What is key man life insurance?
Quick Facts
A company or small business buys key person insurance and pays the premiums to cover the life of an owner, executive, or critical employee
Key person life insurance protects businesses from immediate bankruptcy by covering the cost of training and rehiring a replacement if a critical employee dies or is disabled
Businesses can use term life or permanent life policies as key person insurance
Do you need key person insurance? A company or small business will buy key person life insurance if the business would suffer financially after an essential employee’s death. Employees considered key to a company are usually business owners or C-suite executives with intimate knowledge of corporate plans and processes.
This type of life insurance is often referred to as key man insurance or corporate-owned life insurance (COLI) since it’s owned by the business entity rather than the insured employee.
Since the company buys the policy, it’s responsible for paying the monthly life insurance rates. However, how much life insurance costs for a key person still depends on the age, gender, and medical history of the insured.
Keep reading to learn more about key person life insurance, when you need it, and how to determine the best policy limits based on the future needs of your business.
What is key person insurance?
A key person policy is a type of life insurance used by a company or small business to protect itself from losses and bankruptcy after the death of an essential employee.
If the insured employee should die, the benefits from their key person policy would cover any costs associated with either training and rehiring a replacement or closing the business responsibly.
For example, business owners can use death benefits to cover severance packages for other employees should the company close after a key person’s death.
An essential employee is anyone whose death would negatively affect the business’s overall success. Key employee life insurance can cover a business owner or partner, a high-level executive, an engineer with specialized talents, or a salesperson responsible for much of the business’s revenue.
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When does your business need key person insurance?
If you have a business loan, your lender likely requires some sort of key man insurance policy on yourself, your business partner, or another core employee. Your investors may also require insurance for key employees to protect their losses in the event of the death or permanent disability of these employees.
Key person life insurance will also protect you if you don’t have employees. For example, business partners can use the benefits to buy the other’s shares should one die or become disabled and unable to work. This type of policy is often referred to as partner insurance. Learn more about when you might need to buy life insurance for someone else.
How does key person insurance work?
Business owners and company leaders can take out key employee life insurance at any time. The insured employee has no say in the type of policy bought or policy limits, but the company must notify and receive written permission from the employee to take out the policy.
Like traditional life insurance policies, key person policies contain three parts.
The policy owner is the entity that owns the policy and pays the annual life insurance rates.
The insured is who the policy covers and on whose death the benefit is received. Annual rates are directly linked to the insured’s medical history and lifestyle.
The policy beneficiary is the entity that receives the benefits after the insured’s covered death.
The main difference between key person life insurance and traditional policies is that key person policy owners are also the policy beneficiaries.
This means that the company buys the policy, pays the annual premiums, and receives financial compensation to cover business costs directly related to the key employee’s death or disability.
Types of Life Insurance You Can Use as Key Person Insurance
Life insurance for key employees can be a term or permanent policy, depending on the needs of the business.
Term life insurance. Covers the insured for a set number of years at much lower monthly rates than whole or permanent life insurance.
Permanent life insurance. Covers the insured for their entire life and provides a cash-value savings account.
There are pros and cons to each type of life insurance, so consider the following before you buy key person insurance.
As you can see, permanent policies provide lifelong coverage, which may not be necessary because business needs often change. That’s why term life insurance is popularly used as key man coverage. Term policies typically last between 10 and 20 years, although some life insurance companies offer coverage as long as 40 years or as short as five. Compare term vs. whole life insurance to learn more.
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How much does key person insurance cost?
The cost of key person insurance depends on many different variables, including:
The type of life insurance policy
The policy limits
The age, gender, and health of the insured employee
Whole life insurance rates are more expensive than term life, and your business loan may also require a specific amount of coverage. Higher limits lead to higher monthly rates, so it’s best to get life insurance quotes for different policies to compare the costs of each.
Start comparing monthly life insurance quotes here with this table showing term life and whole life rates for a $100,000 policy.
Monthly insurance costs will increase with higher policy limits, so compare quotes for $250,000, $500,000, and $1 million policies with our comparison tool below to get the best rates.
Key Person Life Insurance and Taxes
Is life insurance taxable? While death benefits are not taxed, key person life insurance payments are not tax-deductible. This means that the company pays the policy’s annual premiums with after-tax income, which might influence how much your business is willing to pay per month for key person coverage.
If your company wants to deduct life insurance payments, consider offering group life insurance to your employees. This type of life insurance covers funeral costs and family benefits for insured employees. In addition, the company covers a portion of the annual group premiums so employees can pay lower rates.
How to Buy Key Person Insurance
Deciding to buy key person life insurance can save your business from bankruptcy after the death of a business partner or essential employee. If you have a business loan or investors, you might be required to carry key person or key man insurance on yourself or other core employees.
Core employees typically include owners, C-suite executives, engineers, and salespeople who know the inner workings of the business or are responsible for a considerable amount of revenue.
However, the trick to saving money on life insurance for employees comes from knowing what limits you need and which type of policy to buy. Companies can choose to buy term or whole life insurance to cover a key employee, but policy limits will vary depending on the following:
The multiple of compensation dictates how much it costs to employ this key person per year.
The percentage of profits indicates how much revenue the key employee brings to the company each year.
The cost to rehire is the total cost of finding, training, and rehiring a suitable replacement for the key employee, including the loss of revenue while the position is unfilled.
If you’re not sure how much key person life insurance your business needs, use our life insurance calculator to get an idea of how much coverage to buy. You can also enter your ZIP code below to compare life insurance costs from companies in your area.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the owner of a key person life insurance policy?
The company or small business that takes out the policy and pays the premiums is the owner of the key person policy. A company can transfer key person insurance to the employee as a benefit, but the employee may be required to pay taxes on any benefits they receive.
What does a key person policy pay for?
Key person insurance can pay for the costs of hiring and training a replacement after the death of an essential employee or business owner. Alternatively, companies can use the policy benefits to cover closing costs, including severance packages, to shut down a business without filing for bankruptcy.
Is key person insurance the same as life insurance?
Yes, but only in the way that both types of policies pay out a financial benefit after a person dies. The difference between key employee and personal life insurance is that key employee life insurance pays benefits directly to the business and covers business-related costs rather than funerary costs and family benefits.
Employees and business owners must buy a personal life insurance policy to cover funeral and burial costs or pay out any benefits to family members and loved ones.
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Rachael Brennan has been working in the insurance industry since 2006 when she began working as a licensed insurance representative for 21st Century Insurance, during which time she earned her Property and Casualty license in all 50 states.
After several years she expanded her insurance expertise, earning her license in Health and AD&D insurance as well. She has worked for small health in…
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Written by
Rachael Brennan
Licensed Insurance Agent
Benjamin Carr was a licensed insurance agent in Georgia and has two years’ experience in life, health, property and casualty coverage. He has worked with State Farm and other risk management firms. He is also a strategic writer and editor with a background in branding, marketing, and quality assurance. He has been in military newsrooms — literally on the frontline of journalism.
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Reviewed by
Benji Carr
Former Licensed Life Insurance Agent
