Life insurance is a contract between the policy owner and the insurer, where the insurer agrees to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of the policy owner’s death. In return, the policy owner agrees to pay a stipulated amount called a premium at regular intervals.

Life policies are legal contracts and the terms of the contract describe the limitations of the insured events. Specific exclusions are often written into the contract to limit the liability of the insurer; for example claims relating to suicide (after 2 years suicide has to be paid in full), fraud, war, riot and civil commotion.

Term life insurance provides for life insurance coverage for a specified term of years for a specified premium. The policy does not accumulate cash value. Term is generally considered “pure” insurance, where the premium buys protection in the event of death and nothing else. Term insurance premiums are typically low because both the insurer and the policy owner agree that the death of the insured is unlikely during the term of coverage.

The three key factors to be considered in term insurance are:

• face amount (protection or death benefit)
• premium to be paid (cost to the insured)
• length of coverage (term).

Various insurance companies sell term insurance with many different combinations of these three parameters. The face amount can remain constant or decline. The term can be for one or more years. The premium can remain level or increase. A common type of term is called annual renewable term. It is a one year policy but the insurance company guarantees it will issue a policy of equal or lesser amount without regard to the insurability of the insured and with a premium set for the insured’s age at that time.

A policy holder insures his life for a specified term. If he dies before that specified term is up, his estate or named beneficiary receive a payout. If he does not die before the term is up, he receives nothing. In the past these policies would almost always exclude suicide. However, after a number of court judgments against the industry, payouts do occur on death by suicide.

You can get term life insurance instantly by going online, filling in the questionnaire. This can be done in the privacy of your home or office without requiring you to take a medical exam or speak to an agent. If qualified you can print your life insurance policy in minutes.