The Advantages of Whole Life Insurance

Whole life insurance is a type of insurance policy that, like term life insurance, pays out upon the death of the person who is insured as long as the policy is in force.

The key difference between these two types of life insurance is that with whole life insurance, coverage is provided for your entire life rather than for a fixed amount of time. As long as your premium payments are up-to-date, a lump sum will be paid to your beneficiary in the event of your death, regardless of when that actually is. This payout guarantees your loved ones will be able to pay your funeral expenses and death duties, and will be able to remain financially stable.

Whole life insurance is typically more expensive than term life insurance, but it provides some significant advantages, the most important of which is the fact that you're covered for your entire life with this one policy. As long as you keep up-to-date with premium payments, your whole life insurance policy never has to be renewed. In addition, the amount of your premium remains constant over the life of the policy, so it's much easier to include the cost of the policy in your budget.

Another important benefit of whole life insurance policies is that you can access the cash value of your policy at any time. This means you have access to what amounts to a cash loan, at a much lower interest rate than a traditional loan, without the need to qualify for the loan, and with no requirement to pay the money back. Of course, it's in the best interests of your beneficiaries to pay back any money you borrow from the policy, but it's not strictly necessary to do so.

Depending on the policy you buy, you may be eligible for some other benefits, too. Some whole life insurance policies allow you to cease paying premiums once you reach a certain age-typically at 70 years of age or older. As long as you have kept up with all payments until the cessation date, you will continue to be covered by the policy once you reach that age, without having to pay additional premiums. Because people are living longer and are more likely to live into their seventies and eighties, this is an excellent way of making sure you're covered after retirement without having to meet the extra expense of insurance premiums at a time when your income is likely to be reduced.

Many Whole life policies are investment-based, meaning that a portion of the money you pay in premiums goes towards assuring your lump sum payout, and the rest of the money is invested. Because of this, some types of whole life policy pay out additional money along with the lump sum payment. With-profit whole life policies pay out a bonus sum on top of the amount that you insure yourself for, the amount of which is determined by the earnings on investments made by the company in the year before the policy is paid out. Unit-linked policies work in a similar fashion in that they provide extra money in addition to the lump sum payment, but in this case the bonus comes from interest and earnings made on money that you pay into the insurance fund.

Why You Can't Beat The Internet Advantage

For anyone who has lost a loved one, filing a claim for life insurance settlements is not something your look forward to. It's hard enough at times in coping with your loss. Fortunately, the process is pretty straightforward once you have the required paperwork. Here is a look at what you'll need.

Although most all life insurance companies are the same in handling claims, you'll want to be sure you call your insurance agent and find out exactly all the papers you need. If it's an employee life plan, get in touch with the benefits manager of the company.

Get a list together of all life insurance policies, along with the actual policy if possible. This could involve some research on your part because many folks will carry life insurance from credit card companies, employers, banks and a host of other possibilities.

It could be helpful to look over bank and credit card statements to see if there were payments being made on life policies you didn't know about.

Next, you'll need copies of the death certificate. This is a requirement in filing any claim for life insurance settlements. At the same time you may want to gather together mortgage papers, loan papers and even credit card statements. This can make things much easier in the event you need copies.

You will then fill out a form for proof of death, which will be sent back with the copy of the death certificate. Your insurance agent will get you these forms.

There will be other forms as well, such as one that goes to the IRS, etc.

After everything is filled out and sent back, it usually takes the insurance company around one week to process it. If there is anything missing, they will get back to you with what is wrong.

If everything has been filled out correctly, the company will send you, the beneficiary, a settlement check. Depending on the payment option that was set up when buying the policy, proceeds are generally paid out all at once.

Life insurance proceeds are income tax free so this is not an issue.

Some life insurance policies will have regularly scheduled payments. This is more common with children.

Receiving the proceeds from life insurance settlements is fairly easy if you have all the required papers in easy reach.

What You Need To Know On How To File A Claim

For anyone who has lost a loved one, filing a claim for life insurance settlements is not something your look forward to. It's hard enough at times in coping with your loss. Fortunately, the process is pretty straightforward once you have the required paperwork. Here is a look at what you'll need.

Although most all life insurance companies are the same in handling claims, you'll want to be sure you call your insurance agent and find out exactly all the papers you need. If it's an employee life plan, get in touch with the benefits manager of the company.

Get a list together of all life insurance policies, along with the actual policy if possible. This could involve some research on your part because many folks will carry life insurance from credit card companies, employers, banks and a host of other possibilities.

It could be helpful to look over bank and credit card statements to see if there were payments being made on life policies you didn't know about.

