Guide To Life Insurance
Following many requests from our clients for a simple, jargon free guide we are pleased to announce the launch of our “no more than you need to know” guide to life insurance:
Download our Guide To Life Insurance (1MB, PDF).
Although life assurance is a simple concept there are many types of policy and the range of options can be confusing.
We’ve put together a guide to the different types of life insurance policy that are available. For a fuller explanation, click through to the relevant page.
- Term Assurance
- Term assurance pays a tax free lump sum in the event of death during a specified period in return for a fixed monthly, or annual, premium. At the end of the term the policy finishes and there is no maturity value. As a result this is the cheapest and simplest form of life cover available. There are two types available, Level and Decreasing. Read more about term assurance.
- Critical Illness
- Critical Illness can be taken out as a standalone policy or as an optional extra under Term Assurance Plans, which allows for the lump sum to be paid not only on death, but also in the event of diagnosis of certain critical illnesses, such as heart attack, stroke, or major organ transplant. Critical Illness can be provided on either a guaranteed or reviewable premium basis. Read more about critical illness cover.
- Family Income Benefit
- Family Income Benefit is another form of term assurance. It will pay a regular monthly tax free income in the event of death to your dependants for the remainder of the term of the policy. Read more on Family Income Benefit.
- Whole of Life Cover
- As the name suggests this type of cover is designed to run for your entire life and pays out a lump sum whenever you die. This type of cover is much more expensive that basic term assurance, as it includes an element of investment as well. The aim of the investment element is to provide a subsidy in later life to keep the cost of premiums lower. Read more about Whole of Life cover
- Income Protection
- Income Protection Insurance is also known as Permanent Health Insurance (PHI). It provides a regular income benefit to replace your earnings should you become unable to work due to illness or injury. The level of premium for the required amount of cover will depend on the type of plan and the company chosen. Some companies offer guaranteed fixed premiums, other plans reserve the right to review premium levels, whilst others offer the potential to build up a surrender value. Read more about Income Protection insurance.