Life Insurance

Life insurance provides a cash benefit to your family if you die while the policy is in force.

It is a way of providing protection for, amongst other things, loans, mortgages and your dependants. You can apply for life assurance for yourself or for joint cover. If you choose joint cover the policy only pays out once, on the first occurrence of death or terminal illness.

Depending on what type of plan you opt for, the benefit can be taken as either a cash lump sum, a regular income, or a combination of both and can be used for any purpose.

To determine the amount of lump sum your dependants would need in the event of your death you should calculate the total amount of the following:

• Your income multiplied by a number of years (an average number of years is 5 but this is dependent on your individual circumstances eg, children's ages)
• Outstanding mortgage amount
• Outstanding loans amount
• Funeral expenses
• Education for your children
• Other (eg. wedding costs)

Life assurance usually cannot be cashed-in although there are certain policies which allow you to do so if you wish to have a smaller lump sum paid in the event of your death.

This life insurance is for UK (mainland) residents and quotes are administered by Investment Discounts On-Line Ltd who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.