Decreasing term insurance is often linked to a repayment mortgage as the amount you owe the lender also reduces over time.
Family income benefit pays out an agreed monthly income (from the date of the claim to the end of the policy term) instead of a lump sum.
Whole-of-life cover is usually the most expensive as there is no actual finite term. In other words, the policy lasts as long as you do, so is guaranteed to pay out.
People often assume they can forgo life insurance if they have death-in-service cover through their employer.
Death-in-service benefit pays out a tax-free sum – sometimes as much as four times your annual salary – if you die while still employed by the firm. It can be valuable, but it’s not necessarily a substitute for your own life cover, when the sum insured is normally set at a much higher level.
Some advisers recommend life insurance of 10 times your annual salary, but your own needs will be determined by your financial commitments and requirements. But you should always take any death-in-service benefit into account when buying a separate policy.
The more insurance you have, the higher your premiums will be, so it’s important to be realistic.
You should also read the terms and conditions of your death-in-service benefit as the money might be paid into a discretionary trust, which means you cannot nominate the beneficiaries. Also, you cannot normally link death-in-service benefit to a mortgage.
Remember, too, that you are only covered by death-in-service benefit while you remain employed by the company. If you are fired, made redundant or change jobs, the cover stops, potentially leaving your loved ones exposed.
