Whole of Life Insurance
Whole of Life Insurance
Whole of life insurance is guaranteed to payout on death regardless of the time frame as long as the monthly premiums are maintained. Because the whole life policy is guaranteed to payout this type of cover is more expensive than a term assurance policy.
The whole of life policies we consider have no investment value, the level of cover you specify in the quote is the level guaranteed to pay out.
Health Insurance
Life Insurance
Income Protection
Critical Illness Cover
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Provides financial protection in the event of death. |
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Option to choose single or joint life policy depending on your needs. |
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Policy is not constrained by time period as term assurance policies are. |
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If structured correctly the payout should be tax free.
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Quote Factors
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Policy Options
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Do I need family income cover?
What would be the financial impact on your family if you were to pass away?
Would your partner have enough earnings to cover your outstanding financial obligations?
If not, whole life assurance guarantees a lum sum payout which could protect them from financial hardship.
Useful Resources
There are plenty of resources on the internet to help explain the options available, in particular the Association of British Insurers have a useful life insurance guide and you can find out more about the regulation of insurance market at the Financial Services Authority site.
Whole life insurance or term insurance
Whole of life insurance is a life policy that will pay out on death, it runs indefinitely as long as monthly premiums are upheld.
This differs from a term assurance policy which provides cover for a set time period and then terminates. Term assurance cover is often the simplest, most basic and cheapest form of life cover.
You decide on the length of cover, say 5, 10 or 15 years, if you were to die during the course of the term then the policy pays out. If however, you are still alive at the end of the cover there is no payout.
Term insurance is often used to provide protection for a specific debt or time period where a whole life policy is often used to guarantee a sum on death and plan for any inheritance tax liability.
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Personal Factors
Age
The older you are the more expensive the quote rates will be due to the increasing risk of dying with age.
Being a smoker
Due to the health risks associated with smoking, if you have smoked tobacco in the past 12 months the quotes will have inflated premiums to take account of the additional risk the insurer will bear.
Cover Factors
Single or joint life cover
A single life policy is designed to cover an individual. A joint life plan is designed to cover two individuals and can be set-up on either a first or second death basis.
Please note if a joint plan is set-up on a first death basis it will pay out on the first event and terminate leaving the remaining life with no cover.
Indexation - Retail Price Index (RPI)
An additional option available which ensures your life cover increases with inflation throughout the life of the policy.
For example £150,000 worth of cover today, will still be worth £150,000 in real terms at the end of your plan as the amount of cover will increase in line with the retail price index(RPI).
Including indexation will increase the quote rates as your cover will rise over time in line with inflation.
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Guaranteed or reviewable premiums
Guaranteed premiums ensures a fixed cost, your premiums will not increase at any time during the life of the plan.
Reviewable premiums will tend to have a premium rate review every 2 to 5 years where the insurer has the opportunity to review the risk of your plan and alter the premiums accordingly.
As you would expect, at the outset the premium for a guaranteed plan is higher than a reviewable policy however over time guaranteed premiums tend to work out cheaper due to their fixed nature.
Changing the level of cover
The cost of your plan will increase as you increase the level of cover.
Adding waiver of premium
Waiver of premium protects the payment of your policy premiums if you were to become disabled or seriously ill.
Including waiver of premium option in your quote will increase the rates quoted as you are now also insuring the monthly premiums you pay.
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