Home / Types of Life Insurance Policies
There are many different ways of describing the different types of companies which provide life insurance and life assurance policies. One of the main distinctions, which interests customers and prospective customers, is who owns the company.
Life Insurers can either be owned by those who hold shares in them (privately or publicly) or by those who hold policies with them (their customers), these are called Mutual Companies.
Policy holders with mutual life insurers often have what are called membership rights and benefits which can be varied but usually include voting rights when appointing Directors to run the company. It is important to point out however that is not always the case that having any policy with a mutual life insurer confers on the policy holder membership rights, this is because some mutual life insurers only offer such membership to those with certain types of insurance or assurance policies, or policies started before a certain date.
Whereas shareholders in a company can buy and sell their shares, members of a mutual life insurer can not unless of course the mutual votes to de-mutualise and in so doing issues shares to the members which can then be traded as other shares.
De-mutualisation has been a popular choice for a number of mutual life insurers over the years, leading to millions of life insurance and life assurance policy holders receiving shares which they can either keep, in the hope that the value of the shares grow and in the meantime earn dividends on them, or they can sell them. These shares are often described as ‘windfall’ shares because they have not been bought by the insurance or assurance policy holders who receive them.
The pressures on life insurance companies owned by shareholders (who demand increasing profits and therefore increased share values and dividends) are often very different to mutual life insurers which are owned by their customers; however the types of life insurance and life assurance policies offered by both types of insurers are broadly the same.
The possible windfall benefits offered by de-mutualisation have caused some to buy a life insurance or life assurance policy from mutual life insurers when their prices are at least as good as the alternative life insurers available, because of the chance of them receiving windfall shares.
At Direct Life we offer the life insurance products from mutual companies and those with shareholders.
22 January 2008 12:18:13
People with HIV may have a greater chance of finding affordable life insurance after a new treatment gained approval from officials.
Intended for patients who have failed to respond to other anti-retroviral drugs, etravine was given the go-ahead by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The treatment is part of a family of drugs designed to prevent viral DNA from being copied and integrated with host cell DNA by blocking a particular enzyme, thereby preventing the virus from multiplying.
Dr Debra Birnkrant, director of the FDA's antiviral product division, confirmed in a statement: "This is another significant new product for many HIV-infected patients whose infections are not responding to currently available medications."
She explained that as well as reducing the amount of HIV in an individual's blood, etravine boosts white blood cells - helping patients resist and fight off other infections.
In trials of the drug, which featured 600 adults resistant to other anti-retrovirals, patients on etravine alongside other therapy had a higher drop in blood levels of HIV than those who had a placebo with background therapy.
According to data from the UN Aids agency, there are 33.2 million people across the world currently living with the disease.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, and critical illnesslife insurance policies online
29 October 2007 10:26:08
When it comes to buying life insurance, many people wait until they are older and feel more "confident and capable" about their finances, according to one provider.
Norwich Union's Darren Dicks pointed out that "certain things" tend to trigger an individual's need for life cover, such as a mortgage or a family event.
"Life insurance is often sold as an addition to a mortgage and while there are some young policy holders, the majority of our customer base is a bit older," he commented.
"It takes a while for customers to feel confident and capable and people tend to want to have experienced financial services for some time before they start buying things like life insurance," he continued.
The Norwich Union representative noted that having a family "makes it register" with a lot of people that "spending the extra £10 or more per month" is worth it to cover a spouse and children if unforeseen circumstances arise.
"As people get older they get more responsible; they also tend to have kids from about 30 plus, so they think more about things like life insurance," claimed Mr Dicks.
According to a report from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) earlier this year, the UK insurance industry paid out over £160 million per day in pension and life insurance benefits in 2005, including £144 million to pensioners and long term savers and £17 million in death benefits.
Nevertheless, the most recent figures from the ABI highlighted that one in three Britons have no life insurance at all, with another one in three neglecting to renew their life cover for five years, facing a risk of being underinsured.
"People may prioritise paying the mortgage because of the high interest and then covering themselves after that," confirmed Darren Dicks.
"But it's something that should be assessed. If you think about life cover, the amount that it costs compared to what it actually protects mean it's something that most people should take out."
Previous studies have shown that there is also a tendency among young people to go with their mortgage provider when opting for life cover, instead of shopping around for the best deal.
However, "by not shopping around at such a young age you can be paying much more than you actually need to pay," explained Claire Moyles of Sainsbury's Bank.
"Younger people tend to go with their mortgage lender because they might be a first time buyer and that tends to be the easiest thing to do. Not shopping around is a disadvantage for them because with life insurance your premiums do stay the same," emphasised the finance specialist.
In addition she reminded consumers that "the younger and healthier you are, the cheaper your premiums will be".
Echoing the findings of Norwich Union, Ms Moyles concluded by advising that anyone aged 18 or over with a spouse or children "really needs to be thinking about protecting their family and protecting their mortgage."
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, critical illness and life insurance advice online
01 April 2008 17:37:10
Anti-psychotic drugs given to Alzheimer's sufferers can exacerbate their condition, a study has claimed.
The Alzheimer's Society estimates that in the UK there are around 700,000 people affected by dementia, a condition which can affect life insurance policies.
Researchers from the universities of Oxford and Newcastle and Kings College London found that while neuroleptics offered no long-term benefits to patients with mild symptoms of disturbed behaviour, they were associated with deterioration in their verbal abilities.
Researchers studied 165 patients with advanced Alzheimer's disease living in nursing homes.
The BBC reports that around 60 per cent of Alzheimer's sufferers in care homes are given anti-psychotics to control their behaviour.
Patrick Holford, director of the Brain Bio Centre, said: "Giving dementia patients anti-psychotic drugs is all about tranquillising - the equivalent of a chemical straight jacket and does nothing to address the underlying causes and, as this study shows, often makes matters worse."
Neil Hunt, from the Alzheimer's Society, said the widespread over prescription of anti-psychotic drugs to people with dementia must stop.
The study is published in the journal Public Library of Science Medicine.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, critical illness and life insurance advice online