Next, you'll need copies of the death certificate. This is a requirement in filing any claim for life insurance settlements. At the same time you may want to gather together mortgage papers, loan papers and even credit card statements. This can make things much easier in the event you need copies.

You will then fill out a form for proof of death, which will be sent back with the copy of the death certificate. Your insurance agent will get you these forms.

There will be other forms as well, such as one that goes to the IRS, etc.

After everything is filled out and sent back, it usually takes the insurance company around one week to process it. If there is anything missing, they will get back to you with what is wrong.

If everything has been filled out correctly, the company will send you, the beneficiary, a settlement check. Depending on the payment option that was set up when buying the policy, proceeds are generally paid out all at once.

Life insurance proceeds are income tax free so this is not an issue.

Some life insurance policies will have regularly scheduled payments. This is more common with children.

Receiving the proceeds from life insurance settlements is fairly easy if you have all the required papers in easy reach.

Do I Need Critical Illness Insurance?

Critical illness insurance is taken out to cover you either for life or for a set period of time against certain critical illnesses, diseases and medical conditions. It differs from life insurance in that life insurance pays out should you die. Critical illness insurance pays if you become physically or mentally impaired through illness or disease.

A policy to cover you for critical illness will pay out a tax free lump sum if you should fall victim to one of the illnesses defined within the policy. All that is needed to make a claim is the diagnosis by your Doctor of one of the illnesses or conditions defined in the policy; there is usually no requirement for you to prove loss of earnings or for you to need any special medical treatment.

Points to consider when thinking of taking out this form of insurance is that the sum and terms are decided at the outset when you take out your policy.

In order for the policy to pay out then you must survive for at least 28 days after the condition or illness has been diagnosed.

Once the set time of the policy has passed and you haven’t been diagnosed as having a serious illness or condition then there is no payout and the policy simply ceases.

Before deciding on whether or not to take out critical illness insurance you should take several factors into consideration. The most important thing to decide is how much money you would need if you were to become critically ill and then decide how long you would need the cover for.

You will also have to take into account the various illnesses that are covered as these can vary from company to company. Another thing to take into account is that different companies have different exclusions within the policies so it is important that you read all the small print.

David Thomson is Chief Executive of BestDealInsurance a completely independent specialist broker dedicated to providing their clients with the best insurance deal. They offer great value life insurance as well as, critical illness and income protection, ensuring that their clients have the protection they need, without leaving a hole in their pocket.

How to Protect your Home and Family with Mortgage Life Insurance

Paying off a mortgage can be a struggle, even for families with two incomes. If you or your partner should suffer a terminal illness or even die, that struggle increases dramatically due to medical expenses, funeral expenses and lost income. For this reason, it's a good idea to consider mortgage life insurance, which will enable your dependants to pay off the mortgage if you should die or become terminally ill.

There are two types of mortgage life insurance. With level term mortgage insurance, the amount you're insured for stays the same over the life of your mortgage, whereas with decreasing term mortgage insurance, the amount you're insured for decreases as the amount you owe on the mortgage decreases. In both cases, the policy is terminated automatically when a claim is made or when the mortgage is paid in full without a claim being made.

The cost of your mortgage life insurance policy depends on the size of your mortgage and the length of time you require the policy for, as well as whether you choose level term or decreasing term insurance. In addition, the size of your premium will depend partly on your lifestyle and physical health, just as it does for life insurance.

Decreasing term mortgage insurance is typically less expensive than level term insurance, because the sum that would be paid out in the event of a claim decreases over time. The type of insurance that will best meet your needs depends mostly on what you can afford. If money is tight, decreasing term insurance is easiest to manage, since your insurance premiums decrease as you pay off the mortgage. Level term insurance is the best option if it's not prohibitively expensive, as it means there may be extra money left over for your dependants once the mortgage is paid. This is also a good option if you have an interest-only mortgage, since you do not build up equity in your home quickly with this type of mortgage, and your mortgage repayments increase over time.

If your mortgage is jointly owned by you and your partner, you'll need to take out joint mortgage life insurance. This policy pays out if either you or your partner dies before the policy term ends. If the mortgage is not held jointly, you and your partner must take out separate insurance policies. Depending on your circumstances, either one of these options may be more advantageous-it's not always a matter of simply choosing the cheapest.

Your mortgage lender will most likely recommend that you get mortgage life insurance when you get a mortgage. They will also probably recommend that you purchase a policy from them or their company, however this is not necessary and is often more expensive than it would be if you chose an independent insurance company. Regardless of which insurance company you choose, it's always important to check the fine print and make sure you understand exactly how the coverage works, and whether there are any situations where your policy might not pay out. Not all mortgage life insurance policies pay out in the event of terminal illness, so this is something you must investigate thoroughly before committing to a policy.