The amount stated in a policy contract as payable upon the death of the person whose life is being insured (cesti que vie). See also Principal Sum.

See Mortality Rate.

(1) The amount of premium charged or debited to an agent, to be collected; (2) The book of business represented by such premiums; (3) The territory where most of the insureds are located; (4) The total number of individual or home service insureds assigned to a given agent for collection of weekly or monthly premiums and for servicing, commonly referred to as “people in my debit”.

An agent who works on the debit system.

See Industrial Life Insurance.

The system of collecting insurance premiums weekly or monthly by an agent.

A form of Life Insurance that provides a death benefit which declines throughout the term of the contract, reaching zero at the end of the term.

The unpaid and yet undue premiums on Life Insurance, paid on other than an annual premium basis.

That form of vesting under which rights to vested benefits are acquired by a participant, commencing upon fulfillment of specified requirements; usually reaching a certain age or number of years of service or membership. See also Vesting.

A supplemental reserve that Life insurers are required to show in their balance sheet if the gross premium charged on a class of insureds is less than the net level premium reserve or modified reserve.

A contract provision permitting the insurer to defer granting a loan on the sole security of the policy for any other purpose than that of paying premiums on the policy for a stated interval of time.

In Life Insurance, a clause deferring payment to the beneficiary for a specified period after the death of the insured with proceeds to be paid to contingent beneficiaries or the estate if the primary beneficiary does not survive the delay. It is used as one method of handling common-disaster situations, such as the death of the insured and the death of the primary beneficiary occurring in the same accident. The clause usually states that the beneficiary has to survive the death of the insured by a certain period of time in order to collect.

Contracts issued by an insurer and delivered to an insured but not yet paid for. See also Examined Business, Paid Business and Written Business.

The actual placing of a Life Insurance policy in the hands of an insured.

Insurance coverage on the head of a family which is extended to his or her dependents, including only the lawful spouse and unmarried children who are not yet employed on a full-time basis. “Children” may be step, foster, and adopted, as well as natural. Certain age restrictions on children usually apply.

A life insurance benefit which is part of a group life insurance contract, which provides death protection to the eligible dependents of a covered employee.

A group annuity providing for the accumulation of contributions in an undivided fund, out of which annuities are purchased for each covered person in the group when he retires.

The benefit payable under a Disability Income policy, or a provision of some other policy such as a Life Insurance contract.

A pension paid to a disabled worker prior to the time of normal retirement. (LI)

One of the options in a Life Insurance policy which allows the policyholder to leave any premium dividends with the insurer to accumulate at compound interest. (LI)

An option whereby the insured can leave dividends with the insurer, and each dividend is used to buy a single premium life insurance policy for whatever amount it will purchase. Also called Paid-Up Additions.

Alternative ways in which insureds under participating Life Insurance policies may elect to receive their policyholder dividends.

Payment of twice the basic benefit in the event of loss resulting from specified causes or under specified circumstances. For example, a Life Insurance contract may provide for twice the basic benefit if death is due to an accident. Accident policies may provide double indemnity coverage for death due to an elevator accident. See also Multiple Indemnity.

A form of Life Insurance combining Whole Life and an equivalent amount of Term, with the Term expiring at a stated future date, usually at 65 years of age. For example, an individual may purchase $50,000 worth of Life Insurance protection, $25,000 of it being Term Insurance and the other $25,000 Whole Life. The provision would state that the $25,000 of Term Insurance ceases when the insured reaches age 65.