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Life Insurance and Life Assurance policies originally offered quite different benefits, however in common usage today they have come to mean much the same thing.
Technically speaking ‘Assurance’ policies are policies where the payment of a promised sum is guaranteed, whether on death or at the end of a policy term. ‘Insurance’ policies however provide for payment of the sum insured only in certain circumstances.
Because the vast majority of Life policies arranged today are ‘Pure Protection Term Policies’ (they do not have any investment element and they stop providing life cover after the selected fixed number of years) then technically they are Insurance policies because the ’certain circumstances’ rule applies, although some people still describe them as Term Assurance.
The confusion lies in the fact that death is assured for all of us, but not always within the term of a policy set up to run for a fixed number years.
All policies offered through Direct Life are ‘Pure Protection Term Policies’ and therefore we call them Life Insurance policies and not Life Assurance policies, although some of the insurance companies, who’s products we offer, still describe them as Life Assurance on their documentation.
07 June 2007 16:35:02
Leading life insurance firm Prudential has announced that it intends to close its stock research and trading arm, Prudential Equity Group.
The business had traded on Wall Street for some 26 years, but without a great deal of success - while Prudential Financial managed $630 billion worth of assets, Prudential Equity held just $137 million.
Theresa Miller, a spokeswoman for Prudential Equity Group, explained the decision:
"It's a matter of scale. Prudential's strategy is to be in businesses where we have significant scale."
She continued: "The research and trading markets are really competitive, really challenging and are not an area where we've been able to achieve that scale or success for our clients, for our shareholders and certainly our employees."
Around 420 jobs will be lost following the move, affecting employees in nine US cities, as well as in London, Zurich, Paris and Tokyo.
Prudential recently announced that it will take a 39 per cent stake in a Saudi Arabian life insurance venture.
25 July 2007 11:33:56
Top UK life insurance firm LV= has made two new high-profile appointments, continuing a run of recent managerial changes.
Keith Abercromby, formerly financial director in the life cover division of LV= rival Norwich Union, has been appointed LV= group director for finance.
He will report to group chief executive Michael Rogers.
"I am delighted to have been able to attract someone with Keith's credentials. His extensive experience in financial services will be invaluable in helping us to grow and develop our business," said Mr Rogers.
"It is a great time to be joining LV=," Mr Abercromby added.
"I am looking forward to being part of the management team that builds on the successes of the past but also drives the business forward to compete more successfully under its new strategy."
Michelle Alcock, meanwhile, has been named head of affinity relations, taking over from Howard Paine, whose retirement later this year will spell the end of a 30-year stay in the life insurance business, with LV= and its previous incarnation, Liverpool Victoria.
19 September 2007 17:32:10
Researchers at Penn State University have found that people who display a high level of 'eating competence' are more likely to be successful at lowering their counts of LDL, the so-called 'bad cholesterol' associated with heart disease.
The news could prove particularly interesting for those people consider life insurance or critical illness cover - both essential things in today's climate of heart disease risks.
Scientists studied 48 men and women aged 21 to 70 who were deemed to be at high risk of cardiovascular disease because of their high LDL levels.
"We wanted to see if people were at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease if they were not 'eating competent' to begin with," said Barbara Lohse, associate professor of nutritional sciences at the university.
'Eating competence' refers to a nutritional model that matches the body's ability to maintain a suitable Body Mass Index level with subjective indicators such as hunger awareness, apetite and eating enjoyment.
By combining responses from a questionnaire with various medical readings the researchers found that participants who were not 'eating competent' were five times as likely as the others to have LDL levels above the prescribed cut-off point.
Dr Lohse said the results illustrated the potential benefits of a 'nutritional curriculum' that could help people improve their eating habits and so slower their chances of contracting potentially life-threatening heart disease.
