Terminal Illness
May allow an eligible policyholder to access a portion of the death benefit after being diagnosed with a qualifying terminal illness.
Living BenefitsWhat Are Living
What Are Living
Benefits?
Life insurance isn't only about what happens after you die. Certain policies can also provide financial protection while you're living if you experience a qualifying illness or injury.
That is the whole idea. The rest of this page explains how it works.
The short version
A life insurance policy pays a death benefit to your beneficiaries when you die.
Living benefits can allow a qualifying policyholder to access a portion of that death benefit while they are still alive, when they experience certain qualifying illnesses or injuries, subject to the policy contract.
On applicable policies offered through ABNORMAL RESERVE, those living benefits are built into the policy at no additional charge when available and when the client qualifies.
How It Works.
The mechanism is called an acceleration.
Instead of waiting for the death benefit to be paid to your beneficiaries, qualifying living benefits may allow you to use a portion of that benefit during your lifetime when a qualifying condition occurs.
Nothing new is created. The benefit is released early rather than later, which is why it can matter so much at the moment it happens.
What that means in practice
Accessing a living benefit can reduce the amount ultimately available as a death benefit for your beneficiaries.
The exact amount available, and any conditions that apply, depend on the policy contract rather than on a general rule.
Each benefit category has its own definition of what qualifies, and that definition is where the real detail lives.
Living benefits are subject to the terms of the specific policy, so two policies can describe them differently.
The categories
The Main Categories.
There are six categories of qualifying events. Which of them apply to you depends on the policy, and on whether the requirements of that policy are met.
Chronic Illness
May provide access to a portion of the death benefit when qualifying chronic illness conditions are met.
Critical Illness
May provide access when a qualifying critical illness occurs.
Critical Injury
May provide access when a qualifying critical injury occurs.
Alzheimer's Disease
May provide access when the applicable policy requirements are satisfied.
Lewy Body Dementia
May provide access when the applicable policy requirements are satisfied.
Each category is defined by the contract. What counts as a qualifying event under one policy is not necessarily what counts under another, and that definition is the single most important thing to read.
Built In, Not Bolted On.
This distinction matters, because these two things are often described as if they were the same, and they are not.
Living Benefits
Built into the coverage at no additional charge.
On applicable policies offered through ABNORMAL RESERVE, these benefits are built into the coverage at no additional charge when available and when the client qualifies. There is no separate add-on cost for the living benefits included with an applicable policy.
Optional Riders
Some policy features are optional and may cost extra.
Some other policy features may be optional and may involve additional cost. Those are not the same thing as the built-in living benefits described on this page, and the two should not be confused.
The living benefits described here are part of the coverage itself, not an upgrade you purchase separately.
Don't just ask what your policy pays when you die.
Ask what it can do while you're living.
This is the reason living benefits can fundamentally change the way someone thinks about life insurance.
The purpose isn't only to protect a family after death. Applicable coverage can also provide financial protection during some of life's most difficult moments, at the point when the money matters most and when it is hardest to come by another way.
A policy that can respond during a serious illness or injury is doing something a death benefit alone cannot do. That is the shift this page is about.
Where we focus
Protection Beyond a Death Benefit.
ABNORMAL RESERVE focuses on life insurance that can provide protection beyond a traditional death benefit.
ABNORMAL RESERVE offers life insurance with the most comprehensive living benefits in the insurance industry.
Availability, eligibility, and specific benefits vary by policy, state, underwriting, and contract terms.
What that does and does not mean
- It does not mean every policy includes every living benefit category.
- It does not mean every applicant automatically receives every benefit.
- It does mean the conversation is worth having, because the difference between policies is real.
- It does mean we will tell you plainly which benefits apply to the policy you are actually considering.
The qualifying conditions, the definitions behind each category, and what the contract actually controls are covered in more detail on our Living Benefits page.
Want to know which benefits apply to you?
General explanations cover general situations. A conversation is where we look at the specific policies available to you and tell you exactly what they include.
Confidential · No obligation · Your pace
Disclosure
This page is educational and is not financial, tax, or legal advice. Living benefits are subject to the terms of the specific policy, and availability, eligibility, and the specific benefits provided vary by policy, state, underwriting, product availability, and contract terms. Not every policy includes every benefit, and not every applicant will qualify for every benefit. Accessing a living benefit generally reduces the death benefit available to beneficiaries and may reduce policy value. All guarantees are subject to the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company.