subject: The Semantics Of Life Assurance [print this page] The Semantics Of Life Assurance The Semantics Of Life Assurance
Some folks say "to-MAY-to" and some folks say "to-MAH-to", or "po-TAY-to" and "po-TAH-to" however it's really not an issue how a term is pronounced; what matters is the meaning of a word. If the speakers of a certain dialect didn't agree on the meaning of the terms in their vocabulary then all of us would still be residing in prehistoric times. Thankfully, the human race no longer talks in a sequence of grunts but language continues to be a complicated issue where semantics is concerned. This is largely on account of synonyms and other lexical conditions which result in uncertainty and semantic misunderstanding among the speakers of a language. All languages have these and a person might labour with a misapprehension, sometimes for many years, until they find out the actual meaning of a word.
Take the phrases, "life insurance" and "life assurance", for example. Most grown ups are familiar with life insurance, especially those having dependants, as they will most likely have needed to take out a life cover plan at some stage or another. Yet, when it comes to life assurance, the meaning of the term isn't quite as clear. A person might assume that each of those terms are related to life coverage and they would be right but there's a subtle difference between the two phrases. Occasionally a habit or practice, for instance taking out life insurance when you come to be a mum or dad is behaviour handed down from our own parents and we do not query what we are undertaking because we believe that what worked for them will work just as well for us. Many of us understand the general context of what we are undertaking but not the specifics, and whilst our parents may well have been using sound tactics, our life circumstances might be somewhat different and the same form of cover might not be appropriate for us. It could be that life assurance is a better path for us to take but we don't pursue that avenue as we don't really understand what it is. Therefore, not pondering the meaning of phrases can lead to us to obtain a policy which may not be the most suitable for us.
Indeed, both kinds of coverage entail insuring a person's life however there's a fundamental variance between the two. Life assurance comes with an investment portion, whilst life insurance does not. Naturally, there's a cash pay out in both instances in the event the policy holder dies before the policy comes to an end however, if they don't perish, and the coverage runs out, then the holder of a life assurance policy will collect money from the investment portion of the policy whilst the owner of life insurance won't.
The moral of this story is not to presume you understand the meaning of a term or expression merely because you comprehend the circumstance in which it is being utilized. In affairs involving insurance just like any other kind of policy or agreement it is advisable to get clarification on every term that you're not sure of the meaning of. Obtaining clarification prior to signing the contract will guarantee that you or your surviving loved ones won't have any nasty surprises further down the road.
