Permanent life insurance is a more complicated product than term insurance, but our experienced team at Hometown Life Insurance is here to help you find the permanent coverage you are looking for. With one of our Niagara office locations right in the core of Beamsville, we are your local life insurance provider. Staying true to our roots, we focus on small-town customer service, combined with new-age digital capabilities. Permanent life insurance is a product that is highly customized to meet your needs, so we will work with you to identify what you need covered and how permanent insurance can help accomplish that.
The best time to purchase life insurance was yesterday, the next best time is today. The nature of any insurance, but specifically life insurance is that the minute you need it, it’s too late to get it. If you were to die without life insurance, your loved ones will be left with the financial burden of your debts, taxes, final expenses, and loss of your income. As you age, your life insurance premiums will increase, so getting life insurance now will allow you to lock in at a lower rate than you will pay in the future. This is even more important with permanent insurance, as you can lock in your rates for life, while you are young and healthy!
Premiums on permanent life insurance are locked in for the entire payment duration that you select. A standard permanent life insurance policy has a lifetime payment option, where you pay the same premium for the life of the policy. If you would like to shorten the payment period, you can choose a “limited pay” option, where you select a shorter term (say 10, 15, 20 years) over which you will pay premiums. Once the limited pay term expires, there are no longer any premiums required for the life of the policy, but the policy will continue to provide increasing protection for life. The monthly premium on a limited pay policy will be higher than the lifetime payment option, but will be for a shorter period of time.
The calculation for life insurance premiums involves a number of factors. These include the payment term (limited pay or lifetime), coverage amount, age, gender, smoking status, medical history and lifestyle, such as details about your job, hobbies, health, family history, and medications. This information allows the underwriters to understand the risk you pose to the insurance company, so they can give you the best price possible for your individual profile.
If you have to make a claim on your life insurance policy, our team at Hometown Life Insurance is ready to answer your questions and help you through the process. We will gather the required information, submit the claim to the insurance company for processing, and then support you by managing any follow up requests to get the claim paid as quickly as possible.
The intention of a permanent life insurance policy is long-term and even life-long coverage. If your situation changes, you are able to cancel your life insurance policy at any time, but it is important to consider the pros and cons of terminating the policy, especially with permanent insurance. If you require coverage again in the future, your premiums would be much higher, as you are older and potentially in different health circumstances. When cancelling a permanent policy, there may also be a cash value that would be paid out to you as the policy owner, but it likely comes with tax implications. Before you cancel your permanent insurance policy, reach out to our team at Hometown Life Insurance to discuss some alternative options you may have. This might include using your cash value to pay premiums, borrowing against the cash value if you need some funds, or withdrawing a portion of the cash value while keeping the policy in force.
The additional features that can be added to a permanent life insurance policy are called “riders”. Riders allow you to customize your coverage with extra benefits including: accidental death benefit, disability waiver of premium, guaranteed insurability rider, and child’s term life insurance. More information on the various riders can be found in our FAQ’s section on our permanent life insurance pages.