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What Our Plans Cover
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Death benefit paid to the company...
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Terminal illness acceleration
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Optional critical illness rider co...
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Optional disability cover on some...
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Assignment to a lender
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Cover for multiple key persons und...
Who Can Consider This Plan?
- A registered organisation with employees on its payroll
- A minimum group size, commonly seven to twenty depending on the cover
- Employees actively at work on the date cover commences
- Accurate census data — pricing follows the population profile
- Uniform benefit design within each defined grade
What May Not Be Covered?
- Suicide within the first twelve months
- Death from material facts concealed at proposal
- Sums assured beyond what financial underwriting supports
- Any benefit to the individual or their family — the company is the beneficiary
- Continuation after the key person leaves the company
Always check the policy wording before you commit.
Why Choose Wealth & Covers?
- Expert advice to choose the right plan
- Plans from leading insurance companies
- Hassle-free process and documentation
- End-to-end support, including claim assistance
- Dedicated relationship manager
Our Insurance Partners
- Star Health Insurance
- Care Health Insurance
- Niva Bupa Health Insurance
- HDFC ERGO
- ICICI Lombard
- Bajaj Allianz
We represent multiple providers to help you find the most suitable option at the best price.
- Expert Guidance Personalised advice from experienced insurance professionals.
- End-to-End Support From choosing the right plan to claim assistance, we are with you always.
- Claims Assistance Hassle-free claim support to ensure you get what you deserve.
- Transparent Process Clear information, easy documentation and a hassle-free experience.
Overview
Keyman insurance is a life policy taken by a company on a person whose loss would materially damage the business, with the company as both owner and beneficiary. It exists to give the business time and money to survive that loss.
The key person is not necessarily the founder. It may be the head of sales who holds the client relationships, the technical lead who is the product, or the person whose personal guarantee supports the company's borrowing. The test is what would actually break if they were gone tomorrow.
Insurers apply financial underwriting: the sum assured has to be justified by the person's demonstrable contribution to profits, and the company must show a genuine insurable interest. Both are established at proposal stage rather than at claim stage.
Who should consider it
Companies dependent on a founder or a small number of individuals. Businesses with lender covenants requiring keyman cover. Companies where one person holds the client relationships, the technical capability, or the credit standing.
Benefits
- Provides the business with liquidity after losing a key person
- Funds recruitment and the period of reduced performance that follows
- Frequently required by lenders and investors as a covenant
- Premium may be deductible where the arrangement is properly structured
- Supports business continuity in the period of greatest disruption
- Can be assigned to a lender where borrowing requires it
What is covered, and what is not
Read the right-hand column first. It is the one that decides whether a claim is paid.
Typically covered
- Death benefit paid to the company on the key person's death
- Terminal illness acceleration, on most contracts
- Optional critical illness rider covering serious diagnosis
- Optional disability cover on some structures
- Assignment to a lender, where required by a facility
- Cover for multiple key persons under separate policies
Typically not covered
- Suicide within the first twelve months
- Death from material facts concealed at proposal
- Sums assured beyond what financial underwriting supports
- Any benefit to the individual or their family — the company is the beneficiary
- Continuation after the key person leaves the company
- Undeclared hazardous pursuits of the insured person
Inclusions and exclusions vary between providers and between plans from the same provider. The wording in your own policy document is what governs — we will walk you through it before you buy.
How it works with us
- 1 We profile the workforce, not just the headcount Age bands, salary bands, locations and dependants. A scheme priced on headcount alone is priced on the wrong data.
- 2 Benefit design before market approach Sum insured basis, family definition, waiting periods and co-payment. These decide the premium far more than the choice of insurer.
- 3 Quotes compared on claims service as well as price A cheap scheme with a slow TPA costs you in employee goodwill every single month.
- 4 Onboarding and employee communication We run the enrolment, produce the cards and explain the scheme to your people. Benefits nobody understands are benefits nobody values.
- 5 Mid-term additions and an annual review Joiners and leavers handled by endorsement, and a renewal built on your actual claims data rather than a standard loading.
Important considerations
The things a brochure tends to leave out. Read these before you decide.
- Identify the right person rather than the most senior one. The test is what would break, not who holds the largest title.
- Justify the sum assured with figures. Insurers require a demonstrable link to profits, and a well-documented case at proposal stage avoids problems at claim stage.
- Review it when people change roles. A keyman policy on someone who is no longer central is premium spent on a risk that has moved.
- Keep this separate from any personal cover the individual holds. The company is the beneficiary here and the family is not, which should be understood by everyone concerned.
- Where a lender requires assignment, arrange it at inception. Retrofitting an assignment onto an existing policy is slower than it sounds.
Documents required
- Company registration and GST details
- Employee census — age, gender, salary band and location
- Details of dependants where family cover is included
- Existing policy schedule and claims data, where renewing
- Organisation chart, where cover varies by grade
- Signed proposal form from an authorised signatory
Frequently Asked Questions
Who counts as a key person?
Anyone whose departure would materially damage the business — the founder, the person holding the client relationships, the technical lead who is effectively the product, or whoever supports the company's borrowing. The right test is what would actually break tomorrow, not who has the most senior title.
How much cover can we take?
As much as financial underwriting supports. Insurers look for a demonstrable link between the person and the company's profits, and generally allow a multiple of their assessed contribution. Prepare that case with figures at proposal stage.
Who receives the payout?
The company, which is both owner and beneficiary. The individual's family receives nothing from this policy — they need the person's own life cover, which is an entirely separate arrangement.
Is the premium tax deductible?
It can be where the arrangement is properly structured as a business expense, but the treatment of the eventual proceeds follows from the same structure. It is worth taking specific advice before issuance rather than assuming.
What if the key person leaves?
The insurable interest ends and cover should be restructured or discontinued. Some companies transfer the policy to the individual; others simply cancel. Either way it should be reviewed rather than left running.
Want a shortlist instead of a catalogue?
Tell us the situation and an advisor comes back with two or three options that actually fit — and names what each one gives up.