Date: 18 January 2022 Author: Lewis Cable

Spectrum Financial Advice Guide to Personal Life Insurance UK

Who should have life insurance, why is having it important and how does it work? Learn all this and more in our comprehensive guide to personal life insurance UK.

Spectrum FA Guide to Personal Life Insurance UK
Life Insurance UK
What is Critical Illness Insurance?
What Conditions Does Critical Illness Insurance Cover?
What is Terminal Illness Cover?
Personal Life Insurance UK
Who Should Have a Life Insurance Policy and Why?
How Much Does Life Insurance Cost?
How Can Spectrum FA Help You with Life Insurance?

Spectrum FA Guide to Personal Life Insurance UK

Having advised many families on personal protection insurance and helped them through the process of putting in place suitable contingency plans to protect them in the event of unforeseen circumstances, Spectrum FA are experts in assisting families with personal life insurance. But who should have life insurance, why is having it important and how does it work? Learn all this and more in our comprehensive guide to personal life insurance UK.

Life Insurance UK

Often also referred to as family protection, level term or level life assurance/insurance, a life insurance policy serves to protect your family’s financial security and lifestyle in the event of your or another named (insured) person’s death. Most life insurance policies also include terminal illness cover as standard and you also have the option to add critical illness insurance to the life policy.

Offering tailored services, Spectrum FA can help you make all the important decisions on the policy, by reviewing your individual circumstances before recommending the most suitable type of policy for you. To arrange for a review, contact our team of personal protection insurance specialists today.

What is Critical Illness Insurance?

Added to a life insurance policy, critical illness cover protects your family in the event of you or another insured person (i.e. your partner or spouse) being diagnosed with a specified critical illness.

Not sure whether to add critical illness cover to your life insurance policy? Spectrum FA can help you decide whether to include it or not. Get in touch to find out how.

What Conditions Does Critical Illness Insurance Cover?

Specified within your policy’s terms & conditions, the illnesses/medical conditions for which cover is provided for vary between different providers’ policies but typically include several conditions set as standard by the Association of British Insurers (ABI). These ‘standard’ conditions can include:

Major organ transplants, stroke & major heart attacks
Several defined types of cancer & kidney failure
Coronary artery bypass grafts & multiple sclerosis

Other conditions that may be covered as optional extras or standard may consist of:

Aorta graft surgery, traumatic brain injuries and/or liver failure (advanced stage)
Benign brain tumours, respiratory (advanced stage) failure and/or bacterial meningitis
Heart valve procedures (repairs/replacements), Alzheimer’s disease/dementia and/or aplastic anaemia
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), encephalitis and/or coma (with permanent associated symptoms)
Cardiomyopathy, eyeball removal and/or HIV (if this condition was contracted as a result of a blood transfusion, a physical assault or an accident while at work)
Open heart surgery & median sternotomy, multiple permanent system atrophy and/or motor neurone disease
Permanent loss of speech, deafness and/or blindness
Loss of a limb (hand or foot), Parkinson’s disease and/or total permanent paralysis
Kidney failure (advanced stage), total permanent disability and/or progressive & permanent supranuclear palsy
Spinal stroke, systemic lupus erythematosus with major complications and/or primary pulmonary hypertension
Third degree burns with 20% of the body, face and/or head covered) and/or strokes with long-lasting (i.e. 24+ hrs) symptoms
Children’s critical illness cover is often included in the policy, at no extra cost.

Some policies also offer cover for a variety of other additional conditions. Our advisors can provide more detailed information on this.

What is Terminal Illness Cover?

Unlike critical illness insurance, which protects families in the event of the insured individual being diagnosed with a specified critical illness, terminal illness cover is designed to protect them if the policyholder/other named person is diagnosed with an illness that is terminal and likely to result in them passing away within 12 months (from the date of the diagnosis).

Most life insurance policies, offer terminal illness cover as standard. Spectrum FA can advise you on what optional extras to include on the policy. Contact us to learn how.

Personal Life Insurance UK

So – how does life insurance protect your family? When you take out a policy, you decide:

Who should be insured – you could, for instance take out a single policy to cover just yourself, or you could opt to take out a joint policy to insure both yourself and your spouse/partner
Whether to add critical illness cover and/or other optional extras
How much cover you need, i.e. the amount to be paid out in the event of your/another named person’s death or critical illness diagnosis (if selected)
The policy’s beneficiaries (i.e. who will receive the pay-out)
The term (duration) of your policy

Once the policy has been put into place and you have started paying your premiums, the policy will, upon your death, pay out a lump sum to the named beneficiaries (i.e. your family).

The funds received via this pay-out can then be used by your family/beneficiaries to, for example:

Assist with funeral expenses
Help with household bills (rent, utilities, etc.) and other expenses enabling them to maintain their current lifestyle
Pay off your mortgage and/or other outstanding loans
Secure your child/children’s future education

It is also possible to place a life insurance policy into trust. There are many benefits of placing certain policies into trust. We will review your circumstances and if beneficial, we will recommend and arrange the most suitable trust for your life insurance policy.

Please do not hesitate to contact Spectrum FA for more information on this option.

Who Should Have a Life Insurance Policy and Why?

Life is unfortunately totally unpredictable, and tragedy could strike anyone- at home, at work, while travelling or indeed anywhere else – at any time. Losing someone you love is an incredibly stressful, traumatic and utterly devastating experience.

Without life insurance, your death or inability to work due to a terminal or critical illness and the subsequent loss of income could further add to this devastation by presenting your family with potentially serious financial difficulties both in the short (immediate expenses, such as, medical bills, funeral costs, etc.) and long (children’s educational needs) term.

Protecting the financial security and future of your family in case something should happen to you and/or your spouse/partner is therefore a must for anyone with people (a partner/spouse, children and/or others) who are financially dependent upon them.

Should you be protecting your family? Request a free review (no obligation) to assess your specific needs today.

How Much Does Life Insurance Cost?

Life insurance premiums are partly determined by your age, medical history, leisure activities and whether you are a smoker or not.

A 50-year old smoker who loves parasailing and has a long list of prior health problems, for instance, would pay significantly higher premiums than a 25-year old who doesn’t smoke, spends most of his spare time reading and has enjoyed perfect health throughout his life.

Other factors affecting premium prices include:

The policy’s duration (term)
Which, if any, add-ons you selected and, if you chose to include critical illness cover, which conditions will be covered
Your cover level (i.e. the amount to be paid out in the event of something happening to you/your partner or spouse)

Prices can also vary between providers and their policies’ terms & conditions. Trying to find a policy that adequately protects your family from unforeseen circumstances, while keeping premiums competitive and deciding what optional extras to include or not, can at times be confusing. Obtaining expert advice to find a suitable policy is extremely important.

Spectrum FA will recommend suitable policies, based on your needs and circumstances and we will also advise on all the optional extras, while keeping premiums competitive and affordable. Get in touch to learn how.

How Can Spectrum FA Help You with Life Insurance?

Fully aware that every individual, every family has its own unique needs, we provide tailored services that take your specific needs and circumstances into consideration before recommending a suitable policy and guiding you step-by-step through the process of ensuring that your family are protected under all circumstances.

Combined with our years of experience in helping families obtain personal insurance cover and our access to the leading UK insurance companies’ most reliable policies, allows us to advise you on the most suitable type of policy to protect your family’s lifestyle and financial future. We will advise on suitable cover levels and all available extras. Contact our team for a free review of your family’s circumstances now.