Life Insurance Quote | Life Assurance
What is Life Insurance?
Life Insurance pays a cash lump sum to your loved ones if you die, or become terminally ill. If you have a family or a partner who are financially dependent on you, or if you have liabilities such as a mortgage or loan then you should consider Cheap Life Insurance.
The cover is often referred to as Life Assurance, Term Life Insurance, Term Life Assurance or Mortgage Life Insurance. While it comes under many names, the essence of the policy is the same, i.e. you pay a monthly premium and in the unfortunate event of your death, a tax free sum of money is paid to your family or nominated beneficiaries.
There are 2 main types of Life Assurance:
- Level Term: With Level Life Cover, the sum assured is guaranteed and remains unchanged throughout the term of the policy. It is often used to cover interest only mortgages and loans or for family protection.
- Decreasing/Mortgage: With Mortgage Life Cover, the sum assured decreases throughout the term of the policy. It is often used to protect capital and interest repayments on a mortgage or loan.
Do I actually need Life Insurance?
The idea behind protecting yourself with Life Insurance is that if the worst was to happen to you, your family would be not be left with the burden of having to repay mortgages or other debts which, with the loss of the families main earner, could prove very difficult and financially devastating.
A lot of people think that when a person dies their debts pass away with them. Unfortunately this is simply not the case and outstanding liabilities will pass to surviving partners or children. The main advantage of having a Life cover policy is that these liabilities can be covered allowing your family to pay off these debts and have one less major thing to worry about at a time when they are mourning your loss.
Even if you do not have a mortgage or other liabilities, assurance can be an important tool to ensure your families financial future and to make sure your children have the upbringing that you intended for them. Leaving a sum of money for your family can be achieved in a number of ways using either traditional life policy or using a Family Income Benefit scheme which will pay out a monthly amount for a number of years, instead of paying out a lump sum.
Whatever your circumstances and whichever way you choose to look at your families financial security, your Life Assurance could mean the difference between the future you envisaged for your family and financial catastrophe and hardship.
With the 'Credit Crunch' do I need another outgoing?
With the economy in a dire situation and many households tightening their belts to withstand rising energy and food prices, its easy to see why Life cover becomes the very bottom of a long list of priorities. But in reality it should be one of the more important aspects that you consider especially if you have a family or a mortgage to consider.
Times are hard now for you and your family but imagine what would happen if your family was to lose a major portion of its income? An already difficult financial situation would be made extremely more difficult and in all likelihood would make a vast reduction in the quality of living for your family and its future.
With this in mind is it really worth taking the risk and juggling with your families future? For as little as £5 per month your Life Insurance could provide essential protection for your family.
Cover premiums are calculated using a number of factors such as age, sex, smoker status (have you smoked in the past 12 months?), occupation (if its something highly hazardous) and past medical history. Each can have an effect on the premiums that different companies offer as explained below:
- Age: Your age at the time of taking out a policy has a direct relation to the premium offered because you are naturally more likely to suffer from deadly illnesses as you grow older. As a general rule of thumb for cheap life insurance it is best to commence policies at as younger age as possible but that doesn't mean that good prices aren't available for older persons and people looking for over 50s life insurance.
- Sex: It is an age old battle between Male and Female and in this case healthy females win with generally lower premiums than an equally aged healthy male.
- Smoker Status: With most life assurance companies you are considered a smoker if you have smoked at all in the past 12 months. Smokers generally receive higher premiums because of the increased risk of them developing life threatening illnesses and a generally lower life expectancy. The good news is that after you have given up and not smoked for 12 months, you are considered a non-smoker and therefore non-smoker rates will apply even on existing life policies!
- Occupation: Normally your occupation will not have any effect on your life cover premiums however if you are involved in a particularly hazardous occupation, an assurance company may choose to add an additional loading to your cover to reflect the extra risk. If you think you may have an occupation which is considered hazardous, please contact us and an advisor will let you know if you can expect an increased premium.
- Health: Like most types of assurance the past history of the item to be insured (you in this case) is important to the premium and Life Insurance is no exception. A vast majority of minor illnesses and conditions will have no effect on the quoted premiums however for some more serious conditions the assurance company may want to add something to the premium to reflect the extra risk. Exactly whether a 'loading' will be applied and if so what the increase will be vary depending on the condition, severity, timescale and medication. For more information, our life insurance advisors will be able to tell you what increase (if any) you can expect and obtain an accurate premium from a selected insurance company.
- Cover Required: The amount your life cover will pay out and for how long it will cover you have a direct impact on your insurance premium. Obviously the more cover you require and the longer the term you need, the higher the premiums.
Premiums, in general, start from £5 per month and the level of cover received for this premium varies with the factors above. Our quotation system will be able to quickly give you an indication of the premium you can expect and our independent insurance advisors are able to take into account any expected variations caused by past health conditions or hazardous occupations.
How much will my Life Insurance cost me?
Can I protect my Life Insurance payout from Inflation?
Inflation can be a major enemy to your life insurance payout and without adequate planning and foresight, may not be worth the same as you originally intended when you took out the policy. What your family could buy with £100,000 today will not necessaryily be the same as what they can buy with £100,000 in 10 or 20 years time. The solution to the changes in your payouts value can be accounted for with the use of an index linked increasing life insurance policy. With these types of policy the sum you are covered for increases on an annual basis, along with your premium, to counter the effects of the years inflation. This method means that your policy keeps its true value for however long you keep the policy.
What else do I need to know?
There are other types of life cover available such as Family Income Benefit which pays a monthly benefit instead of a lump sum, Increasing Term Insurance which increases on an annual basis to offset inflation and Convertible Term Insurance which offers the option to revert to whole life or endowment insurance. These Life Insurance Policies are not as common so are not offered through our website, however if you are interested in them please feel free to Contact Us.
Top Quote Online is one of the Internet's leading brokers for Life and Critical Illness Insurance, allowing you to instantly compare Life Insurance Policies from the UK's leading providers. You can get an Instant Life Insurance Quote Online or speak to one of our qualified advisor by calling us free on 0808 1782777.
