Life insurance or life assurance is a
contract between the policy owner and the insurer, where
the insurer agrees to pay a sum of money upon the
occurrence of the policy owner's death. In return, the
policy owner (or policy payer) agrees to pay a
stipulated amount called a premium at regular intervals.
As with most insurance polices, life assurance is a contract between the insurer and the policy owner (policyholder) whereby a benefit is paid to the designated Beneficiary (or Beneficiaries) if an insured event occurs which is covered by the policy. To be a life policy the insured event must be based upon life (or lives) of the people named in the policy.
Insured events that may be covered include:
- death,
- accidental death