Life cover

Life cover

Deciding whether a financial product such as life insurance is right for you depends on lots of things relating to your personal circumstances. Deciding which life cover is right for you also depends on what's happening in your life at the time.

Life cover should be on your list of things to consider no matter what your personal circumstances.

Parents

Given the extra costs of having a child, you should be aware of the implications of dropping from two incomes to one if both parents were working full-time before the birth. You then might be more dependent on one income if one parent returns to work just part-time or decides not to work at all. The big question is how you could cope financially if the main wage earner dies?

If you are self-employed, how much monthly income would you need to support yourself and your family? How long could you survive on savings alone?

Even if one of you doesn’t work, how would you cope if they became ill? Who would take on the childcare and how much would that cost?

Couples

Even if you are young and healthy, you have to consider how your family could survive financially in the event that you or your partner died. Would they be able to maintain the home and live comfortably? Would they face serious debt and financial hardship?

Buying a house

You need to think about life insurance because, quite simply, you have probably just made the biggest financial commitment of your life! You’ve got your mortgage based on your current income, but again, you can’t depend on the situation not changing. How would the debt be managed if you or your partner died? Would there be enough income to meet the monthly payments?

Starting a new job

If you’ve just started a new job, ask your employer or personnel department to provide you with clear details of the employee benefits you get as part of your employment package. Do they provide death benefits and, if so, for how much? You will then get a sense of what you need to invest in privately to fill any shortfalls.

Part-time workers should also ask the same questions.

MORE TH>N is grateful to Ron Wheatcroft, Technical Manager at Swiss Re for his contribution to the content.

Get a term life insurance quote from MORE TH>N

Your policy is designed to pay out a lump sum if you die during the term of the plan. MORE TH>N offers the following cover options:

• LEVEL TERM life insurance where the amount you are covered for will not change during the policy
• MORTGAGE PROTECTION life insurance (decreasing term life insurance) where the amount that is paid will decrease each month or year during the policy period.
• Critical illness is available as an add on to your life policy, and will pay out a lump sum on the diagnosis of a covered condition. Full details of the conditions covered are available should you select this cover.
• It's easy to get a life cover quote online, or you can call us on 0800 587 2653