Choose Howden Life & Health for your Life Insurance

Life Insurance allows you to make sure your family or dependants are financially protected in the event of your death. Policies leave your loved ones with a lump sum or monthly payments over a specified period. Immediate financial commitments (mortgages & loan debts) as well as those in the future (university fees) are then covered and you relieve them of financial worry.

Life insurance can also allow you to ensure your family can sustain the lifestyle you have already provided for them. If your children enjoy dance classes, or going on holiday, the payment from a life policy will mean they can continue these activities when you’re no longer there.

What are the main types of Life Insurance cover?

There are many different types of life insurance available. Here are some of the most common:

• Level term life insurance pays out as a lump sum to your beneficiaries when you die and the amount of cover stays the same throughout the policy term. This money could then be used to help the family pay for regular bills, any debts and to allow them to continue their normal way of life.
• Decreasing term life insurance will also pay out a lump sum to your beneficiaries when you die, however, the level of cover will reduce in line with payments on a mortgage. It is usually cheaper than level term life insurance because the level of cover reduces over time and should only be taken to protect a mortgage.
• Whole of life insurance covers you for the whole of your life and will pay out a lump sum when you die, as long as you have kept up to date with your monthly premiums. It can be used to help leave money behind for funeral costs or to offset the cost of inheritance tax.
• Joint life insurance is where two people are covered on the policy, usually a couple. If one of the policyholders were to die, the pay-out would be made and then the cover on the remaining policyholder would stop. This type of cover can be taken out on both a decreasing or a level basis.
• Over 50's life insurance is a type of whole of life insurance and usually offers smaller levels of cover as it is mainly taken out to protect funeral costs or to leave a small amount of money behind to family. As long as you are between the ages of 50-80, you can apply for cover without answering any medical questions and is very popular for this reason. It is important to know that if you live for a long time, you may pay more in premiums than your cover amount.

How does Life Insurance work?

Life insurance will pay out a lump sum on the death of the policyholder. The cover amount will be agreed upon when taking out the policy, if you had a level term or whole of life insurance, the pay-out will be fixed throughout the term, however, if you had a decreasing term life insurance then the pay-out will reduce over time.

It is important to remember that life insurance will only payout on death, although some policies will pay out if you were to be diagnosed with a terminal illness and given less than 12 months to live. If you want a policy to pay out if you were diagnosed with a specific illness or are unable to work due to accident or sickness, you may want to look into other forms of income protection such as a critical illness policy or accident, sickness and unemployment cover.

How much does Life Insurance cost?

Choosing the amount and length of cover

Usually, the amount of cover you need is at least enough to pay off the remaining balance of your mortgage and then enough on top to help pay off any debts or loans whilst also leaving a lump sum for your family to help with bills in your absence.

The length of your cover should correlate with what is left of your mortgage term. If you don't have a mortgage but have children, your term should take your youngest child up until they are fully independent.

Compare cheap Life Insurance quotes

Howden Life & Health can help you save time and money. With just a few details, we'll find you the cheapest life insurance quote from our selected life insurance companies.

What do you need to get a quote?

If you are looking to get a life insurance quote, you will be asked for the following information:

• Your age and occupation (the younger you are, the cheaper it is likely to be).
• Yours and your families health and medical history.
• Details about your lifestyle and habits, for example, whether you smoke or not and how many units of alcohol you drink a week.

You will also need the above information for your partner if you are looking to get a joint life insurance quote.