To explain it as simply as possible, term life insurance is a type of life insurance policy. It basically promises that you will make a set, fixed payment for a contracted amount of tie. This amount of time is known as the “term.” After this period of time though, your payments are liable to change and you will either have to simply meet the new payments or stop the policy.

It’s important to note that it is a life insurance policy that does not pay out for any accidents or injuries that do not result in your death. Only if you die will your policy pay out. Unless there are any legal grounds for dispute, the policy will pay out to your named beneficiary.

As there are with all types of insurance policy, there are circumstances in which term life insurance policies will not pay out even if the policy holder dies. Let’s say, for example, that the premiums are not up to date and policy holder was behind or there was a breach of one of the terms. In almost all life insurance policies, there is a clause stating there would be no pay out in the event of suicide.

However, what they are useful for is situations where the policy holder fears that, in the case of his or her death, there would be no means of covering any expenses. Such expenses include debts held by the policy holder, mortgages, the care of any dependents the policy holder may have and, of course, funeral expenses.

Term life insurance policies often end up being much less expensive than a permanent life insurance policy would and, as such, many people use them as a “bridge.” An example of this could be someone approaching retirement age, who is concerned that their untimely death might leave their family with a massive financial burden, but who believes that when they reach retirement, they would have enough money to cover said expenses anyway. They may use term life insurance just until they reach that point.

Find out more about term life insurance.