Can I take policy on somebody else’s name? What is the procedure for this? The subject matter is life in the case of life insurance. It can be further explained by way of following example Yes, But for an insurance contract to be valid, the insured must have an insurable interest in the subject matter of insurance. The insurable interest is the pecuniary interest, whereby the policy-holder is benefited by the existence of the subject matter and is prejudiced by the death or damage of the subject matter.