FAQs

Nowadays most insurers include a benefit called “Guaranteed Insurability Options” (GIO’s). These options allow you to change your cover amount or term without the need for any further medical checks. The following circumstance will make you eligible to amend your policy under this heading:

• Change of Mortgage
• Job and Salary change
• Birth of a child
• Marriage or Civil Partnership.

Not all Life Insurance providers include this benefit but we can inform you as to the situation in a given policy.

Insurance policies are there to cover you if something bad was to happen. In the case of Life Insurance, the policy pays out a sum of money in the event of your death. The insurance is there to protect your family in a difficult time and to give them peace of mind with financial matters.

This form of insurance is taken out for a “Term” which is a defined amount of time that you would wish to be covered for. This may be for the length of a mortgage or to cover you children over the dependant years.

A whole of life policy will cover you for a set amount of cover up until the day that you die. Be careful though as premiums can increase any you may end up paying in considerably more than you receive back from the pay-out.

With a Term Life Insurance policy, you will be covered, and therefore able to make a claim, from the start date of your policy.  If you opt for an over 50’s policy or Whole of Life plan there may be a set period that you will have to survive before you can claim. This can vary from 6 months to 2 years depending on the insurer.

You will not receive any money back at the end of the policy because it is not an investment product.

The natural route of Life Insurance would be into your estate and then onto your family from there.  If you wish to save time and money on inheritance tax, you can put your policy in trust to remove it from the probate process. We are able to point you in the right direction if this is a route you wish to go down.

If the policy is a standard Term Life Insurance plan, your children will not be covered. However, if you have a Critical Illness policy, there is a good chance that your insurance provider will have some form of Children’s Critical Illness benefit included with no extra cost. We can inform you of the cover provided by a specific policy during the quote process.

Though the cover ranges differ from insurer to insurer, the youngest age you can start a policy from is the age of 16. Most companies will only allow a maximum of a 40 year term, though some specialise and will allow you to insure yourself up until the age of 90.

All Life insurance companies in the UK have minimum premiums for their insurance products.  This is often between £5 and £10 per month. It is important to bear in mind that these are minimum premiums and you may well end up paying a lot more per month for your cover depending on your age, gender, smoking status and if you have any pre-existing medical conditions. Get a Quote for exact figures.

A survival period is the amount of time from the commencement of a policy during which you are not able to claim.  This is common in Critical Illness policies, Over 50’s plans and Whole of Life policies.

Assurance the term used for something that is certain to happen:  e.g. a Whole of Life policy. Insurance is the term used where there is only a risk of it happening. An example of this would be a Term Insurance Policy.

The amount of cover you need will depend on your own personal circumstances.  You may want to take into account how much you need to cover your mortgage and whether you would like to leave a lump sum behind to support your family. We can discuss requirements during the quotation process.

There are a few reasons that a Life Insurance company will ask you to have a medical.  Firstly, if you are looking for a high level of cover (Usually above £500,000) then you will automatically require a medical.  If you have been living outside of the UK in a country with a high risk of HIV, a medical will be required.  Also if you have a pre-existing medical condition which has not been reviewed by your doctor for some time then a medical is likely. If none of these apply, then in most cases you will not require a medical.

Life Insurance companies will take in to account several factors when calculating premiums, including:

• Age
• Smoking status
• Cover amount
• Policy Term
• Medical history
• Policy type

Life Insurance premiums are always collected by Direct Debit directly by the insurance company. Depending on your preference these can be collected monthly or annually.

Think of WOP as premium protection for Life Insurance. It usually costs between 50p and £1 per month and means that if you are unable to work due to an accident or illness for more than 6 months, your Life Insurance provider will cover the payments for you.  (This benefit stops when you return to work).

This is something that you will have to be careful of when taking out a Life Insurance or Critical Illness policy. Certain cheaper quotes will have what are called “Reviewable Premiums”, meaning that the insurer will review your policy every 3-5 years and increase your premiums in line with your age at the time.  At Your Life Protected we make a promise to only sell “Guaranteed Premiums”, which will remain the same for the full term of your policy.

Most insurers will now include a benefit called “Guaranteed Insurability Options” (GIO’s). These options allow you to change your cover amount or term without the need for any further medical checks. The following circumstance will make you eligible to amend your policy under this heading:

• Change of Mortgage
• Job and Salary change
• Birth of a child
• Marriage or Civil Partnership.

Not all Life Insurance providers include this benefit, but we can inform you as to the situation in a given policy.