Anyone got Life insurance?

Associate
Joined
18 Jul 2015
Posts
439
Location
London
I don't really know what life insurance is, but I was refused it in 2006 because I had high blood pressure. I'm still alive now though :p

Surely I can write a will? That is similar isn't it?

I took out life insurance in 2008. My blood pressure was normal and low cholesterol. Now my bp is high and I have high cholesterol. Surely my insurance cannot become void!
 
Soldato
Joined
29 Mar 2007
Posts
4,481
Location
Swindon UK
No life insurance per se but what's left of the mortgage has death protection and if I peg out prior to retirement wife would get a 4 x annual salary lump sum plus dependant pension. Post retirement the mortgage will be paid off, more than enough put by to cover funeral etc. costs and if necessary as we have no kids, when one of us dies the house value can be (carefully) drawn down into equity.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Mar 2010
Posts
12,306
Broker recommends critical illness and life cover, but I just cant help thinking I'm more likely to be run over or be made redundant than become critically ill.

That's my thinking too!

I'm only 28 and have just escaped a round of redundancies at work.

From my perspective businesses nowadays are trying to be much more dynamic in their structure, and that means cutting staff costs when needed.

Yes there's plenty of jobs out there, but some form of cover for your mortgage payments etc whilst out of work i think could be quite a lifesaver.
 
Associate
Joined
21 Oct 2012
Posts
2,332
You should get life insurance if you don't have it. Here's why.

When I first bought a house with my wife I was 24 and she was 22. It seemed quite young to be settling down in this day and age but we had been together for 3 years already so it was natural for us to buy a house.

Part of the terms of getting a mortgage was to arrange life insurance with critical illness cover and so we did that. After a year we came to look at the life insurance as quite a big expense so we cancelled it and went a good few years without any life insurance at all.

It was at the age of 27 that my wife was diagnosed with glaucoma and since then she has lost her eyesight, what remains is basically the equivalent of looking through tracing paper with a tiny pin hole pricked through it. She will never work again and eventually that sliver of vision that she has will be lost.

Had we continued with the cover that we took out then we would have had our mortgage paid off.

To cut a long story short, you don't know what the future holds. Even in your mid 20s and in good health you can be struck down.
 
Associate
Joined
18 Feb 2017
Posts
475
Location
County Durham
25 bought house 2 year ago. basic life assurance as part of agreement. if me or the wife dies mortgage gets paid off no lump sum etc. When we have kids we will be reviewing and changing the policy to suit.
 
Hitman
Soldato
Joined
25 Feb 2004
Posts
2,836
My partner has it, I don't yet.

What prompted us was that her Dad had a huge heart attack last year and it's changed their (Mum/Dad) lives forever - neither can work again due to her Mum now essentially being a full time carer and sadly he is no way near as capable as he was due to severe hypoxia on the brain. Thankfully no mortgage, but having life/critical cover would've helped them a lot going into the future.

I should have it as I'm GA pilot and anything could happen whilst I'm flying. We have a mortgage so I do want it being sorted if something did happen to me. Some of the quotes I did specifically exclude accidents/incidents whilst I'm flying which almost defeats the point of me needing cover so I've yet to find a suitable policy...

They even bump up the price 3-5x compared to my partner just because I'm a pilot despite excluding it on the policy!
 

NVP

NVP

Soldato
Joined
6 Sep 2007
Posts
12,649
Those cheeky brokers who try to sell you a policy get quite a hefty bit of commission, Vitaity will give them 5-7k for each policy for example.

You don't really need it unless you have kids. That's always been my train of thought anyway, if I went before then the wife could just sell up and downsize if she was struggling to pay the mortgage, however with all my extra rental income still coming in I think she'd have no need.


Now that I've had my first son, it is time to look into this again. I'd like him (and any others) to want for nothing, the same as if I was still here.


Any recommnded companies for those of us who contract and pay themselves via their own company (dividends etc.)?
 
Man of Honour
Joined
29 Jun 2004
Posts
21,490
Location
Oxfordshire
Yeah I’m in the process of sorting Relevant life cover for me and my girlfriend as she’s an employee of my ltd company. I’m looking at around £25 a month to cover both of us for £300k cover each.

I was originally going through Vitality but they are garbage, customer service is awful and the application was just full of obstacles in terms of lack of communication or errors on their part so binned them off. So in the market for a new company to use
 
Associate
OP
Joined
11 Apr 2006
Posts
827
Location
Yorkshire
Why would you want £250K when you are 90. Surely your mortgage will be paid off by then.
I later changed it to £400k for me and my wife each on separate policies till age 90. I guess the reason is be cause I can. Premiums low £29/month. Bonus money for the next generation(s). Policies put into trust to avoid inheritance tax. Also intend to have property assets higher than the inheritance tax threshold so it will be nice for there to be some tax free cash to contribute towards any inheritance tax due. Potentially intend to keep buying properties past retirement. Any life insurance will be useful to pay some debts off.

Also If I tried to buy the same policy now just 2 years later it would cost me £45 as opposed to the £29 each we pay now so not a bad deal at the time at all. Also my wife now has a long term illness which she will be fine as long as she takes meds for life but has resulted in higher premium should we now wish to replace or buy additional cover.
 
Back
Top Bottom