Life Assurance is a type of insurance policy where the insured element is contingent upon human life. Life based contracts tend to fall into two major categories:

• Protection policies - designed to provide a benefit in the event of specified event, typically a lump sum payment.
• Investment policies - where the main objective is to facilitate the growth of capital by regular or single premiums.

As with all 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.

Life policies are typically presented as types legal contracts and the terms of the contract describe the limitations of the insured events. Specific exclusions are often written into the contract to limit the liability of the insurer; for example claims relating to war, riot and civil commotion.

Underwriting
The insurer will collect pertinent information about the life (lives) to be insured and have an underwriter assess the information to establish if the likelihood of a claim for a given individual is above average. The information is typically a series of facts relating to age, lifestyle habits and medical history. The likelihood of death is referred to as mortality the likelihood of ill health is referred to as morbidity.It is a general principle that life contracts are written on the basis of utmost good faith. That is, the proposer and the insurer both accept that the other is acting in good faith. In practice this means the proposer can assume the contract offers what is shown prima facie without having to fine comb the small print and the insurer assumes the proposer is being honest when providing details to underwriter.

Typical roles we can assist with:

Life Consultants, Compliance Specialists/Managers, Compliance/Risk Managers, Life Actuaries, Training and Competence Managers, Board Executives