Key Person Life Insurance
Many companies offer key person life insurance to protect against the loss of a crucial employee.
One type of key person insurance is called a buy-sell agreement, which can be put in place for all key employees at a company. This agreement ensures that if one of those employees leaves, dies, or is disabled and no longer able to work for the company, the remaining employees will still be compensated financially by having their shares purchase from them under predetermined terms.
Another type of key person life insurance often used by small businesses is called an executive indemnity program (EIP) or "key man" policy. EIP's are used to help protect a business from an unexpected death or disablement of a key employee. The business owner buys the EIP and names each employee who has an ownership interest as a key person. An EIP provides "key man" coverage on an annual basis (as opposed to the monthly term of most ordinary life insurance).
Ease of Application: Applying for a life insurance policy can be quite easy when applying for a key person policy. All that is needed is for the employer to fill out information about his/her employees such as their marital status, age, and salary. After receiving the information, the insurance company will set up a special policy for each employee.
Intangible Value: The most important reason to purchase key person life insurance is to protect your business from the loss of a key employee. Intangible assets make up 80% of a company's total assets. When one key person leaves, the company loses a large portion of its value. It is best to keep this cost low and risk free by purchasing key person life insurance before an issue arises.
Marketability: The second most important reason to purchase key person life insurance is to protect the business from potentially catastrophic losses. If an employee leaves or becomes disabled, whether planned or not, the company will be forced to file for bankruptcy. Most businesses do not have enough cash on hand in order to weather such a storm. However, when they are provided with a policy that can help them pay their debts, many businesses will continue trading and continue to operate.
Culpability: Key person life insurance acts as a financial safety net for companies by providing coverage for an unexpected disability or death of a key employee. When covering key personnel this way, the business still maintains control over its employees and their salaries.
Coverage: Most key person life insurance policies have a death benefit equal to either the employee's monthly salary or a set percentage of that income. This act as the highest amount of financial assistance for an employee's family if they lose their job. The coverage normally lasts for only up to six months and the policy is not renewable.
Competition: Key person life insurance policies are extremely competitive and can be obtained with little cost and effort. The process is simple, quick, and gives clients an opportunity to protect themselves and their business from potentially catastrophic losses.
Longevity Risk: A key person policy gives the business and its owner protection from a lost income that was important to the company due to an unexpected death or disability. However, the policy can not be used for this risk as it would be too expensive.
Sustainability: Key person life insurance is typically not renewable. This means that if an employee leaves or is disabled, the coverage will end. It is only used for one year at a time and must be re-established every year. Once this happens, the cost of renewal cannot exceed the actual premium fees of the policy used during that year.
Taxes: Life insurance cannot be tax-deductible.
If a person loses his job and has an EIP then the business will pay their salary for the rest of that year. If they die later after being paid for an entire year, the company does not have to pay out any benefits because the money was paid out instead of paying taxes.
Goldman Sachs provides mortality and morbidity data, as well as a risk management tool that helps predict mortality risks in its Quantitative Analysis service.
General Electric provides mortality and morbidity data, as well as a risk management tool that helps predict mortality risks in its Quantitative Analysis service.
The insurance industry is the largest financial services provider in the United States. That means that it has an enormous impact on the American economy. Any and all life insurance policies have a significant impact on the economy of the country because they allow people to continue living and spending money.
Life insurance has a significant effect on the property and casualty insurance market, which makes up for 15 percent of general business revenue in America. This means that if a company doesn't offer life insurance to employees, they are taking a huge risk with their finances.
Key person life insurance is a new and emerging sector of coverage that has been used in businesses for over 20 years. It is an important tool in maintaining the financial stability and resources of a company. Because key person life insurance is only taken out on employees that have a high importance to a company, it’s effect on the economy as a whole is minimal.
The tax code allows for life insurance premiums to be deducted annually from an employee’s paycheck provided that they are more than $50 per month and that the policy meets other requirements as well.
Companies can be affected by catastrophic losses due to unexpected disabilities or deaths of key employees. Companies that have a key person life insurance policy in place in order to protect themselves from such catastrophic losses. When one employee leaves or becomes disabled, many businesses experience enormous financial setbacks. However, when they have a key person life insurance policy in place, many of these companies are able to continue operating and avoid bankruptcy.
In the long run, businesses will incur significant losses if they do not provide their employees with proper coverage for unexpected fatalities or disabilities. The premiums that are paid on these policies are much easier to pay than the actual amount of money that the business would lose when an employee dies or becomes disabled.
Individual policies are issued by a number of major insurance carriers through their own websites (e.g. Prudential, MetLife).
In recent years, key person life insurance has gained attention internationally. In the UK, key person life insurance is known as "key man insurance". In France and Canada, it is known as "key man indemnity". Key man policies in these countries are structured similarly to those in the US. The difficulty international businesses face with key person life insurance is due to how each country's government can handle such catastrophes. In the UK for example, an employee's death or disability due to a heart attack would cause a company to be considered liable for any cash payouts. Due to this liability, UK companies have begun using key person income policies over key man life policies.
Conclusion: Key person life insurance is a great tool that any company can use to protect themselves from catastrophes and unexpected losses. It is very easy to obtain life insurance policies, so it is convenient and beneficial to get one. If an employee leaves or dies, the business is then able to continue operating.
There are usually two types of key man life insurance policies: guaranteed and non-guaranteed.
A guaranteed policy costs much more because its beneficiaries are guaranteed to receive money in the event that the insured passes away or becomes disabled (depending on the policy). A non-guaranteed key man life insurance policy only covers a certain percentage of loss for a business if there is an unexpected death or disability of an employee.