Understand How Term Life Insurance Works Before Buying a Policy
If your parents or friends are badgering you to get life insurance, do not go out and get the first policy you come across. This could land you in a soup for you could end up losing money on a policy that will not benefit either you or your family members. The first step is to find out about all the policies available and doing a thorough research on them. Once you do this research, you can search the Internet and get instant term life insurance quotes or quotes for other insurance policies.
Getting instant term life insurance quotes will allow you to pin point exactly how much coverage you require and for how long. Not knowing this could land you with too small a coverage that will not be commensurate with your likely future expenses. Since term life insurance is normally considered the most affordable insurance, it is sought after by most people. Hence, as a start, let us find out what term life insurance is all about, the different plans and how they work.
Term life insurance is a policy that provides coverage for a predetermined period of time – say 1, 5,10,15,20 or more years. The rates of the policy will not change for the entire duration of the policy and the only variable factor is the time period. Once the term expires, the policy holder can decide between two options – forgo coverage and be without insurance or get another policy with new terms and conditions. The chief merit of term life is that if the policyholder dies within the term, his or her beneficiaries can get the entire insurance amount as a death benefit.
Of course, if the policyholder outlives the term, he cannot get any benefit unless he renews the policy. Now if at the end of the term, the insured person develops a critical illness, he could be deemed ‘uninsurable’ and find it impossible to get a new policy or get one at ridiculously high rates. This is why, it is important to understand just how term life insurance works before getting instant term life insurance quotes and then applying for a policy.
Many middle and lower class people go in for term life insurance for it is cheap and provides a definite death benefit to the survivor. This provides assured financial security and the insurance money can be used to pay off multiple debts and prevents a financial crisis in the family. Determining the duration of the policy is critical to obtaining the right policy to suit individual needs. Keeping this in mind, here are the three different term life insurance schemes offered by most insurance companies:
– Level term life
– Decreasing term life
– Annual renewable term life
The first kind is where the insurance rates and the coverage will remain constant for the entire duration of the policy. In decreasing term life, the coverage amount will decrease each year while the rates remain the same. The coverage or death benefit could come to nil by the time the policy expires. Yet the value of the policy will be higher than the original premium amount paid. With annual renewable life insurance, the policy can be renewed each year. However, there is no guarantee that the rates will not increase on renewal.
Those looking for affordable life insurance will do well to get multiple term life insurance quotes. This can be done online or through independent insurance agents. Always remember to approach independent brokers for they will represent multiple insurance companies and will hence offer advice on which is the best policy to take. If you approach an insurance agent attached to one company, you will get quotes only for one insurance company with no competitive prices to compare. Some people prefer using an insurance agent, even if they have to pay a fee to them, rather than studying quotes on their own.
Next, take the time off to undergo a full physical exam. Getting a good score on this will definitely help you get low cost life insurance. If there is some medical anomaly, then this medical test will help you seek some treatment to cure you of the condition. For example, if your blood pressure is high, the right medication and diet could bring it down. A follow up medical test will show lower blood pressure and therefore a better medical report. So, knowing more about different insurance policies, obtaining multiple quotes and then selecting is the best way to get the right term life insurance policy.
Author Bio: Article by David Livingston of EQuote.com, a website with the best cheap term life insurance and affordable term life insurance information in the country.
Category: Finances
Keywords: affordable life insurance, instant term life insurance