Life Insurance Quotation
The structure of life quotations and contracts.
Once you’ve progressed to a life insurance quotation, perhaps by whittling the choice down to five companies, it’s time to read the small print. The quotation is the last step before a contract, so before you think about signing, you need to know exactly what you (and the life office) are committed to!
Your life insurance quotation isn’t quite the same as the contract you end up signing, but it will, as well as telling you exactly how much you’ll pay, give you essential additional information. If you don’t get the following, ask for them:
Provisions- this is the core of the life insurance quotation, and should explain each feature of the policy. That means the benefits to you, the conditions under which those benefits will be paid, and any requirements on your part, for example medical examination.
Options- these are features of the agreement that require you to make a choice regarding the coverage you receive; for example lengths of term or a choice between lump sum and long-term income cover.
Riders- these are additional clauses inserted by the insurer at the time of application and added to the standard agreement. That might mean extra cover you’ve requested in return for an additional premium, or equally endorsements added by the life company to secure them against a concern in your particular case.
All of these form the basis of the contract between you and the life office, but even in the form of a life insurance quotation, your ears should prick up at the small print- it’s not fancy advertisements that differentiate life products, it’s the actual level of cover that matters- and under what circumstances the office can potentially refuse to pay up; so read carefully at the quotation stage, and be sure of what you’re getting.
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