What is the difference between assurance and insurance?

What is the difference between 'Life Assurance' and 'Life Insurance' in the UK?

• Answer:

  Hi there Quite often you will find people talking or writing about life insurance when what they actually mean is life assurance. Although many journalists, IFAs (independent financial advisers) and even product providers now use the terms assurance and insurance almost interchangeably there is a difference between the two. Assurance means you are insuring for an event that will definitely happen one day - death or retirement. So when you buy "life assurance", you are simply arranging for a sum of money to be paid out on your death. Insurance covers events that may happen but, equally, may not happen, such as illness, accident, etc. A type of "Life Insurance" would be a policy that pays out for critical illness, known as a "critical illness policy". I hope this helps