Scottish Widows

Life insurance safeguards your loved ones, offering financial stability and peace of mind. It can address outstanding debts, including mortgages, and support your family’s financial well-being after your death.

Life insurance can significantly alleviate financial stress for your family by covering outstanding debts, ensuring they do not need to relocate, and providing for unexpected costs. It also helps maintain their standard of living, supports work-life balance choices, and offers peace of mind during challenging times.

Life insurance ensures your family’s financial stability in the event of your death. This financial support can be allocated to funeral expenses, settling a mortgage, clearing debts, or covering daily living costs for your family.

Term life insurance is a widely chosen form of life insurance that provides coverage for a predetermined duration, or “term.” This insurance is available in three main varieties, each with distinct features.

Decreasing term life insurance is often selected in conjunction with securing a mortgage. This insurance is designed to cover the outstanding loan balance should you pass away within the term, making it a popular choice for joint homeowners. The payout decreases over time, mirroring the reducing mortgage balance, yet your monthly premium remains unchanged for the policy’s duration.

Level term life insurance, sometimes referred to as family protection insurance, offers a constant payout throughout the policy term, regardless of when a claim is made. This consistent coverage level means premiums are fixed, though generally higher than decreasing term options. It’s ideal for those seeking to provide a specific sum to their beneficiaries.

Increasing term life insurance adjusts its payout amount to account for inflation over time, ensuring the value of the benefit keeps pace with rising living costs. While this means the potential payout grows, so too do the premiums. This option is particularly suitable for protecting against the dilution of purchasing power, providing enhanced financial security for educational expenses or lifestyle maintenance for your beneficiaries.

Each of these term life insurance options caters to different needs, offering varying levels of protection and flexibility to policyholders.

Level term life insurance offers predetermined coverage over a chosen term, ensuring your family receives a fixed payout for various financial needs upon your death.

Decreasing term life insurance, typically aligned with mortgage repayment schedules, gradually lowers the payout amount in tandem with the decreasing mortgage balance, maintaining consistent premiums throughout its term.

This policy type is particularly suited for those with repayment mortgages, offering a financially prudent option for safeguarding your home’s future.

For partners considering life insurance, a joint policy could be a consolidated option, offering a payout after the first partner’s death, but ceasing cover thereafter.

Alternatively, individual policies ensure that, following a claim for one partner, the remaining partner retains their cover, offering continuous protection.

Whole of life insurance guarantees a payout regardless of when you pass, provided premiums are maintained.

It’s ideal for covering inheritance taxes or leaving a legacy, offering a financial foundation that extends beyond your lifetime.

Life insurance remains equally crucial for renters, ensuring that your loved ones can manage rent and save for future goals in your absence. It provides a safety net, allowing your family to maintain their living standards without the financial contribution you currently provide.

Holding multiple life insurance policies is feasible, allowing for tailored coverage adjustments as your life circumstances evolve. While our policies offer flexibility for changes, multiple policies can ensure comprehensive coverage tailored to various needs.

To find the most cost-effective life insurance, consider your policy type and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Regularly reviewing your policy to ensure it meets your current needs and using a broker can ensure you find the best value.

Life insurance payouts typically are not subject to income tax or insurance premium tax, though they may be included in your estate for inheritance tax purposes. Placing your policy in trust can mitigate potential inheritance tax liabilities.

Optimal times for initiating a life insurance policy include major life events such as marriage, home purchases, or family expansion. Starting a policy while young and healthy can also ensure more favourable rates.

Waiver of premium provision can safeguard your policy’s continuity by covering premiums during periods of serious illness or injury, ensuring that your cover continues without financial burden during challenging times.

Annual reviews of your life insurance policy are advisable to ensure alignment with your evolving life circumstances. Adjustments may be necessary following significant life changes, ensuring your cover adequately reflects your current needs.

Smokers, or those who use nicotine products, typically face higher life insurance premiums due to increased health risks.

Typically, a Body Mass Index (BMI) up to 45 is considered on standard rates, as it’s linked to a reduced likelihood of health-related issues.

Should your BMI be above this amount, you might encounter increased rates or a narrower selection of life insurance policies.

Considering the financial impact of losing income due to health issues is crucial. If such a loss could severely strain your finances and you’re unwilling to face that risk, having income protection insurance could be invaluable.

