What is the characteristic of decreasing premiums?

Decreasing premiums are a feature typically associated with certain types of term insurance policies, particularly those designed for specific coverage needs, such as mortgage protection or decreasing term insurance. In these policies, the amount of coverage decreases over time as the insured's needs for that coverage diminish, and accordingly, the premiums also reduce.

This approach makes sense for situations where the financial obligation (like a mortgage) decreases, allowing the policyholder to pay lower premiums as they are less at risk. Therefore, the characteristic of decreasing premiums aligns perfectly with the concept that they reduce over time, primarily found in term policies designed for such situations.

The other options do not accurately describe decreasing premiums: increasing premiums would conflict with the nature of decreasing premium structures; premiums that remain the same apply to level premium policies; and decreasing premiums are not exclusive to whole life policies, which usually feature level premiums throughout.