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Glosary of Life Insurance Terms

See Third Party Administrator. An annuity program under which contributions reduce the taxable income of participating employees, and the benefits are not taxable until distributed. An organization selling Life and Health Insurance and annuities to college and university staff members. The type of Life Insurance policy that provides protection only for a specified period of time. A common policy period would be one year, five years, 10 years, or until the insured reaches age 65 or 70. It does not build up any of the nonforfeiture values associated with Whole Life policies. Contrast with Whole Life Insurance. The cessation of premium paying for a Whole Life or Endowment policy before the agreed upon time. This ends the coverage, and the insured receives one of the nonforfeiture values. The cessation of a policy that does not or has not yet developed a cash value is termed a "lapse." An ancient Greek benevolent society which was a step in the evolution of Life and Health Insurance. A firm which provides administrative services for employers and other associations having group insurance policies. The TPA in addition to being the liaison between the employer and the insurer is also involved with certifying eligibility, preparing reports required by the state and processing claims. TPA's are being used more and more with the increase in employer self-funded plans. A kind of policy that came into use after the Civil War. It was a high premium contract that paid dividends to those participants who were still living at the end of a stated period, at the expense of those who had died or let their policies lapse. It is almost the opposite of insurance and is no longer allowed by law. See Multiple Indemnity. A form of Life Insurance that is usually a combination of Whole Life and twice as much Term Insurance. The Term portion applies until a stated date. Such a policy might be used to provide maximum protection to an individual at an earlier age when the need for insurance is greater but the ability to pay is less. Group insurance issued under a master contract with certificates of insurance that are not policy contracts issued to persons included in the group. This would be in contrast to Franchise or Wholesale "Group" Insurance, under which a covered person is issued an individual policy contract. (1) A supplemental agreement attached to and made a part of a Life Insurance policy setting forth the manner in which the proceeds are to be paid, in lieu of having them paid in a lump sum or under one of the other installment settlement options in the policy itself.
(2) An agreement or instrument under which a corpus (fund/property) is given over to the management of the trustee named in a trust instrument for the benefit of the beneficiaries of the trust.
(3) A written agreement between two parties _ the employer and the trustee _ setting forth the provisions of a pension plan.

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