Income protection insurance provides a regular payout if illness or disability prevents you from working, continuing until you can work again, retire, or the policy ends.

Income protection is designed to assist with essential expenses, not to replace all lost earnings. It aims to cover critical outgoings like mortgage or rent, utilities, or food while you recover.

Typically you can insure up to 70%, but 50% is more common. you can use our income protection calculator for guidance.

Income protection does not apply if you’re unemployed for non-medical reasons, such as redundancy. A medical professional’s sign-off is required to make a claim.

While life insurance provides a payout upon death, income protection offers support when sickness or injury prevents work.

Life insurance is essential for those with dependents or debts, and income protection is crucial for those reliant on their working income.

Income protection does not offer a payout upon death. For financial support to dependents in such events, life insurance is the appropriate choice.

Income protection replaces a part of your income during illness or after an accident until you can work again, retire, die, or the policy term ends, whichever comes first.

Income protection cover can go up to 65% of gross income, with some plans offering up to 70%. You can use our income protection calculator to give you an initial guide.

While not a mortgage requirement, income protection offers a safety net for mortgage repayments in case of income loss due to illness or injury.

You can claim as needed, and the claim can last for the entire term of the insurance policy, as long as you’re unable to work due to the illness or injury.

Yes, self-employed individuals can secure income protection, offering a tax-free monthly payout up to 65% of average income if illness or injury prevents working.

Income protection can offer payouts for mental health conditions, including anxiety and depression.

Having both covers enhances your financial safety net, providing a lump sum for critical illnesses and regular payouts for income loss due to health issues.

Income protection usually ends at retirement, with cover available up to age 65 or 70, depending on the insurer.

Policies may not cover all illnesses, especially pre-existing conditions or those your family has had. It’s essential to understand your policy’s limitations and conditions.

Factors include age, health, job risk, lifestyle, the waiting period before claims, and willingness to go back to work in different roles.

No, income protection is for medical-related income loss, not for unemployment due to redundancy.

You should consider getting income protection to ensure rent payments are manageable during periods of no work due to health issues.

Yes, you can adjust your coverage to align with salary changes, ensuring your benefits reflect your current income.

Critical illness cover includes protection for severe and lasting health conditions such as heart attacks, strokes, amputations, or serious diseases like cancer, multiple sclerosis, or Parkinson’s disease.

• It helps with costs not covered by medical insurance, including childcare and transportation.
• You receive a direct lump sum payment for covered conditions to use as needed.
• A variety of significant illnesses are covered under most plans.

Having income protection provides broader cover, critical illness cover offers a lump sum for significant health issues, complementing income protection’s regular payments.

Critical illness cover provides financial support upon diagnosis of a covered illness, benefiting you and your family during your lifetime. Life insurance pays a lump sum to beneficiaries after your death.

Yes, you can apply regardless of past diagnoses, but you must disclose your health history and undergo the insurer’s medical underwriting process.

Critical illness cover usually doesn’t payout if you die.

Life insurance pays out if you pass away during the term of the policy and it is most common to take a critical illness policy in addition to a life insurance policy.

Yes, you can purchase critical illness cover as standalone insurance, offering protection against the financial impacts of a critical diagnosis without life insurance.

The most common claims include heart attacks, cancers and strokes.

The cover depends on the insurer. However, you could take out Critical Illness cover up to age 70, with most policies ending before turning 75. Generally the maximum policy term is 50 years.

Critical illness cover can be expensive due to its comprehensive cover of serious conditions, the high incidence rates of these conditions, and the significant lump-sum payouts upon diagnosis. Additionally, factors like medical advances increasing treatment costs, the age and health of the policyholder, inflation impacting medical expenses and cost of living, and potentially low competition in the insurance market, all contribute to the higher premiums.

It’s crucial for individuals to compare policies and consult with an advisor to find the most suitable and cost-effective cover.

Yes, Children’s Critical Illness cover is available up to age 18 or 21 if in full-time education.

Consider your monthly earnings, dependents’ financial needs, outstanding debts, monthly essentials, and what you can afford for coverage.

The term can be integrated with life insurance or chosen independently, often lasting until significant debts are paid or dependents are financially independent.

No, the policy ends after one payout for a critical illness claim.

Payouts depend on the cover amount and specific illness, with full amounts for core illnesses and partial for additional conditions, ending or continuing the policy accordingly.