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Life Insurance
Level term policies to protect your family’s finances
Sadly if there's one thing that's certain, it's that we're all eventually going to die. It's not a cheerful topic, but if anyone depends on your income, planning for their future if the worst were to happen could be invaluable – and life insurance is one of the cheapest ways to protect your family's finances. This guide takes you through the types available, what to watch out for and how to find the cheapest policy.
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What is level term life insurance?

Put simply, it's an insurance policy that pays out a set sum if you were to die while it's in force. Its aim is to provide financial support to anyone you leave behind, to prevent the loss of your income from causing a crisis, and adding to the grief.
Level term is the simplest type of life insurance and the name actually tells you all you need to know...
- Level: When you take out a policy, you determine how much you'd need it to pay out, eg, £200,000. This is then fixed (or remains level) for the duration of the policy.
- Term: You choose how many years you'd want the policy to cover you for, eg, 25 years, though you usually can't remain covered past the age of 80, though this maximum age does vary by provider.
The more cover you get and the longer the term you want, the more it costs. You pay via a monthly premium which continues until the policy either pays out (if you were to die during the term) or the term ends.
Decreasing term – where the payout reduces in line with your mortgage balance

This is designed to cover your mortgage if you were to die during the term, so the amount you're covered for decreases in line with your mortgage debt.
It's often cheaper than level-term, however if you want to leave a lump sum for your dependants to cover other debts and ongoing spending, a level-term life insurance policy is likely to be a better option (though you could always have both). See our Mortgage Life Insurance guide for full information.
Family income benefit (FIB) – provides a regular income, rather than a lump sum
This provides an annual tax-free payment for the length of the policy term, eg, £10,000/yr for 10 years. So if you died five years into the policy, your dependents would receive £10k for each of the remaining five years.
The amount it pays out therefore reduces over time, so policies tend to be cheaper than level term.
Over-50s' life insurance – guaranteed acceptance but it's much more expensive

Insurers work out if they'll accept you and how much you'd pay based on a number of factors including your age and health. However an over-50s' policy is an alternative which offers guaranteed acceptance up to age 80 or 85.
Yet to compensate these are much more expensive, you can't claim in the first one or two years and you could get back less than you pay in. For full information and warnings, see our Over-50s' Life Insurance guide.
Whole of life insurance – usually to cover inheritance tax
These are often (but not always) investment-linked life insurance policies mainly used to mitigate inheritance tax. In other words, the payout amount should cover the inheritance tax bill on death, and the policy runs out when you die, instead of after a fixed time. Due to this, these are usually an expensive option.
Should I get life insurance?

This is something every parent, partner, or person with any other type of dependant needs to consider. If anyone relies on your income and would struggle without you around, a life insurance policy can be a cheap way to ensure they have a financial lifeline when you're gone.
Though, ultimately, you don't need to have life insurance cover, so you'll need to weigh up whether the monthly cost is worth it for you. To help, here are some key points to consider:
- If you don't have dependants, you don't need life insurance.
If there's no one you'd want the money to go to, don't bother. Equally, if you do have dependants but they'd be little financial impact if you died, then you still may not need a policy. But if paying the bills, the mortgage, bringing up kids, food shopping and more would be a struggle, life insurance is a cheap way to solve that.
- It's best to get cover as soon as you need it – it's more expensive the older you get.
If you do need life insurance, it's best to get cover while you are as young as possible. Even though the term will usually be longer, younger people normally have much cheaper premiums, so save more overall.
For example, based on £200,000 worth of cover until the age of 70, the cheapest quote we found for a 30-year-old was £8.65/mth, so £4,152 in total. Yet, for a 45-year old (we didn't change any other details), the cost was £18.70/mth, so £5,610 in total. And that's over a shorter term!
- Check if you've any cover with your employer – though don't just rely on that.
If you're employed, you may benefit from free 'death-in-service' cover. This pays out a multiple of your salary, typically around four times, while you are an employee of that company. The death doesn't need to occur at work or be linked to your job, but regardless, it's not usually a good idea to rely on this cover as your only protection.
If you were to change jobs or be made redundant, your next employer may not offer it. Plus, if you've had any significant health problems in the interim, you may find it expensive to arrange your own cover.

How much cover should I get?

