Frequently Asked Questions

Term Life is pure insurance. The insurance company does not charge extra for any type of investment plan. When purchasing a term life insurance policy you will chose the length of time that you want the policy to be in force. If your need for the insurance is short than you should get a short term policy such as a 5 or 10 year term. Most people who are purchasing life insurance want to lock their rate in for a longer term so they shop for a longer term policy like a 20, 25 or 30 year term.

You get the most insurance for your money. Since the cost of Term Life Insurance is the key selling feature of Term Life, companies are constantly competing with each other to have the lowest possible price. What this means to you is that you can have the amount of insurance that you need and want instead of the amount you can afford.

If you have a term life policy and live to the end of the term there are four possible options. If you no longer need the insurance you can let the policy expire and be happy that you did not need to collect on it. If you still need insurance and you are still insurable than you can simply purchase a new term policy for the remaining time that you would like to have the coverage. Many companies will continue your insurance as an annual renewable policy where the rate is changes each year. This option is quite a bit more expensive than the original policy and so should not be part of your original plan. Another option most companies offer is to convert the term policy to a Whole Life or Universal Life plan. While you initially avoided these plans because of their cost, if you have developed a poor health history they may now be a bargain.

When you convert a policy you change your Term Life policy into a Whole Life or Universal Life policy. The beauty of this option is that even if you have a terminal illness your converted policy will have the same rate class as your original term policy. So if your term policy was issued at preferred rates you converted policy will have preferred rates as well. Typical rules are that your converted policy will be charged the rate for your age at conversion. Each company can have different rules regarding conversion. Most have a maximum age that you can convert a policy, such as prior to age 70. Some companies will allow conversion up to 30 days prior to the end of the term others require the conversion option to be elected sooner.

Very often the answer is yes and you may be able to get your life insurance at a standard or better rate class. When assessing coronary artery disease, or CAD, and heart attack history the life underwriter will assess the severity of the disease using various factors.

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The answer is highly dependent on a number of factors such as the stage of the cancer, the size and the time since successful treatment.
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There is a major trend for Life Insurance Companies to consider "family medical history" when deciding what rate class an applicant should be offered. Currently they look at the family history of immediate family members. Immediate family members mean parents and siblings. While this may make sense from a statistical standpoint environmental factors play a major role in many diseases. In many cases a healthy person who has a family member with diabetes, coronary artery disease, stroke or cancer will be charged more than double for life insurance.
Click here for our full article on how Family History affects your Life Insurance rates.

In general, the maximum would be until age 95 as the age of expiration of a term policy. For instance, the oldest a 10 year term policy can be bought would be age 85, age 75 with a 20 year term, and age 65 with a 30 year term. Limits this high are only available though a few companies; usually the limit is around age 80 to 85.