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Martin: Do you have children or dependents? What'd their financial situation be if you or your partner were to die?
New. Cheapest level term life insurance guide

This is unpleasant to write. Roughly one child per school class will likely lose a parent before they're 16. It may be through illness or, as when I was that child, it may happen suddenly. Either way, it's devastating, and can upend the lives of those left behind. The pain is easy to foresee, but it's important to consider the more prosaic financial consequences too - of the potential loss of income. Would the financial hardship compound the grief?

Our new level term life insurance guide will take you through how this - what is usually the simplest and cheapest form of financial protection - works. It's often called 'family cover' and helps you plan for the worst. For most, you just need to decide whether you need it, how much cover to get, how long it should last, and how to buy it as cheaply as possible. The team and I will run you through that briefly below, though the guide has far more detail.

Yet I hope we waste your money. I hope it never pays out because you live so long, it isn't needed. Just in case you don't though, if it applies to you, take a deep breath - let's be blunt, practical and get on with it. 

PS: A brief plug for Grief Encounter, a brilliant child-bereavement charity I'm a patron of, if a child you know is grieving.

Different types of life insurance have varying purposes, including inheritance tax mitigation, mortgage protection and some legacy investment products. Level term is for family protection. It pays a fixed amount if you die within a set time - for example, £300,000 if you die within 21 years. 

The simplicity is useful. The amount is fixed, the time is fixed and - providing the insurer is reputable - there's usually little argument over whether someone is dead (though if someone takes their own life soon after taking out a policy, it can be invalidated). So price is often the deciding factor.

1. How much cover to get? The traditional benchmark is around 10 times the higher earner's annual income (as even if it's the lower earner who dies, the higher earner may be unable to work as they did before). This is a useful starting point, but it's best to work out exactly what funds would be needed - including clearing debts and meeting outgoings - and to factor in inflation. Also factor in any mortgage term life insurance (designed to cover your outstanding mortgage if you die), and any death-in-service cover from work. There's far more help in how much to cover?
   
   Anything that shortens your lifespan - like being a smoker, or a history of illness, or even a dangerous job - can increase the cost substantially. If you find covering this amount too expensive, you can do it the other way round: work out what you can afford and find the max cover for that amount. 
   
   
2. How long for? And do you want a fixed price? Most people aim to be covered until their children finish full-time education or their partner would no longer need the extra income, so possibly until pensionable age. See more on how long to cover for?.
   
   Plus, it's worth checking the premium (the monthly cost) is Guaranteed. This is the norm and means the cost is fixed for the policy term unless you change the cover. A few policies are Reviewable, where the price starts cheaper but the insurer can reassess and increase it at set points - potentially making it costly later. This is more common if you link the insurance with critical illness (a more complex policy choice).
   
   
3. The very cheapest route is via an execution-only (ie, discount) broker - but ONLY if you know what you're doing. With a top execution-only discount broker, you pay a small fee, say £25. It then shows you the cheapest providers and rebates all the commission it receives - often worth £1,000s over the life of a policy. In practice, that means you pay far less each month. Yet it is totally 'unadvised', meaning you get no help and need to know what you're doing.
   
   Our top picks for over a decade have been Cavendish Online, Moneyworld and Money Minder. The prices tend to be similar, but it's worth checking a couple (if it calls to verify details, ensure you tell them you want 'non-advised', or it could get pricier). Cavendish tends to have the best online info for 'writing in trust' (see point 6 below).
   
   
4. Unsure, want help, have a medical condition or complex circumstances? Use an advisory broker. A good advisory broker will find you the cheapest policy and give personalised, regulated advice (often over the phone) to help you choose what's right for you. Yet it will keep the commission (that's how they're paid). If you have an independent financial adviser, they should be able to help too.

   
   Advisory brokers ask in-depth medical questions, and look into your finances to gauge your commitments. We didn't find any consistently cheaper than others - it depends on your circumstances - so try a couple if you've time. We've been to the three big ones and MSE Blagged extra incentives for you, so if the price is similar the incentives can impact who's cheapest. With all three ADVICE IS BY PHONE... 
   
   - LifeSearch (via MoneySuperMarket*) LifeSearch is the UK's biggest advisory broker. Yet call it via our bespoke MoneySupermarket number - 0800 197 3178 - and, crucially, say you're from us, MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE). We've arranged for you to get a £35 to £400 Amazon voucher (depending on monthly cost). It's sent after you've been paying for the policy for six months. If you just compare via MoneySupermarket you get the same deal, but no advice (so execution-only is then cheaper).
   
   - Howden Life & Health* operates a CALLBACK system - fill in the form and it'll call you back. Via our link it will give you a flat £90 cashback after 6mths when you get advice and buy a policy. This tends to be best for those with smaller and less costly policies.
   