This may be determined by the monthly payment you can afford, but a good rule of thumb is to aim for 10 times the annual income of the highest earner.
This may seem high, but it's likely to leave enough money (after the impact of inflation) to cover mortgage repayments and expenses, such as childcare costs – which may be a new outlay. It could also go a way to supplement the income of those left behind if they had to then leave employment, for example to care for children or relatives.
To help you calculate a figure that works for you, it's worth ensuring any policy covers the following:
- Any outstanding debts that need to be paid off (including mortgages, unless they're covered by a separate policy).
- Immediate outgoings your dependants would need to pay.
- Future spending you would have wanted to make, eg, university costs for the kids.
- Any additional expenses a death may trigger, such as funeral costs.
How long should the term be?

A policy covering children should last until they'd no longer be reliant on you/your partner, so that's generally at least until they finish full-time education.
If you're planning on having more children you may want to estimate when that'd be rather than trying to extend or get a new policy later. This is because cover becomes more expensive the older you get.
To cover a partner it should last until the year you expect to reach pensionable age. Don't feel obliged to cover a round number of years, eg, policies can be for 17 years.
Should I take out critical illness cover?
This is a common add-on to life insurance policies, though you can also get standalone policies. We're not big fans of critical illness insurance as many believe they will pay out if you get ANY serious illness and can't work.
Yet that isn't true, critical or serious illness policies pay out a lump sum if you get a specific illness as defined by the terms of the policy; for example losing one leg isn't critical, but two legs is. So don't think "I'm covered for cancer"; as most policies only cover a limited range of cancers.
Picking a good critical or serious illness policy would take a doctor and financial nerd combined; so one option is to get level term cover and a separate income protection policy – which protects your income from a range of eventualities. If you want critical illness though, it's worth speaking to a financial adviser.
Life insurance need-to-knows
If you think level term life insurance is right for you, here are our key need-to-knows to understand before opting for a new policy.
How to slash the cost of life insurance quotes
As a level term policy only pays a fixed amount on death (and there's usually little dispute over whether someone is dead or not), then providing the company is reputable, it's just a case of the cheaper the policy, the better. But...
Never blindly go with a policy offered to you by your bank or direct with a insurer, as this is the most expensive way.
Instead, you should get quotes from a number of insurers. Yet unlike other insurances such as car or home, the cheapest prices are not usually on the standard comparison sites. In general, you'll find the cheapest quotes by going to a broker. Yet there are two ways to do this:
Getting advice from a broker - best if you need help choosing

If you're not sure what kind of policy you need, or you have complicated medical conditions or other circumstances, it's best to get some advice before you buy. Doing this means the advisor will take some commission, so it's not the very cheapest way to buy – though it should result in the most suitable policy.
To find a life insurance adviser, head to the British Insurance Brokers Association website and use their 'Find insurance' search. Make sure to select 'Life insurance' when it asks what you'd like to insure.

If you know what you're doing, you can go via a specialist discount broker. This is the very cheapest way to buy life insurance, but it does rely on you knowing what sort of policy you want to buy.
These brokers are cheapest as they rebate commission they get from the insurer to you as a discount. You may still pay a fee to use these brokers, but it's usually just £25 or so, and can save you £1,000s over the life of a policy compared with buying from a bank or direct from an insurer.
We'd suggest checking at least the top two and add in the third if you've time, and remember - if you're not sure what you're doing or if a policy's suitable, it's likely better to get advice.
Important. If you do pick up the phone to speak to any of these companies before you buy, make sure you're clear on whether you're getting 'advice' or 'information' - ask the person you're speaking with.
If they're advising you, they need to do a full check on your financial and medical circumstances and insurance needs before suggesting policies to you. If they're just giving you information about policies or answering your questions, that's fine, but here you shouldn't be pressured in to taking one policy over another.

How to complain about your insurance provider
The insurance industry doesn't always have the best reputation for customer service. Plus, while a provider may be good for some, it can be hell for others.
Common problems include claims either not being paid out on time or at all, unfair charges, or exclusions being hidden in small print. It's always worth trying to call your provider first, but, if not, then…
You can use free complaints tool Resolver. The tool helps you manage your complaint, and if the company doesn't play ball, it also helps you escalate your complaint to the free Financial Ombudsman Service.
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