Being a police officer you must be aware of the fact that policing is one of the riskiest professions of all time. For that reason, many police personnel gets confused about the accessibility of life insurance facility as they assume they will get less benefit because of their profession. However, the good news is there is life insurance for police officers.
Life insurance is a type of insurance where a beneficiary is going to get a lump-sum amount of money when you die. Many insurance companies will provide this death benefit against the premiums you now have to pay for the insurance. Now, despite being a risky profession, there are plenty of opportunities for police officers.
If you are working in a law enforcement force and don’t know anything about accessing life insurance facilities, I am here today to tell you about this. I am going to explain why life insurance is essential for a police officer and how you can get it. Not only that, but I will also tell you about the best possible options for you to buy a life insurance policy.
So, without any further ado, let’s begin.
Importance of Life Insurance For Police Officers
A law enforcement officer risks his life to protect us from the criminals. As they protect the city, we can live happily and feel safe at home.
But, for giving us safety, they put their life at higher risk.
They must have to follow the orders of the superiors. That is why their daily duty is not out of risk.
Day or night, summer or winter, they always do risky things so that the citizen feel safe.
Therefore, a police officer must be aware of the financial security of his family if any unexpected adverse incident happens to his life. You may be a member of the law enforcement force, but you must protect your own people as well.
Here comes the importance of having a life insurance policy so that your family remains secure even after your death.
Given that most often, police officers have to deal with criminals, they are always at life risk from a gunshot. However, there could be other reasons for a police officer’s death.
It could be a traffic accident. Especially, when they have to stay on highroads for their duty for a long time. Any unfortunate incident can happen there, who knows.
I know, they carry it for our safety. However, sometimes there can be an unintentional incident with guns, and that could be the reason for an officer’s death.
In any kind of crime scene, a police officer acts as the first responder, and hence his life is at high risk in any unwanted ambush or attack.
Law enforcement officers are brave enough to fight with the criminals for our safety. However, for the sake of the financial security of their families if they die when saving us, I believe, a life insurance policy is the best option.
What Options Do You Have?
First of all, I want to ensure that you can get an insurance policy, even though you are a police officer. Although policing is one of the riskiest professions in the world, you won’t face any kind of discrimination while buying a life insurance policy.
The same application process is applicable for a police officer to buy a life insurance policy. However, you may find some potential changes in the rate of premiums.
Now, it’s time to see what options are available for you? The available policies for a police officer are as follows.
- Term Life Insurance Policy
- Permanent Life Insurance Policy
- No-Medical Exam Life Insurance Policy
Let me explain these further.
Term Life Insurance Policy
In this kind of policy, the premium is fixed for a fixed term as per the contract. Term life insurance is the most affordable insurance policy, and as a police officer, this could be the best option for you.
With all those exciting benefits, this policy will help you to get more benefits at a low price. You can choose any term between 5 to 30 years policy which allows you more flexibility. You can convert the term life insurance policy into a permanent system.
Wouldn’t this be awesome to have the flexibility to convert the term life insurance policy to permanent policy? However, to do that the insurance term should be expired.
Honestly speaking, a term policy is one of the best types of systems for police officers.
Permanent Life Insurance Policy
This is another type of life insurance with some cool features. Here, the rate will be fixed for a lifetime.
It means the payment won’t increase ever and it doesn’t depend on your life either. However, this policy is a little bit expensive comparing to others. But, it justifies the benefits you will get against the payment.
You don’t need to renew the insurance, because it covers the entire lifetime. If you are a police officer with a sound health condition, I think it can be considered as the right policy for you.
However, go for a no medical exam policy or a term policy will be a good option for you as well, if you are not enough healthy.
No-Medical Exam Life Insurance Policy
This is a unique type of life insurance policy. You may want to buy this type of life insurance policy for any of two possible reasons.
You may want to get everything faster, even though you are healthy enough to qualify for other insurances. The other reason is that maybe you can’t be eligible for other insurance policies.
The rule is simple here. If you can’t qualify for another type of insurance policy, go for a system that doesn’t need medical exams.
However, you have to keep in mind that this policy is expensive. But, it can provide you with a quick coverage. If you go for a regular system, I am afraid, and it may take eight weeks to get the insurance.
