Written By: Sahil Singh Kathait

Sahil Singh Kathait

Health & Term Insurance

A boy-in-squares bagging escapades of switching streets in groove & sensing musical airy-notes from 6 1". Under wayed nyctophile sketching the walls of life from the panorama of anime.

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Reviewed By: Apeksha Parsai

Apeksha Parsai

Term & Health Insurance

Apeksha Parsai has trained young minds about the benefits of health & term insurance throughout her 8+ years career. She designs, develops, and delivers impactful training programs for agents/brokers, and internal teams. Her expertise lies in insurance product knowledge, sales strategies, regulatory compliance, and customer service.

Updated on Apr 08, 2025 3 min read

Decreasing Term Insurance

Decreasing term insurance works on the basis of decreasing your term life cover up to a percentage every year ultimately decreasing your sum assured. Such plans are usually purchased to help clear debts, such as home loan, car, student loan repayment.

As your loan decreases over time, so does the amount of your insurance coverage. If you're steadily paying off your mortgage, your dependents would need less money to cover the remaining amount in the event of your death.

Decreasing term life insurance differs from standard term insurance in one significant element - the coverage amount of the plan reduces over time. Hence the name decreasing term insurance.

Understand Decreasing Term Life Insurance Plans

Decreasing term insurance plans operate similarly to regular term insurance. Under decreasing term insurance, the life cover in the policy decreases annually at a specific rate. But please note that your premiums will remain constant throughout the policy term. Similar to term insurance, you can decide the policy tenure. But you'll find the premium rates for the plans are relatively lower than regular-term plans.

Let's understand with an example:

• Varun buys a decreasing term insurance of Rs. 1 Cr and sets the decreasing rate at 5% per year.
• Varun dies due to a road accident during the 4th year of the policy term.
• In this case, the death benefit his family will get is Rs. 80 Lakhs, i.e., 1 Cr less 20%.

Why Buy a Decreasing Term Life Insurance Plan

Does passing on the liabilities to your dependents scare you? If yes, you can prevent it with a decreasing term insurance. It is an ideal term plan designed to cover liabilities specifically.

If you've got an outstanding home or car loan, this plan ensures that your family will not be financially burdened with debts after you pass away. With decreasing term insurance, as you pay your loans, your life cover in the policy decreases annually at a specific rate.

How Does Decreasing Term Insurance Work

While the face value of a standard Term Life Insurance policy remains constant throughout the policy tenure, the Death Benefit decreases either monthly or annually in case of Decreasing Term Insurance. However, in both these cases, the premium and the policy term remain constant.

1. Choose Coverage Amount

   Choose a cover amount depending on the outstanding liability that your family might need to pay off upon your death.

2. Decreasing Sum Assured

   The sum assured then reduces each year in line with an outstanding debt for the duration of the policy, eventually finishing at zero by the end of the policy term. As and when the debt becomes zero, the sum assured becomes zero.

3. Premium Payment

   In return for the coverage, policyholders are required to pay a monthly premium to the insurance provider. Please note that the premium amount remains standard and reflects the policy's overall cost from start to end.

Benefits of Decreasing Term Insurance

How Much Cover Do I Need in Decreasing Term Life Insurance

When calculating the amount of decreasing term insurance, you need to assess the outstanding liability that your family might need to pay off upon your death. Remember that the amount of life cover does not reduce at a rate faster than the outstanding debt, or else it defeats the objective of a decreasing term insurance plan.

It is essential to accurately estimate the coverage amount rather than just guessing a randomly high figure. Ideally, the cover amount should be higher than or as close to the debt amount as possible to eliminate the possibility of incurring additional charges.

When Should I Purchase a Decreasing Term Insurance Plan

Decreasing term life offers security for decreasing expenses. When you hold an outstanding loan that'll decrease over time, such as a student loan, home loan, business loan, or car loan, decreasing term life offers timely security in case your unfortunate demise and your debt is passed on to dependents. Startup owners find this plan helpful to protect indebtedness against operational expenses.

For instance: when one partner dies, the life cover from the policy can help fund continuing operations or eliminate the percentage of the outstanding debt for which the deceased partner is responsible.

Who Should Buy the Decreasing Term Insurance

Decreasing term insurance is ideal if you want to buy specifically to cover liabilities. Under this plan, you'll ensure that your family may not be burdened financially with outstanding debts that are not settled while you're alive. For anyone who holds any outstanding liabilities, like home, care student, or mortgage loans, then this plan will be best for them.

Decreasing Term Insurance Versus Other Types of Term Insurance Policies

Conclusion

Since the main objective of buying life insurance is to protect the family's financial future, with decreasing term life insurance, you can ensure that your family will have enough financial support to pay off outstanding debts. If the thought of passing liabilities to your family scares you, then decreasing term life insurance is an ideal financial tool to cover liabilities.