What is life insurance?
Life insurance can pay your dependants a lump sum or regular payments if you die.
Term life insurance policies run for a chosen fixed period of time – such as 5, 10 or 25 years. These kinds of policies only pay out if you or your partner die during the term of the policy. These are often used to cover a mortgage in the even of death.
A whole-of-life policy will pay out no matter when you die, as long as you keep up with your premium payments.
What isn’t covered by life insurance
Life insurance can pay your dependants a lump sum or regular payments if you die.
Term life insurance policies run for a chosen fixed period of time – such as 5, 10 or 25 years. These kinds of policies only pay out if you or your partner die during the term of the policy. These are often used to cover a mortgage in the even of death.
A whole-of-life policy will pay out no matter when you die, as long as you keep up with your premium payments.
Do you need life insurance?
Did You Know?
Two out of three people in the UK have life insurance cover.
Source: Association of British Insurers
If you have dependants – such as school age children, a partner who relies on your income or a family living in a house with a mortgage that you pay – a life insurance policy can provide for them if you die.
You can’t rely on the government to take care of your family – the money they would get from the state is much lower than you’d probably expect. If you want to provide for your family financially if you die, life insurance is a must.
Who doesn’t need life insurance?
If you are single, or if your partner earns enough for your family to live on, you may not need life insurance. But, you may want to set aside enough money in savings to cover any funeral expenses.
If you have dependants but have an employee package that includes ‘death in service’ benefits, you may not need additional life insurance.
Death in service pays out a lump sum if you die while working for the company. Just check to make sure the benefits are enough to cover your family’s needs – if it’s not enough, you can top up with a life insurance policy. But do bear in mind, if you stop working for that employer, perhaps through ill health, you may lose the death in service benefits and may not be able to take out life insurance at that time.
Is life insurance value for money?
Did You Know?
The average premium for a non-smoker aged 54 taking out £100,000 of life insurance for 10 years is less than £1 a day – that’s less than the price of a coffee or daily newspaper.
Source: Which, April 2013
If you’re young – or even not so young but still healthy – life insurance is very good value.
Often just a few pence a day is all you need to provide your loved ones with plenty of financial protection.
But premiums do vary, so it’s a good idea to shop around.
Other types of insurance to consider
We never think a critical illness is going to happen to us, especially when we feel fit and healthy, but it can and does.
If the worst does happen, it's important to make sure you're financially protected against the impact a critical illness could have on you and your family. Critical Illness Cover is designed to pay out on diagnosis of a specified condition including cancer, heart attack and stroke. Not all types of cancer are covered under critical illness plans
