Protection insurance that pays out when you need it.

If someone else depends on your income to keep the home, partner, children, elderly parents, then almost certainly yes. If you are single, no dependants and no one else on the mortgage, life cover is less critical (though still relatively cheap while young). Most lenders do not formally require life cover, but many strongly recommend it.

Life cover pays out when you die. Critical illness cover pays out if you are diagnosed with a listed serious illness while you are alive, typically cancer, heart attack, stroke, MS and around 40 to 80 other conditions (the list varies by insurer). You can buy them separately or combined. For most families with a mortgage, a combined policy is the right starting point.

The figures below are examples only and are not quotations. Term life cover for a healthy 30-year-old non-smoker covering a £300,000 mortgage over 25 years might be in the region of £8 to £15 a month. Adding critical illness would typically increase that, perhaps to £30 to £50 a month. Income protection for the same person covering 60% of a £40,000 salary might be £25 to £45 a month. Cost rises with age, health conditions and smoker status, and the premium you are offered depends on your own circumstances and medical underwriting. We will model the exact premiums in your case.

Death-in-service typically pays 2 to 4 times your salary if you die while employed. Useful, but: (a) it stops if you leave the job, (b) it usually does not cover critical illness or disability, (c) it may be less than your mortgage balance, and (d) it is not something you own or control. Most mortgage clients keep employer cover and also buy personal life and critical illness to cover the mortgage specifically.

In most cases, yes. Insurers assess each application on its own merits. Some conditions result in a slightly higher premium, some in an exclusion for that specific condition, a few in a decline. Good brokers know which insurers are more sympathetic to which conditions, and we will place the application with an insurer likely to accept it, rather than risk a decline that has to be disclosed on future applications.

As a starting point, enough life cover to clear the mortgage plus a buffer for funeral costs. Then potentially more if you want to replace lost income for dependants. Critical illness cover is typically set to match the mortgage. Income protection is usually capped at 60 to 70% of gross salary. Part of our job is working out the right amount, not selling you as much as possible.

For most families with a mortgage and dependants, yes. Writing a life policy in trust means the payout goes directly to the beneficiaries, outside your estate, without waiting for probate and without counting towards inheritance tax. We arrange the trust paperwork at the same time as the policy, at no extra cost.