Meaning & use
term insurance
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Meanings
noununcountablebusinessfinance
A type of life insurance that pays money to your family only if you die within a fixed period, and has no savings value.
Grammar: No plural and no article: say 'buy term insurance', not 'buy a term insurance'.
Patterns
- buy term insurance
- term insurance policy
- term insurance is cheaper than whole life
They chose term insurance because the monthly payments were much lower than whole life cover.
Term insurance usually runs for 10, 20, or 30 years, and after that you must renew it.
If you die during the term, the term insurance pays the agreed amount to your family.
nouncountablebusinessfinance
A single policy of this kind, often bought to protect a mortgage or young children.
Grammar: When you mean one specific policy, it can be countable: 'a 20-year term insurance'.
Patterns
- a 20-year term insurance
- take out a term insurance
- renew the term insurance
The bank asked him to take out a term insurance to cover the loan.
She renewed her 15-year term insurance when the children started school.
Common combinations
- term life insurance
- Term life insurance is the most common form of term insurance in the US.
- buy term insurance
- Many young couples buy term insurance when they first get a mortgage.
- term insurance policy
- Read the term insurance policy carefully to see what is excluded.
- whole life insurance
- Unlike term insurance, whole life insurance also builds up cash value.
- renewable term insurance
- Renewable term insurance lets you extend cover without a new medical exam.
Synonyms and how they differ
- term life insurance
- The full American name for the same product; 'term insurance' is the shorter everyday form.
- temporary insurance
- A general description rather than a technical term; it stresses that cover ends after a set time.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: term insurance or whole life insurance? term insurance or health insurance?
term insurance vs whole life insurance
Whole life insurance lasts your entire life and builds cash value; term insurance lasts only a fixed number of years and has no savings part.
term insurance vs health insurance
Health insurance pays medical costs; term insurance pays a lump sum to your family if you die.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'term insurance' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Term insurance is usually uncountable, so it takes no article and no plural: 'bought term insurance'. Option A wrongly adds 'a', option C wrongly makes it plural, and option D uses the wrong structure after 'for'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “term insurance”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.