   - ActiveQuote* operates a CALLBACK system - fill in the form and it will call you back. It will email you a £35 to £410 Amazon voucher after 6mths when you get advice and buy a policy. The amount depends on the monthly cost. Whether it or MoneySupermarket gives a bigger voucher varies by policy size.

   The cost of different routes to buy life insurance Sample quote below for a typical healthy, non-smoking 30yr old for £400,000 cover for 21 years
   Buying route and cost	Discounts commission?	Gives advice?
   Execution-only (ie, discount) brokers: (whole of market) £1,700 over full term (£6.70/mth) Cheapest option, but you need to know what you want.	✔	✖
   Advisory brokers: (whole of market) £2,000 over full term (£8/mth) Cheapest if you need help choosing. You'll get regulated advice.	✖	✔
   Standalone comparison sites: (whole of market) £2,800 over full term (£11.20/mth) No advice and pricier than advisory brokers.	✖	✖
   Direct via bank or insurer: (tied to one firm) £3,700 to £4,200 over full term (£14.70 to £16.60/mth) The costliest option.	✖	✔

   
   
5. There are a few firms brokers can't include that you may want to try. All mainstream insurance firms are available from both execution-only and advisory brokers. Yet there are a few firms that are direct-only, so won't be included by brokers. These often give incentives when you sign up, though in our tests they aren't usually price competitive, even with the perks. Yet if you want to try them, for belt and braces, see our list of firms not included by brokers.
   
   
6. Consider writing the policy in trust. This means the payout goes directly to the person who will ultimately receive the money, so it's not part of your estate - meaning there's no inheritance tax and it eases probate or equivalent (the legal process of handling someone's affairs after death). In some cases, there's a simpler alternative to this in the application form, where you can include a 'beneficiary nomination', which works in a roughly similar way. An advisory broker will usually go through all this with you. If you use an execution-only broker, most have the form available, if you ask. 
   
   
7. Already got a policy (especially if you quit smoking over a year ago)? It can sometimes be worth getting a new quote if you've been nicotine-free (including vaping) for at least a year, or your circumstances have changed - such as no longer having a risky job, or you originally got it through a bank or insurer so are paying a lot.
   
   
8. You can get a joint policy or single policies. Couples can choose to get a joint policy that covers you both and usually pays out the whole amount on first death, or two single policies that cover each of you separately with two separate payouts. We checked for a healthy non-smoking couple aged 50, for 20 years cover via an execution-only broker, though patterns can change so it's worth getting quotes.
   
   

   One single £150k policy (one payout)	£19.20/mth (£4,600 over term)
   Two single £150k policies (so max possible payout £300,000)	£38.40/mth (£9,200 over term)
   One joint £150k policy (one payout)	£26.25/mth (£6,300 over term)
   One joint £300k policy (one payout)	£36/mth (£8,650 over term)
   Prices obtained via 'non-advised' broker Cavendish Online in July 2026.

   
   While a joint policy may be slightly cheaper for a similar total maximum payout, advisers tend to recommend two single policies. That's because it gives a payout linked to each parent, so there's less of an issue if couples split up. Yet the decision is yours, so it's always worth getting quotes both ways. More info in joint vs single cover.
   
   
9. The earlier you buy it, the cheaper it usually is over the long term. If someone depends on your income - for example, kids, a partner or a family member - that's usually the trigger to consider getting a policy. Yet even if you don't currently have any dependants, it could be worth taking out a policy while you're younger - to lock in at a cheaper price. It's a complex decision - on Martin's recent podcast (from 9mins in), he discussed this with a 25-year-old woman who asked about it. Or see a summary in our getting life insurance younger explainer.
   
   
10. Declare ALL pre-existing physical and mental health medical conditions or it could invalidate the policy. If you've ever needed medical treatment, assistance or medication in the past, for physical or mental health conditions, it could be considered a pre-existing condition - eg, high blood pressure. Check how far the insurer asks you to go back, and be honest, or it could nullify the policy or reduce the payout (though for some, sadly, pre-existing conditions can make it very costly, which is why we suggest you get advice in that case). More in our Life insurance with a pre-existing condition help.
    
    
11. Life insurance and the advice are regulated, you can complain to the Ombudsman if treated unfairly. This is Financial Conduct Authority-regulated. If you receive wrong advice from an advisory broker, or a claim is unfairly rejected, you have recourse through the Financial Ombudsman. Yet if you use an execution-only broker, as the name suggests, it's execution only. They just process your request, so you generally don't have recourse there (unless they process it wrong).

Related Guides: Cheap or free Wills | A Power of Attorney is often even more important than a will | Who'd look after your children if you died