What is Credit Life and Disability Insurance? Do I Need It?
Find Cheap Life Insurance Quotes in Your Area
Credit life insurance is a type of life insurance that pays the balance of a particular debt back to your lender if you pass away. Similarly, credit disability or credit involuntary unemployment insurance can help cover loan payments if you're unable to work for a period of time. Credit life insurance policies are usually more expensive than most term life insurance policies for the same coverage amount, and they don't allow beneficiaries.
That's why credit life insurance is typically a poor choice, unless you have a preexisting medical condition that would preclude you from purchasing term life insurance.
What is credit insurance?
Credit insurance is a term that may apply to four types of policies:
- Credit life insurance pays off a debt if you pass away.
- Credit disability insurance covers loan payments if you become disabled and are unable to work. It may be limited to a certain number of payments or total amount paid.
- Credit involuntary unemployment insurance covers loan payments if you are laid off from your job. It may be limited to a certain number of payments or total amount paid.
- Credit property insurance covers property used to secure a loan, such as a boat or car. Coverage is only applicable if the property is damaged or destroyed during the loan period.
Credit life insurance and credit disability insurance are the most commonly offered forms of coverage. They may also go by different names.
For example, "credit card payment protection insurance," "mortgage protection insurance" and "loan protection insurance" are all forms of credit life insurance policies.
These might be offered as a single policy, in which only you are covered, or a joint policy that covers you and your spouse. While joint insurance is more expensive, there's a discount when two people are on the same policy rather than getting individual policies.
Is credit life insurance necessary to obtain a loan?
You're never required to purchase credit life insurance from a lender in order to obtain a loan. If a lender ever tells you this or tries to include the cost of credit insurance in your loan without properly disclosing it, you should report the company to the Federal Trade Commission.
While a lender may require you to have insurance on certain items that are used to secure a loan, such as your car or home, you're free to shop elsewhere for the policy. In addition, the lender may require you to pay for private mortgage insurance (PMI) if you purchase a home and your down payment is less than 20%. You can cancel PMI once you have enough home equity. Similarly, you may be required to purchase life insurance when borrowing money through the Small Business Administration.
How do credit life and credit disability insurance work?
Group credit life insurance policies are generally sold to lenders, such as banks and credit unions, who offer you coverage when you obtain a loan. The policy's benefit, or face value, will typically be tied to your outstanding balance, so it decreases over time as you pay off the loan.
Credit life and disability insurance premiums can be structured in one of two ways:
Payment structure | Level premiums? | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Single premium | Yes | Single-premium policies can be particularly costly. You don't actually pay a onetime fee, but the total cost of coverage is added to your outstanding balance, meaning you'll pay interest on it. |
| Monthly premium | No | Your policy will have either fixed installments or a "premium rate," which means that as your balance changes each month, so does your premium. |
Because lenders usually offer credit life and disability insurance when you obtain a loan, policies are either guaranteed acceptance or have incredibly limited underwriting. There's no medical exam, and the company has none of your health information, so they have to assume you're high risk. This significantly drives up the cost of credit life insurance, compared with fully underwritten term life insurance.
Credit life and disability insurance policies may also come with age limits. You may not be able to obtain coverage if you're over 65 or 70, and if you already have coverage, it may expire at that point.
Should I buy credit life insurance?
The answer depends on two factors: Will your family need to cover your debts if you die, and do you qualify for a more cost-effective, flexible form of coverage?
After your death, a family member will typically need to cover outstanding loans only if:
- They cosigned for the loan: The family member who cosigned the loan is responsible for any outstanding balance. Authorized credit card users would not be responsible for an outstanding balance, but joint cardholders would.
- You were married and lived in a community property state: Your spouse is responsible for the debt, even if they didn't cosign the loan. There are currently only nine community property states: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.
- They want to keep the property, securing the loan: If the value of your estate isn't large enough to cover the outstanding loan on your car or home, your family would need to pay off the debt in order to keep the property.
If you want life insurance to cover a loan, we recommend getting term life insurance. It's the cheapest form of coverage, you can choose a death benefit that covers multiple loans and expenses, and you can name a beneficiary. Your beneficiary can use the payout as they see fit, whether it's for funeral expenses, college tuition or monthly bills.
Credit life insurance is similar to guaranteed acceptance life insurance, in that all applicants of a qualifying age are accepted and premiums are significantly higher.
Coverage | Term life insurance | No medical exam life insurance | Guaranteed acceptance life insurance | Credit life insurance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum death benefit | Over $1 million | $250,000, varies by insurer | $25,000, varies by insurer | Loan amount |
| Beneficiary | Your choice | Your choice | Your choice | Lender |
| Underwriting | Health questions and medical exam | Health questions, no medical exam | No health questions, no medical exam | No health questions, no medical exam |
| Length of coverage | Fixed term, 5 to 35 years | Fixed term or lifelong | Lifelong | Length of loan or until maximum age |
With both credit life and guaranteed acceptance life insurances, insurers can't screen for preexisting conditions, such as heart disease or cancer, so they have to assume you're high risk. The one upside to credit life insurance is that the death benefit is equal to the loan amount. This is in contrast to guaranteed acceptance coverage, which is typically limited to less than $25,000. So, for example, if you want coverage for a $200,000 outstanding mortgage balance and don't qualify for term life insurance or no medical exam life insurance, then credit life insurance would be your only option.
Editorial Note: The content of this article is based on the author's opinions and recommendations alone. It has not been previewed, commissioned or otherwise endorsed by any of our network partners.