On the other hand, it can get you quick coverage. However, you must keep in mind that this policy is a little bit expensive.
Further Considerations For Life Insurance For A Police Officer
In a general sense, the life insurance company worries about your health condition. If you have a sound health condition, they are going to provide you insurance with low premiums.
But, if you are not in good health condition, I am afraid the insurance company may charge a high premium for you. However, if you work in a law enforcement force, health is not everything that an insurance provider check.
In this case, they are going to consider policing as a risky profession. Therefore, you may have to provide some additional information and your background should be checked carefully to be qualified for the life insurance policy.
However, the risk consideration will vary from department to department. Not every police department is equally risky as per the insurance company’s concern.
As a police officer, you may have to answer some additional questions when you want to buy insurance. The following extra things are considered.
- If an officer carries a firearm daily, it is so apparent that he will end up paying extra premiums. It is because having a firearm is a risky thing. Besides, arms are heavy; that is why it may cause harm to your health.
- If you visit the crime scenes or have to do fieldwork so often, the insurance cost will be high. Because going to the battlefield will put you in a risky position, and it will increase the insurance rate significantly.
- Safety measures and protective vests can reduce your life risk significantly. The company will ask about the safety measures when you go to the battlefield. As it reduces the life risk, you may get reduced premiums.
- If your duty involved dealing with high profile crime cases, it might pose a new threat to the police officer. It may increase the insurance rate as the criminals can harm the involved officer at any time.
- The rule is simple here. If your policing work involves dealing with high profile crimes or criminals, you have to pay extra premiums. On the other hand, traffic police officers may enjoy significantly reduced insurance premiums as they don’t have to deal with life-threatening criminals so often.
Rating A Police Officers Can Expect
Policing is a novel profession. I agree with the fact that police officers always do their duties for our most significant safety. However, you may be well aware that the insurance rates are highly variable with the health condition of an individual.
A person with a good health condition will enjoy insurance facilities with low premiums. Whereas, if you have a poor health condition, the insurance premium will be higher. So, I believe, now, you can understand the relation between your profession and insurance rate.
There are some special considerations in life insurance. If you are a police officer, your insurance rate may increase, because insurance providers think that policing is a hazardous work with lots of life risk. There are different rules that an insurer may follow to determine the insurance rates for a police officer.
For instance, a table rating may be assigned to you if the insurer considers your work risky. Based on the fatality rate, your insurance premium may increase. If you score the lowest table rating, your initial premium may be increased by 25%. On the other hand, it may increase by 250% if your table rating score is the highest.
Besides, based on the risk assessment, an extra flat fee may be added to your insurance premium cost. Again, this fee is changeable. And, the change depends on your duty area and department.
Your medical status will determine the table rating score, whereas your occupational risks will decide whether or not you have to pay any extra fee or not. So, an insurer may use any of the methods to determine your insurance premiums and other associated terms.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Based on my position, do the policies for police life insurance change?
Answer: Yes, of course. The terms of police life insurance may vary according to the role because the amount of risk a police officer may take depends on his part and department.
For instance, the role of constables, traffic police officers, and community support officers are different. So, the insurance terms can be varied for each of them.
When I retire from the force, can I take 0ut life insurance?
Answer: If you retire from the police, you still be responsible and liable for the insurance premiums. Your insurance policy will be monitored as per the terms and conditions of your contract.
Will I be paid if I get injured at work?
Answer: No, you won’t. The policy only provides a financial benefit to the beneficiary after your death. However, if you need a payout for your injury, you can go for accident insurance.
Can I take out critical life insurance, too?
Answer: Yes, you can add critical life cover at a standard rate. However, in that case, you have to disclose every material thing to the insurance provider so that you don’t face any further issues.
Final Words
Police officers put themselves in a risky position to ensure that we citizen is safe. Despite being a profession that includes dangerous and hazardous work, every police officer has the right to buy a life insurance policy.
Because they have a family, and that should be protected as well. There are several types of policies for police officers. But, they should plan carefully when it comes to buying an insurance policy.
I believe this comprehensive guide helped you to get an insight into life insurance for police officers.
