Definition

Key person insurance, also commonly called keyman insurance and key man insurance or 'key employee insurance', is an important form of business insurance. There is no legal definition of "key person insurance". In general, it can be described as an insurance policy taken out by a business to compensate that business for financial losses that would arise from the death or extended incapacity of an important member of the business. To put it simply, key person insurance is a standard life insurance or trauma insurance policy that is used for business succession or business protection purposes. The policy's term does not extend beyond the period of the key person's usefulness to the business. Key person policies are usually owned by the business and the aim is to compensate the business for losses incurred with the loss of a key income generator and facilitate business continuity.

What is 'Key Person Insurance'

A life insurance policy that a company purchases on a key executive's life. The company is the beneficiary of the plan and pays the insurance policy premiums.

Explaining 'Key Person Insurance'

Key person insurance is needed if the sudden loss of a key executive would have a large negative effect on the company's operations. The payout provided from the death of the executive essentially buys the company time to find a new person or to implement other strategies to save the business.

Further Reading

Key person insurance: Who needs it
search.informit.com.au [PDF]
… Very few papers on key person insurance have been published … (2015) addressed the effects of insurance on firms … In industrial economics, competitive relationships between insurance companies and hospitals are discussed by Wang and Nie (2016), and the factors that affect …

Attitudes of Nigerians towards insurance services: An empirical study
papers.ssrn.com [PDF]
… Very few papers on key person insurance have been published … (2015) addressed the effects of insurance on firms … In industrial economics, competitive relationships between insurance companies and hospitals are discussed by Wang and Nie (2016), and the factors that affect …