Frequently asked questions*

There are many answers to the question of why life insurance is important. But by and large, the most important one is ensuring your family’s financial security and peace of mind.

If anyone depends on your income and/or is responsible for your debts, they would most likely struggle if you were to pass away. That’s why life insurance is so important to have. There are different types of life insurance policies, but essentially, they all pay cash to your loved ones when you die. Money from life insurance can be used to cover daily living expenses, a mortgage or rent payments, outstanding loans, college tuition, and other essential expenses, including your final expenses (e.g., funeral, cremation, burial, etc.). Life insurance is the best way to ensure that your loved ones would be in a good financial place if you and your income were no longer in the picture.

Life insurance covers virtually any type of living expense. Some common expenses include:

If someone depends on you financially, you are most likely someone who needs life insurance. Life insurance provides cash to your family or loved ones after your death. This cash, known as the death benefit, replaces your income and the many non-paid ways you support your household. Your family can use this cash to pay for expenses like funeral costs, a mortgage, college tuition, and more. Just a few examples of people who often answer “yes” to the question of “Should I get life insurance?” include: Married or partnered couples Many partners find it difficult to make ends meet without the other earner’s income in the picture. Married or partnered couples with kids In addition to losing one partner’s income, the surviving parent may have to pay for childcare and more without the other parent around to pitch in. Single parents As the sole income earner for your family, you’ll want to think about how to replace your child’s only source of financial support. Stay-at-home parents From cooking meals to shuttling kids to school to helping with homework, stay-at-home parents perform many critical responsibilities that would be costly to outsource. Empty nesters Many surviving partners would not be able to maintain the lifestyle they worked so hard to achieve without life insurance.

Retirees
Depending on the size of your estate, your heirs could be hit with an estate-tax rate of up to 45%. Fortunately, cash from a life insurance policy gives heirs access to tax-free money to pay for immediate costs and more. Business owners Life insurance can help your business in many ways if you, a fellow owner or a key employee were to pass away

Types of life insurance generally fall into two categories: term life insurance and permanent life insurance. Term life insurance Term life insurance provides protection for a specific period of time (the term). This is often 10, 20 or 30 years, Ensurely offers up to 40 years. Term life insurance makes sense when you need protection for a specific amount of time--for instance, until your kids graduate from college, or your mortgage is paid off. Term life insurance typically offers the most amount of coverage for the lowest initial premium. This makes this type of life insurance policy a good choice for those on a tighter budget. Permanent life insurance Permanent life insurance provides lifelong protection for as long as you pay the premiums. It also accumulates cash value on a tax-deferred basis, which you can tap into to buy a home, supplement your retirement income, cover an emergency expense and more. Because of these additional benefits, initial premiums are higher than what you’d pay for a term life insurance policy with the same amount of coverage. You Might Want a Mix Depending on your circumstances and financial goals, sometimes a combination of term and permanent insurance is the answer.

The price of life insurance depends on four main factors: your age, your health, the type of policy, and how much coverage you buy. In general, you’ll pay less the younger and healthier you are. You also typically pay less for a term life policy than a permanent life policy.

That said, don’t let your age or health status discourage you from considering life insurance. There are policies available for people of any age as well as those with high blood pressure, diabetes and a smoking habit. (Just know that you’ll generally pay more for your policy if you’re in poor health and/or smoke.)

Still wondering the answer to the question of how much does life insurance cost? If so, here’s a working idea:

A healthy 30-year-old can get a $250,000 20-year level term policy for just $13 a month.
That means that if you purchase that policy and pay the $13 a month without fail, your loved ones will get $250,000 if you were to die at any point during those 20 years.

The amount of life insurance to buy depends on who you want to protect financially and for how long. For a general idea, consider the following:

As an easy rule of thumb, experts recommend having life insurance that equals between 10 to 15 times your gross income. But many people need even more than that. To get a more accurate idea of how much life insurance to buy, check out our calculator.
Get started with our Life Insurance Needs Calculator

A life insurance beneficiary is the person, people, trust, charity or estate who gets the payout on your life insurance policy after you die.

You’ll typically be asked to pick two kinds of beneficiaries: a primary and a secondary. The secondary beneficiary, also called a contingent beneficiary, receives the payout if the primary beneficiary is deceased. You can name more than one beneficiary, as well as the percentage of the payout you want to go to each one—for instance, you could designate 50% to a spouse and 50% to an adult child.

There are special considerations when it comes to providing for minors as well as naming a charity or your estate as a life insurance beneficiary.

When you apply for life insurance, your life insurance application goes through a process called underwriting. Underwriting is when your insurance risk is evaluated. Approval and costs are based on your risk class.

There are two types of underwriting: traditional underwriting, simplified underwriting, also known as instant coverage. In traditional underwriting, you fill out a formal application and typically undergo a short medical exam. It can take several weeks to be approved when the life insurance application undergoes traditional underwriting.

In contrast, simplified underwriting is usually a quick online life insurance application that does not require a medical exam. You can often receive instantaneous life insurance coverage. Just be aware that the coverage amount may be limited as well as more expensive with simplified underwriting.

Good news: There are options if you’re initially denied life insurance. The first is your Ensurely agent will contact you to see if there was a mistake on the life insurance application. If there was no mistake, your Ensurely agent will find out the reason for the denial. Once you know, Ensurely will go another route with your application, we have case management experts that specialize in higher-risk applicants.

As a general rule of the thumb, it’s a good idea to touch base with a financial professional at least once a year or whenever a life change happens. A life insurance review will help ensure your coverage is at the right level to protect your loved ones.

Life insurance often needs to be adjusted after a big change like getting married, having a baby, starting a business, retiring and more. In these kinds of instances, you’ll want to schedule a life insurance review with your Ensurely life insurance expert as soon as possible.

Living benefits of a life insurance policy let you access your life insurance proceeds before you die. This is typically reserved for situations in which someone faces a terminal illness or injury. Many people use cash from living benefits to get their family’s finances in order or to take a special trip.

Living benefits, which are also known as accelerated death benefits, are typically available as a rider (or endorsement) to your life insurance policy. In your Ensurely application process you will see these as “Add-ons.”

In most cases, the life insurance payout is a lump sum paid to beneficiaries when the policyholder dies. To receive the life insurance payout, you will have to file a claim with the insurer. They will need a certified copy of the death certificate in order to process the claim. Feel free to contact your Ensurely agent to help you through this process.

It can vary on how long it takes to get a life insurance check. Most insurers take between 30 and 60 days after receiving the claim. However, there can be delays. This is especially true if the policyholder dies within two years of taking out the policy or if there are unusual circumstances. Other insurers deny coverage if the policyholder died doing something illegal or lied on the life insurance application.

A life insurance payout works differently if there’s an installment-payout option or an annuity option.