paid in a lump sum as the cash get accrued over a long period of time.
Universal life insurance plan is the one which covers a person till his or her death. In universal insurance plans, the insurance amount is divided into death benefit and accrued cash. In this case, cash can be withdrawn as soon as cash value gets accumulated and so cash is not paid in a lump sum.