Importance of Life Insurance Policy:

While we know that an insurance is a kind of protection received against the loss of something  in lieu of which we receive a financial protection, in this light we can very well see the life insurance policy’s importance and advantages. There various parameters to judge the difference between a life and general in the context that which policy has better protection and endowments to the party who suffers a loss and we can clearly see the advantages and features of life insurance being of immense nature.

Importance:

Life is a valuable undertaking for us, and protection against life is vital which goes unsaid. Life insurance insures against the loss of life and the various types of life insurance which are provided by the insurance companies work on the similar lines of providing benefits to the deceased family and they work on certain similar principles.

The points to remember here are-

• Life insurance is a type of insurance that insures against the loss of life

• The life of the insured is protected with the help of sum assured in the life policy

• The insurance company is in a position to pay the family members of the deceased in the event of any loss arising out of death

• Such assured amount will be beneficial to the deceased family to cope up with the financial difficulties that may arise after the person’s death.

• To avail the assured sum of life policy, the insured must pay a premium to the insuring company through their lifetime, or for the duration as has been specified in the policy.

• The difference with general insurance in this respect is that although general insurance works on similar principle, I general insurance the insured must also pay a premium to the company, and in lieu of that, they may be accessible to an expenditure later which does not happen in the life.

However to determine the importance of a life insurance it needs to be compared with the general insurance and in this light we will see the following comparisions between them.

While we discussed about the importance and features of life insurance, let us examine its advantages with respect to several types of life insurance and how they affectthe insured party.

Whole Life Plan- This policy is provided to the insured’s nominee or beneficiary who has been already declared. The coverage of this policy lasts for the remaining life of the insured. The owner has to pay regular premiums for this type until the occurrence of death and the premiums operate under a fixed rate. The notable feature is due to the payout nature the policy, it has a cash value that can be used to secure a loan during the insured’s life.

Limited Payment- This is slightly varied to the whole life policy plan.  The term of the plan is same like the whole life only the policy gets self-funded after certain number of payments. Hence the policy is named as limited payment. Once these payments are made the owner of the policy no longer pays recurring premium.

 Term Life policy- This kind of policy is for a specific holder or named beneficiary for a specific term. The premium has to be borne by the owner till the end of the term. At the end once the insured is alive the policy expires itself and no longer serves the benefit. The important point here is the term that is defined at the beginning of insurance. Its vital role in this type of policy.

Endowment Policy- This is not a very common form on insurance. This is similar to the term in the respect that the insured pays the premium for the term of insurance existing, at the end of the term or at the expiry of the defined term, affixed sum of money is paid to the beneficiary on a certain date. This policy is a form of gift policy that is awarded as endowment to the insured beneficiary.

Life annuity policy- This form of policy demands the owner to pay a consolidated or lumpsum amount to the insurance company or insurer. This payment can be at once or in a series of payments to insurer. The agreement here is that the insurer starts paying the beneficiary through recurring payments after a certain date. The payment will last as long as the insured is alive or until the end of insured’s life. The payment to beneficiary ceases once the insured is dead or the termination of payment comes to end after the death of the insured. This is a typical insurance while the insured is alive and hence insurance is paid in a form of pension to the beneficiary.

Universal Life policy- This mode is called as combination policy. It combines the features of both the term and life insurance into combined form policy.

There are Common Omissions in Life Insurance Policies-

Eliminations/Omissions can be defined as events and situations not enclosed by the insurance policy. Example of real-life scenario.

A person may decide to buy a life insurance policy and then choose to end his life by committing suicide. According to policy of life insurance the beneficiary should be paid out the sum assured in the event of the policyholder’s death. But due to exclusion clause in the  life insurance- a suicide, is not insured. Suicide is generally an exclusion in a life insurance policy. All life insurance companies do not pay out the sum assured when death takes place by suicide within the first year of the policy term.

Other reasons are war, criminal death sentences, or any sort of murder.

Life insurance policies have many variations like term insurance, unit linked plans, endowment plans etc with additional boosters to support specific situations of a person's life. It depends on an individuals or his family needs in short and long term. It's not very impressive in terms of returns except for term policies which are more valued only when person is no more around. Term policies should be considered if the person has more liabilities like home loan, education loan of children etc which shouldn't be a burden to his family in his absence. Rest of the policies come handy on necessary occasions as planned for like marriage, education, retirement etc