Accelerated death benefit: An accelerated death benefit provides for the payment of a portion of your life insurance proceed if you become terminally ill. To be eligible to receive the benefit, you must be diagnosed as being terminally ill with a life expectancy of 12 months or less. The maximum benefit is usually 75 percent of the member's existing life insurance. An accelerated death benefit does not usually apply to term life insurance.

Cash value: A whole life policy will build up a cash value, meaning that the policy can be cashed in or borrowed against for that cash amount as the policy grows.

Convertible term assurance: Convertible term assurance is a term life policy that has the option of converting to a whole life policy at some point in the future.

Critical illness cover: Critical illness cover will pay out on the diagnosis of a specified condition during the policy term. Many times this payout will be regardless of the level or speed of the illness recovery.

Decreasing term assurance: Decreasing life cover decreases at a flat, fixed rate each year.

Family income benefit: With a family income benefit, instead of being paid in one lump sum, your beneficiaries will be paid with a tax free annual income until the end of the term specified in the policy.

Guaranteed issue: Guaranteed issue is the requirement that an insurer accept everyone that applies for coverage and guarantees the renewal of that coverage, regardless of health, income or age, as long as the premium is paid.

Guaranteed reviewable premiums: Reviewable premiums can be reviewed for change at the insurer's discretion.

Impaired risk: A risk that cannot meet the normal health requirements of a standard insurance policy.

Income protection: Income protection insurance will provide you with a regular tax free income if you are unable to work due to illness or accident, resulting in a loss of earnings.

Increasing term assurance: With increasing term insurance, the coverage increases every year without the need for a medical examination.

Indexation: A policy where premiums and benefits increase annually in accordance with increases in the inflation index.

Level term: Level term is life coverage that pays out in a fixed lump sum if you die within the specified period of the policy.

Life protection: Term assurance or life level insurance are insurance plans that pay out a lump sum of cash if you die during the duration of the plan. There are also some term assurance plans that will pay you if you become diagnosed with a critical illness.

Mortgage protection insurance: Mortgage protection insurance is an insurance policy that will cover either the whole repayment of your mortgage or just a portion of it.

Renewable term insurance: Renewable term insurance is term insurance that may be renewed for another term of the same length without showing evidence of insurability. This type of insurance is usually subject to an upper age limit beyond which renewal will not be permitted.

Reviewable premiums: Reviewable premiums can be reviewed for change at the insurer's discretion.

Term life: A term life policy is a life insurance policy that provides a fixed amount of net death benefit for a fixed premium cost for a fixed period of time.

Terminal illness benefit: A terminal illness benefit allows you to claim early on your life insurance policy if you are diagnosed with less than 12 months to live.

Total and permanent disability: Any illness or disability where there is no long-term prospect of recovery.

Trust: A trust allows the proceeds of your Life Insurance to be paid to your dependants in a straightforward manner.

Waiver of premium: A waiver of premium covers the cost of your insurance premiums during periods of ill health and/or unemployment.

Whole life: A whole life policy is a life insurance policy that provides a lump sum death benefit and also build a cash value.