Term Life Insurance for Californians

By Sharon Taylor

It can be a truly daunting experience for anyone who is looking to purchase California term life insurance. Common in many industries, insurance is no exception; you will find the use of words that are defined in a way that is much different from the common or traditional definition. Because California term life insurance has some of its own vocabulary, it would be extremely beneficial for anyone looking to learn more about their policies to conduct some research and education on their own to make the process a lot less intimidating and a lot more clear. There are a lot of terms and vernacular that can potentially be unfamiliar and confusing to anyone buying term life insurance for the first time.

Here is a brief explanation of some of the more widely used terms.

Term Life Insurance Terms:

Beneficiary – The beneficiary for a term life insurance policy is whatever person has been designated by you to receive whatever benefits are outlined in the California term life insurance policy upon your death. You can designate that your policy benefits be dispersed among several beneficiaries, a single beneficiary or even a charity if you wish.

Proposed Insured – As it relates to the purchase, the proposed insured is the person who is actually applying for the coverage.

Attained Age – Some term life insurance companies used the attained age as a means of determining the age in their calculations. This method actually uses the actual age in years of the proposed insured person. Months are not considered when it comes to arriving at the attained age for a proposed insured person.

Nearest Age – The nearest age method when it comes to determining age actually takes months into account by looking at whether the proposed insured person is closer to their last birthday age or their next birthday.

Premium Mode – The term premium is the amount that is charged by a life insurance company for a California term life insurance policy. The premium mode, on the other hand, relates to the frequency in which the insured pays these premiums. The total annual term life insurance premium tends to be somewhat higher when the insurance payments are spread out over a year instead of paid in a single lump sum. If you choose to break your annual premium into two or four payments, you will probably have to pay an extra couple of dollars per payment. Some insurance carriers may also charge a bank fee; so familiarize yourself with possible fees before making these decisions.

Coverage Amount or Face Value – This ‘coverage amount’ or ‘face value amount’ is the initial dollar amount that is chosen for the policy coverage for your California term life insurance policy. If you buy a policy for $250,000 for example, that is the coverage amount or the face value, which is the amount that will be paid out to the beneficiaries that you have designated upon your death.

Guidelines for Underwriting – Underwriting guidelines are used by insurance companies to determine how to base their coverage. These guidelines include many factors about your lifestyle, including your health and hobbies. Criteria for underwriting guidelines when it comes to California life insurance also typically includes age, gender, use of tobacco, weight and height, history of heart disease, diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure and valve replacement in your family, your driving record, occupation, service in the military, any foreign travel or foreign residency and any felony or criminal activity.

Sharon Taylor writes articles on life insurance related topics for eQUOTE Life Insurance, a premier Internet resource for term life insurance rates, quotes and useful life insurance resource information.