The UK Life Insurance Brokers
Life insurance cover is a policy that you can buy from an insurance company that gives you financial protection in the event of your death. Obviously, as you won't be around to claim the money from your policy, this will be paid to your nominated next of kin/family etc.
Basically, if you have taken out some kind of insurance cover for this eventuality then you will pay a regular premium payment (usually every month) to your insurer. This premium buys you the cover you need and, as long as you keep to your repayment schedule, then your policy will be in force. If you do die during the term of a policy, then your insurer will make a payout to your next of kin according to the terms and conditions of the original policy you took out with them.
This is a very important question. You basically need sufficient cover to pay for your outstanding expenses and financial obligations if you die. So, you may, for example, take out a life insurance policy that will pay off your mortgage and any other loans you might have. But, there are other issues to be taken into consideration here as well. If you're currently looking to take out a life insurance cover policy and you have young children then you might want to factor them into your calculation - especially if your partner doesn't work.
You basically need a level of insurance that will keep your family comfortable - no matter what their circumstances. If you're a single person with a mortgage then you might just want enough cover to allow your parents to repay it quickly and simply. If you're married with no children and have a mortgage, then you might want enough to pay off your mortgage and other financial commitments so your spouse will have less to worry about. If you have young kids, however, then you need to be thinking about their education, childcare costs and living expenses as well.
Some people say that you can never have enough life coverage but, to be honest, there's not much point over-insuring yourself. If you do this you might leave your family really well off - but you'll pay a lot more for your premiums. So, it's important to set a realistic level of policy coverage.
You can buy a life policy from a specialist insurer or from your bank or building society, for example. You can even buy a policy from supermarkets and a whole host of other companies that have moved into the life sector. Where you buy it is not so very important - most non-insurers will sell life insurance cover that is provided and guaranteed by a major insurer in any case. What you need to be asking is how much do you have to pay?
You, as an individual, won't see any benefits if your family has to claim on a policy. If they do have to claim then the stark fact is that you'll have died. But, you will have the peace of mind whilst you're alive of knowing that the policy is there to protect them. So, your aim should be to spend as little of today's money as possible but to buy as much coverage as possible for tomorrow.
Don't be tempted just to apply to a big name insurer or to pick up a leaflet from your supermarket here - talk to us first and see what we can do for you. We are specialist brokers and, as such, have our finger firmly on the pulse when it comes to digging out the best insurer's costs.