Life insurance will protect your loved ones
It’s not something we all like to think about but at the end of the day we are all going to pass away. We do not know the how’s, when’s and where’s just the fact that we will. Some times this can happen way before we could ever imagine, but do we value our lives enough to insure against our death? According to the Association of British Insurers statistics we don’t; total net premiums (money insurance companies take) for UK life insurance stand at a measly £29 million. Compare this to car insurance net premiums at £9.5 billion and you can see what we mean! At the moment we protect our cars more than our lives.
Can you begin to understand how your family would cope if you had a terminal illness? Isn’t it agonising enough to let them watch you pass away, let alone leave them behind with the burden of your remaining debt? If your husband, wife or partner lost you would they be able to afford the mortgage repayments, the credit card repayments and keeping your children in school clothes and university places? In all honesty they probably wouldn’t and this is where life insurance or life assurance as its otherwise known can help to protect your loved ones against your death.
What types of life assurance policy are available?
| | Life cover – This policy makes a lump sum payment to your family in the event of your death or if you become terminally ill. This policy can also be known as term life assurance or level term life assurance. You decide what lump sum payout you want to cover and how many years you want the policy to run for. Every insurer will have a list of fatalities and serious illnesses you will be covered for. You can choose to cover yourself and your partner but policies normally only pay out once.
Mortgage life assurance – otherwise known as decreasing term life assurance this policy will pay off some or part of your mortgage in the event of a terminal illness or death. The amount the insurance company will pay is designed to decrease with your outstanding mortgage balance. You choose how much cover you want and how long you want the plan to last. You can insure yourself and your partner but the plan will only pay out once.
Optional critical illness insurance – with critical illness insurance a lump sum is paid out if you’re diagnosed as suffering from one of the critical illnesses covered by the plan. The insurer will be able to provide you with an extensive list of what’s covered and this will vary from company to company. Critical illness cover is optional and can be added to your life insurance cover for extra premium. |
Where can I get life insurance from?
Many mortgage companies will insist that you take out life insurance and a critical illness plan when you buy a property and them, or you’re Independent Financial Advisor, will be able to illustrate a suitable life insurance package for you. Most people think that life assurance is a complicated application process that only an IFA, mortgage advisor or a broker can help you with. They couldn’t be further from the truth.
If you take a look on the internet at the increasing number of companies who now transact life assurance business online you will see that it is extremely simple to apply for and you can be protected in a matter of minutes.
