Frequently asked questions
Life insurance protects your loved ones with a lump sum payout, ensuring that they don’t suffer financially if you’re not around anymore. A policy is usually bought to cover a period of time when your family most need help i.e. during a mortgage term, or when your children are financially dependent on you.
It all depends on a few things; your health, your age, your smoker status, the amount of cover you're after and maybe even your hobbies. Read more about the average cost of life insurance here.
A term life insurance policy runs for a set period of time, making them cost-effective. Whole-of-life policies, on the other hand, payout whenever you die. Because they can last way into old age, they can be expensive.
Although a life insurance payout is often talked about as a tax-free lump sum, this is true up to a point. If your estate is valued above £325,000 (or £650,000 if you’re married) or the life insurance payout pushes your estate value over the threshold, you might be hit with inheritance tax. Read more about life insurance and tax here.
Life insurance covers common causes of death such as illness, disease, cancer, heart attacks or accidents. Depending on your cover, it may also cover a terminal illness diagnosis and suicide. Common exclusions are pre-agreed medical conditions, chronic illnesses, disabilities, drug and alcohol abuse and high-risk activities.
You’re unlikely to be entitled to any refund of the premiums you’ve already paid if you cancel your life insurance. You also won’t get your money back if your term ends and you or your beneficiaries haven’t been able to make a claim; in the same way car insurance won’t pay out if you don’t have an accident, or pet insurance doesn’t pay if your pet stays well.
We strictly adhere to the General Data Protection Regulation and will only use your personal information for the purposes of helping with your query. As an advice-based broker, by submitting your details with your phone number and email, we may attempt to call, text or email you in order to service your query for Life Insurance, Income Protection Insurance, Critical Illness Insurance, Private Health Insurance and other products. For more information, please read our Privacy Notice & Cookies.
Frequently asked questions
Life insurance protects your loved ones with a lump sum payout, ensuring that they don’t suffer financially if you’re not around anymore. A policy is usually bought to cover a period of time when your family most need help i.e. during a mortgage term, or when your children are financially dependent on you.
It all depends on a few things; your health, your age, your smoker status, the amount of cover you're after and maybe even your hobbies. Read more about the average cost of life insurance here.
A term life insurance policy runs for a set period of time, making them cost-effective. Whole-of-life policies, on the other hand, payout whenever you die. Because they can last way into old age, they can be expensive.
Although a life insurance payout is often talked about as a tax-free lump sum, this is true up to a point. If your estate is valued above £325,000 (or £650,000 if you’re married) or the life insurance payout pushes your estate value over the threshold, you might be hit with inheritance tax. Read more about life insurance and tax here.
Life insurance covers common causes of death such as illness, disease, cancer, heart attacks or accidents. Depending on your cover, it may also cover a terminal illness diagnosis and suicide. Common exclusions are pre-agreed medical conditions, chronic illnesses, disabilities, drug and alcohol abuse and high-risk activities.
You’re unlikely to be entitled to any refund of the premiums you’ve already paid if you cancel your life insurance. You also won’t get your money back if your term ends and you or your beneficiaries haven’t been able to make a claim; in the same way car insurance won’t pay out if you don’t have an accident, or pet insurance doesn’t pay if your pet stays well.
LifeSearch offer a fee-free service to you
You pay nothing for our service, whether you arrange cover or not.
How LifeSearch are paid
LifeSearch is an insurance intermediary that acts for its customers in conjunction with the insurers. We provide a service which enables you to compare a number of prices for products and services and make a decision based on those comparisons. There is no charge for this service but we do earn a commission from the insurers offering these products & services.
LifeSearch is committed to finding you the right life insurance policy for your circumstances and our advisers do not recommend policies based on fees from insurers, so you can be confident that your needs are at the heart of the service.
What relationship does Which? Limited have with LifeSearch
If you decide to go ahead with LifeSearch, Which? will receive a commission to help fund their not-for-profit mission and their campaigns work as a champion for the UK consumer.
LifeSearch compare quotes from a range of major UK insurers. Advice offered is fee-free and all quotes given are without obligation.
*Terms and Conditions
- Offer is open to current Which? subscribers with Full Access, Digital, Magazine, Tech Support, Money, Gardening or Travel membership. Excluding LifeSearch employees, their immediate relatives and any 3rd parties involved in promoting the offer - unless they are Which? subscribers.
- You must complete the screening questionnaire within the date range of the promotion, 14/05/25 – 18/06/25 inclusive and be accepted as a policy holder with an insurance provider found via LifeSearch.
- Your insurance policy must be in place at least 90 days.
- You’ll receive an electronic gift card from Which? after we get confirmation from LifeSearch that you have completed the insurance provider’s onboarding and validation process. This may take up to a further 45 days after you have held the policy for the minimum period of 90 days.
- You must provide a valid email address linked to your Which? membership to receive the electronic gift card.
- The offer is open from 14 May 2025 until 18 June 2025 inclusive.
- Gift card must be redeemed within 24 months of being issued or last use.
- Gift card is only redeemable against the first insurance policy purchased via LifeSearch. If you decide to purchase multiple insurance policies, you will only be eligible to receive one gift card.
- Which? reserves the right to withdraw or amend this offer at any time.
- Except for liabilities that cannot be excluded by law, Which? accepts no responsibility for any damage, loss, liabilities or disappointment incurred or suffered by you as a result of entering the promotion.
- Your gift card cannot be reloaded, resold, transferred for value, redeemed for cash or applied to any other account.
- Which? is not responsible if your gift card is lost, remains unused after expiry, stolen, destroyed or used without permission.