Keyman insurance (also known as key person insurance) is a business protection plan which pays a cash lump sum to the insured company if a person covered by the policy dies or becomes seriously ill.

A key person can be anyone considered to be critical to the business operations. Common examples include company founders or directors, IT managers, or employees with sales responsibilities.

Keyman insurance helps to ensure that funding is in place to hire additional staff in case an important employee becomes unable to work.