The correct answer is Employer . In a key person insurance policy , the business purchases life insurance on the life of an employee, owner, or executive whose services are considered especially valuable to the company. In this arrangement, the business is the policyowner , pays the premiums, and is also named as the beneficiary . If the key person dies, the death benefit is paid to the employer to help offset the financial loss that may result from the death of that important individual.
The purpose of key person insurance is to protect the business against losses such as reduced revenues, replacement and training costs, disruption of operations, loss of credit, or the expense of finding a suitable successor . The policy is not intended primarily to provide personal family protection for the insured employee; that would normally be handled by an individually owned life insurance policy.
The other choices are incorrect because the employee, the insured’s spouse, or a business partner would not ordinarily be the beneficiary unless the policy were structured differently from a standard key person arrangement. In the typical and tested form of key person insurance, the employer is the beneficiary.