If a policyholder takes out a loan on their policy, what is the impact on death benefits?

When a policyholder takes out a loan against their insurance policy, the impact on the death benefits is specifically that the death benefits are reduced by the outstanding loan amount. This means that if the policyholder passes away before repaying the loan, the insurance company will deduct the loan amount from the total death benefit that would otherwise be paid out to the beneficiaries.

This reduction reflects the fact that the loan represents money already accessed by the policyholder, which the insurer effectively must subtract from the proceeds due to the beneficiaries. Therefore, the total amount received by the beneficiaries will be the death benefit minus the amount owed on the loan, ensuring that the insurance company is not paying out the full policy value while also having lent money to the policyholder.

Understanding this mechanism is vital for policyholders, as it affects the financial planning implications of borrowing against a policy and ensures they are prepared for its impact on their beneficiaries.