5 strong reasons you might need more life insurance

What would your family do if you were to pass away unexpectedly? 

Could they continue to pay the mortgage or rent, or would they be forced to move out of their home? Would they be able to maintain their standard of living? And would they have enough to pay their essential bills?

If any of these situations would leave your loved ones in a difficult position, it’s time to make sure you put the right protection in place.

Life insurance ensures those closest to you receive financial support when you’re no longer around. It’s a cheap and effective way to ensure peace of mind.

If you already have some life insurance in place, you’ve taken a valuable and important step towards protecting your family. But when was the last time you reviewed the amount of cover you have?

If your circumstances have changed, it’s likely that you may not have the right amount of protection in place. So, here are five powerful reasons you might need more life insurance.

 

1. Your family has grown

In 2020, the Child Poverty Action Group found that the cost of raising a child to the age of 18, including housing and childcare costs, was £152,747 for a couple and £185,314 for a one-parent family.

If you have existing life insurance, it’s important to review it if you have another child. The payout might not be enough to ensure that your growing family can meet their financial commitments, or that all your children can enjoy the life you planned for them.

It’s not just important to cover the main wage earner in the family. If you’re the primary caregiver for your children and you passed away, your spouse or partner might have increased childcare costs – and these could be significantly more for two children than one.

So, if you have welcomed new children to your family, get in touch with us to review your cover and to make sure you have adequate protection.

 

2. Your mortgage has increased

The government estimate that, in the tax year 2021/22, there will be almost 1 million property transactions in the UK. That’s a lot of individuals, couples, and families moving home.

House sales have boomed in the last year. A temporary cut to Stamp Duty which made it cheaper to move, alongside a change in working practices, meant many people reassessed their living arrangements during the pandemic.

If you have moved home, did you review your life insurance to check that you have sufficient cover in place to repay your new mortgage?

Or, if you haven’t moved but you have borrowed more against your home, do you have enough cover in place?

Having enough life insurance in place to repay your outstanding mortgage when you die should be a key priority. It ensures that your loved ones benefit from the financial security of being able to remain in your home.

So, if you have taken out a new mortgage, review your life insurance to make sure you have enough cover in place to pay off the entire loan.

 

3. You want greater peace of mind

Having the right protection in place can have a positive effect on your mental health and wellbeing.  It can be hugely reassuring to know that your loved ones will receive financial support if the worst should happen – and life insurance can provide this.

If you’re looking for greater peace of mind, reviewing your protection can be a good first step. Look at your existing cover to identify where gaps appear and then take out the appropriate additional protection.

Ensuring your spouse, partner and family have sufficient financial support in place to maintain their lifestyle can help you to sleep soundly at night.

 

4. Your employment status has changed

There are three main reasons why you may want to review your protection if you were to change jobs.

The death in service benefit you receive from your employer has changed

Many employers offer a useful benefit called “death in service”. Essentially, this is life insurance that typically pays out between two and four times your annual salary to your beneficiaries while you’re employed by that business.

If you move to a new employer, you may lose this valuable benefit, or your new employer may pay a lower multiple of your salary. Either way, it could mean that you suddenly don’t have enough protection in place.

Your salary may have increased and so you need more protection

If you have moved to a new job on a bigger wage, you may also need to review your protection. That’s because your loved ones may now be reliant on a higher salary, and so would need more financial support if anything happened to you.

You have become self-employed

Thousands of people decide to set up their own business every year. While there are many benefits, from being your own boss to doing something you’re passionate about, one of the key downsides is that you no longer have any employer benefits.

So, you will need to arrange your own pension, life insurance, and income protection. If you have become self-employed, it’s vital you review your cover to ensure you have enough of the right protection in place.

 

5. You’ve got married

If you’ve recently become engaged or married, it can make life easier to know you are both covered if one of you were to die. Life insurance means there will be financial support available to your partner after you’ve departed – which is a powerful way to honour your marriage vows.

You have the choice of taking out cover in your joint names or taking individual cover in your own name. There are many benefits to taking separate single life insurance policies – most notably that each policy will pay out on death, rather than a joint-life policy which just pays out once.

Additionally, if you were to separate in the future, separate life insurance policies means that you could each retain your own cover (as an insurance company cannot typically split a joint-life policy in two).

If you’re engaged or married, your finances are likely to be combined – which is why it’s the perfect time to review the protection you have in place.

 

We can help you to find the right cover at the right price

Making sure you always have the right level of protection gives you and your loved ones peace of mind. So, if it’s time for you to review the amount of life insurance you have, get in touch with one of our experts.

• Get the lowest price for the cover you need – we’ll compare the price of insurance from dozens of the UK’s leading insurers to ensure you don’t pay more than you have to.

• Save time by letting our experts help you through every step of the application process.

• Save money – we take lower than the standard commission and pass this saving on to you in the form of lower premiums.

Not sure how much life insurance you need? Our handy online life insurance calculator can help. Or, read our guide to how much life insurance you might need.

Get in touch with one of our experts to review your cover or get a life insurance quote online now.