Life cover pays out if you die during the policy term. Most often it is arranged to clear a mortgage, so that a partner or children can stay in the home without facing a sudden decision at the worst possible moment.
It is the simplest product in the protection range and the one most often bought without thought. A few decisions taken properly at the outset change what it is worth on the day it is needed.
Decreasing cover reduces roughly in line with a repayment mortgage and costs less. Level cover stays at the same amount for the whole term and leaves something behind once the mortgage is cleared, which suits families with children or an interest-only loan.
Which one fits depends on what you are protecting. The mortgage alone points one way, and a household that would need replacing income and school costs points the other.
The mortgage balance and the years left on it are the starting point. Beyond that, we look at what the household would actually need: childcare, the years until the youngest is independent, and any debt that would otherwise fall to someone else.
Cover arranged to run until your children finish education is common, and it usually costs less than people expect at younger ages.
A policy written in trust normally pays out directly to the people you name, without waiting for probate and usually outside your estate for inheritance tax. It costs nothing to arrange at the outset.
It is frequently overlooked, and it is one of the few pieces of paperwork that materially changes how quickly a claim reaches a family. The life insurance advice UK households need should always cover it.
A joint policy pays once and then ends. Two single policies cost a little more, pay out twice if both are claimed, and stay in place if the relationship does not. We will set out both and let you choose.
Bring us what you already hold. Policies arranged with a previous mortgage often no longer match the balance, the term or the family. Occasionally the right advice is to leave a policy exactly as it is, and where that is the case we will say so.
A protection review takes less time than most people expect and is free of charge.
