There is no such thing as life insurance, is there? should be Assurance?

Question

when i was an Insurance salesman i sold life Assurance, insuring against thing that WILL happen, well you are going to die aren't you!! insurance is insuring against things that MIGHT happen, so why do they call it life insurance these days

Answer 1

Life insurance refers to an event which may occur where as life assurance refers to an event which will occur.

You have car insurance in case you have an accident not because you will have an accident.

Life assurance should theoretically only be referred to when looking at whole of life cover and not life cover for a specified term (commonly known as term assurance).

Hope this helps :)

Answer 2

Some companies call it life assurance, this seems to creeping in slowly and becoming more common, i agree with your view. The term insurance is defined as reimbursement in the case of loss, so technically if you lose your life your loved ones are being paid for that loss. :-)

Answer 3

Lol. I was just reading up on insurance a few hours ago as part of my course. Not sure why it is called life insurance probably just lazy english again.

Answer 4

i think life assurance is for when you are assured of monies to cover mortgages etc if you die unexpectly (usually quite expensive), and life insurance (whole life) to cover debts and expenses when you die (usually quite cheap). but don't quote me.

Answer 5

Sounds like Sunshine has your answer. You should be an actuary - they are the ones that pick things apart that sometimes don't affect anything! Strange question.....

Answer 6

Well, if you have a term policy, you are not guaranteed to die during the term.

If you have a whole life policy, that's just a goofy investment mechanism.

Answer 7

Getting hung up on such a petty thing might be why you "was" an ins agent.

Answer 8

The source below confirms your view.

I guess, as in many other spheres, that the Americans have taken over!