Policy Fee

• A policy fee is a flat fee charged by an insurer for various expenses related to management of the policy. This fee may cover the cost to manage investments in a fixed life insurance policy or to help cover some administrative costs. The policy fee normally does not change for the life of the policy.
  
  

Mutual Fund Fees

• Mutual fund fees are found in variable life and variable universal life insurance policies. These fees are to compensate the manager of the mutual fund for managing the investments of the policy. The mutual fund also assesses a 12b-1 fee for the agent selling the life insurance policy for you. This is partly how the agent gets paid on the sale of the policy.
  
  

Premium Load

• A premium load is a fee that is added to a premium payment. These loads are normally assessed on premiums that are paid monthly and sometimes quarterly. Insurers may waive the premium load if you pay for your insurance policy in advance for the year. The premium load compensates the insurer for the additional work involved in processing multiple payments and investments of your premium throughout the year.
  
  

Expense Fee

• An expense fee is a fee charged to the policy to pay for the administrative costs of the company. These include everything from leasing of buildings and paying employee salaries to paying utilities and other overhead for the company. These fees are fixed for the life of the policy and never increase.
  
  

Mortality Charge

• The mortality charge is the cost of insurance. This is how much the death benefit costs. The mortality charge takes into account your age, health and risk of death you pose to the insurer as a result of your lifestyle. These costs increase each year on a guaranteed basis due primarily to your age.