How much life cover should you have?
Plug in your commitments to understand what cover's good for you
Any mortgage left to pay?
How much have you left on any current mortgages in your name?
Loans, credit cards & other debts
Total up all the non-mortgage debt you have: loans, credit cards, overdrafts and any other borrowing
Potential funeral costs
The average UK funeral costs between £4,000 and £5,000. If you have expensive tastes or a massive family, it may be more. Worth thinking about.
Childcare, school or higher education costs
You’ll know your childcare, private school or tuition fee obligations. But did you know it costs roughly £1,500 - £2,500 per year to fund one child through state school? There’s sports, activities, after school clubs, uniforms, travel expenses, technology (such as a laptop or iPad) to consider.
Additional lump sum
Life insurance covers your obligations and debt. A lump sum on top offers extra comfort and options for your family after you’ve gone
Existing life insurance, savings & investments
Total up any savings, investments and life insurance policies that you intend to keep. When you die your savings go towards your debt anyway - so it’s important you’re not ‘over-insured’. That’s just a waste of money.
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Adjust your cover
With level term life insurance, the cover amount stays the same throughout the term. Decreasing term life insurance, on the other hand, has a cover amount that reduces over time
In terms of how much cover you need there’s no right or wrong answer, just what feels right for you based on your circumstances & budget. For example, you may want to multiply your annual income by two or three. That way, if a critical illness leads you to being off work, you know you’re covered for two or three years at least.
If combined, your policy will only pay out once. So if you claim on critical illness cover, then your life cover ends. Separate policies with a critical illness claim won't affect your life insurance, but consider the amount you need your critical illness cover to pay out.
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Changing these important answers will mean you'll need to answer the rest of process again.