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Your Life Insurance Questions Answered

What is Life Insurance?

You can take out Life Insurance to cover yourself and protect your loved ones in case you pass away earlier than expected. It helps to protect your family financially when you're no longer around and can be used to pay towards Inheritance tax, replace a secondary income, and pay essential bills and expenses. You don't want that feeling that your family could be struggling when you're not around. Investing in Life Insurance gives you that reassurance and peace of mind that if something were to suddenly happen to you, there will be support for your family.

How old do you have to be to take out Life Insurance?

When applying for Life Insurance, your age doesn't matter you can be as young as 18 or as old as 64 years old. You do have to be a permanent resident of the UK though to take out a Life Insurance policy. However remember the older you get the more expensive the policy will be; because the older you get the more likely you are to pass away earlier.

How many different types of policies are there?

There are two different types of Life Insurance, one called 'Term Insurance' which is usually cheaper and 'Whole of Life Insurance' which covers you throughout your life so therefore tends to be more expensive. Term Insurance usually runs for a set period of 25 years where the policy covers you if something bad were to happen to you. It would then pay out a cash lump sum to your family members and loved ones. The Whole of Life insurance pays out a lump sum too.

Are their different types of term and whole of life insurance?

There is only one type of 'Whole of Life' insurance, which covers you for the whole of your life but tends to be more expensive. It also helps protect your family financially when you aren't around any longer, whereas the term insurance runs for a set period, so if you pass away after the set period your family will not receive a pay out. There are types of Term Insurances, which offer different things for you; these are listed below.

Family Income Benefit: This form of Life Insurance helps to provide a second income to your family each month, to help replace yours when you are not around. It pays a monthly tax-free cash lump sum to your loved ones and children. It can be purchased as a 'add-on' to your current policy or as a policy alone; this policy is normally chosen by people with kids as it's best suited for families. You don't want your children to suffer too much and having financial help set up will help create a future for them.

Level Term Insurance: This Life Insurance policy won't rise during inflation and has a set payment over a set period of time. For example, if you were to claim a few months into the policy or 20 years, the amount paid out to your loved ones will stay the same. It ensures your policy payment won't change and protects your family and loved ones if something bad and unexpected were to happen to you. It's a good policy to take out if you want a set amount of money that you want to be paid out to your loved ones after your death. The money is normally used to cover the cost of mortgages.

Decreasing Term Insurance: It's in the name really; the policy decreases on a flat rate as the policy runs in line with the balance remaining. It's normally used to pay for mortgages. It is paid out as a lump sum, if something were to happen to you, to your loved ones.

Increasing Term Insurance: Like Term Insurance the amount you are insured for changes each month, but in this case it rises with inflation. The premiums may change but the cover is always based on the health of yourself when you first took the policy out.

How much does Life Insurance cost?

It all depends on a range of circumstances such as; how old you are, your Body Mass Index, general living style and whether you have smoked within the last year. All provider's or policyholders will check your health before hand so it is worth getting fit and healthy to save yourself a lot of money in the long run. It also depends on the type of policy you take out and whether you purchase any 'add-ons'. It's good to compare policies and see which is right for you before you end up paying or not paying for something you may or may not need. The younger you are and the healthier you are; the cheaper it is.

If I write my Life Insurance in trust will my loved ones still pay Inheritance tax?

No, they won't on the insurance policy; the policy bypasses the tax scheme as you have written it in trust. It means that your Life Insurance policy will not be counted within the total amount of assets you have. Therefore protecting the lump sum of money from Inheritance tax. It goes straight to your family and loved ones. This doesn't mean to say they won't have to pay any Inheritance tax altogether. They will still need to pay for 40% of tax on assets over £325,000. As your Life Insurance policy is no longer included within your assets, as it is written in trust, your family has a lesser chance of paying Inheritance tax. Although if they do have to pay Inheritance tax it will still help to reduce the amount they pay.