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Insurance policy glossary
The words you will meet when you surrender, sell or keep a life policy in Singapore, in plain English.
Last reviewed 15 October 2026
A
- Absolute assignment
- A permanent transfer of a policy, with all its rights, to a new owner. It is how a policy is sold. More
- Assignee
- The person or company a policy is assigned to: the new owner.
- Assignor
- The policyowner who assigns the policy: the seller.
- Automatic premium loan
- A loan some insurers make from a policy's cash value to pay a missed premium, so the policy doesn't lapse. More
B
- Benefit illustration
- The document you receive when you buy a policy, showing its projected values year by year. Only the guaranteed figures are certain.
- Bonus
- An amount added to a participating policy from the insurer's profits. Reversionary bonuses are added each year once declared; a terminal bonus is paid at the end.
C
- Cash benefit
- A regular payout some endowments make during the term. You can take it or leave it with the insurer to earn interest.
- Cash value
- The value built up in a policy, which you can reach by surrender, a policy loan or, on some plans, a withdrawal.
- Conditional assignment
- A transfer that falls away once a condition is met, such as a policy pledged as security for a loan.
D
- Death benefit
- The amount paid when the life assured dies. After a sale, it is paid to the new owner.
E
- Endowment policy
- A savings policy that pays a set sum at maturity, or earlier on death. Selling an endowment
F
- Free-look period
- A short period after you receive a new policy when you can cancel it, usually for a refund less some costs.
G
- Grace period
- The time after a premium falls due during which cover continues while you pay.
- Guaranteed value
- The part of a payout the insurer must pay under the policy's terms, whatever happens to its investments.
I
- Investment-linked policy
- A policy whose value depends on the funds your premiums buy. It rises and falls with them. Often shortened to ILP.
L
- Lapse
- When a policy ends because premiums were not paid.
- Life assured
- The person whose life the policy covers. It does not change when a policy is sold.
M
- Maturity value
- What an endowment pays at the end of its term, including bonuses.
N
- Net surrender value
- The surrender value after any policy loan, interest and amounts owed are taken off. Calculate yours
- Nomination, revocable
- Naming who receives the policy money on death, which you can change. It generally ends if the policy is assigned.
- Nomination, trust
- A nomination that creates a trust, usually for a spouse or children. It cannot be changed freely and usually blocks a sale.
- Non-guaranteed value
- The part of a payout that depends on the insurer's future results, such as bonuses not yet declared.
P
- Paid-up policy
- A policy on which premiums have stopped, kept going with a reduced sum insured.
- Participating policy
- A policy that shares in the profits of the insurer's participating fund, through bonuses. Participating vs non-participating
- Policy loan
- A loan from your insurer against your policy's cash value, with interest. More
- Policyowner
- The person who owns the policy and its rights. Not always the same person as the life assured.
- Premium
- The payment that keeps a policy in force.
- Premium freeze or holiday
- A pause in premiums that some plans allow, with conditions. More
R
- Reinstatement
- Restoring a lapsed policy, usually by paying what is owed and confirming your health.
- Rider
- An add-on benefit, such as critical illness or waiver of premium. Riders may end when a policy is sold.
S
- Surrender
- Ending a policy before maturity in return for its surrender value. How to surrender
- Surrender value
- What the insurer pays when you surrender, before deductions. More
T
- Terminal bonus
- A one-off, non-guaranteed bonus paid at maturity or on a claim, and sometimes in part on surrender.
- Traded endowment policy
- An endowment its owner has sold to someone else. Often shortened to TEP. More
- Traded life policy
- A whole life policy its owner has sold to someone else. Often shortened to TLP.
W
- Whole life policy
- A policy that covers you for life, or to a high age, and builds a cash value. Selling whole life
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