Life Insurance

Accelerated benefits
--- Benefits available in some life insurance policies before death, usually triggered by long-term, catastrophic or terminal illness. Also known as living benefits.

Accidental death benefits
--- A provision added to a life insurance policy for payment of an additional benefit in case of death that results from an accident. This provision is often called "double indemnity."

Accumulation period
--- The time during which a person pays money into an annuity contract and builds up a fund to provide a deferred annuity.

Actuary
--- Someone professionally trained in the technical aspects of insurance and related fields, particularly in the mathematics of insurance (the calculation of premiums, reserves and other values).

Adjustable life insurance
--- A type of insurance that allows the policyholder to change the plan of insurance, raise or lower the face amount of the policy, increase or decrease the premium and lengthen or shorten the protection period.

Agent
--- An authorized representative of an insurance company who sells and services insurance contracts.

Annuitant
--- The person entitled to receive annuity payments or who now receives them.

Annuity
--- A contract that provides for a series of payments, usually at regular intervals, for the duration of life.

Annuity certain
--- A contract that provides an income for a specified number of years, regardless of life or death.

Annuity consideration
--- The payment, or one of the regular periodic payments, an annuitant makes for an annuity.

Application
--- A statement of information made by some one applying for life insurance. The information gathered helps the life insurance company assess whether the risk presented by the applicant is acceptable.

Assignment
--- The legal transfer of one person's interest in an insurance policy to another person.

Automatic premium loan
--- A provision in a life insurance policy that any premium not paid by the end of the grace period (usually 31 days) is automatically paid by a policy loan if there is sufficient cash value.

Beneficiary
--- The person or financial instrument (for example, a trust fund), named in the policy as the recipient of insurance money in the event of the policyholder's death.

Broker
--- A sales and service representative who handles insurance for clients, generally selling insurance of various kinds and for several companies.

Business life insurance
--- Life insurance purchased by a business enterprise on the life of a member of the firm. It is often bought by partnerships to protect the surviving partners against loss caused by the death of a partner, or by a corporation to reimburse it for loss caused by the death of a key employee. (Also known as key person insurance.)

Cash value
--- The amount available in cash upon surrender of a policy before it becomes payable upon death or maturity.