Which optional extras are important?

You should consider adding Critical Illness Cover, Waiver of Premium and Indexation to your Life insurance policy. Terminal Illness cover will be included in your policy free of charge.

STEP 1 of 2
Type of cover
Life Insurance       Mortgage Life Insurance
 
Cover Level (£)

Number of years
Do you want:  
Critical illness cover
Family income benefit
 

Hot Topics

Should you consider Critical Illness cover instead?
If you have no dependants or already have Life Insurance, you should consider Critical Illness Insurance instead of Life Insurance.
Should you include Critical Illness cover on your Life Insurance policy?
You should certainly consider taking out Critical illness cover whether you combine it into your Life Insurance policy (which is by far the cheapest way to buy both insurances) or you take out separate policies (which gives you far more protection – see below).
Should the cover be on joint lives or separate lives?
It may be better to buy separate policies.
Can you have different levels of cover on a joint life policy?
Yes you can - but it may be better to buy separate policies.
Should your policy be written “in Trust”?
We believe that all Life policies should be written “in trust”.
Critical Illness Cover
If you add Critical Illness Insurance, then you will be able to claim if you are diagnosed with any of the serious illnesses listed on your policy. Each Insurance Company has its own list of critical illnesses, but you’ll find an example list at the relevant question shown below.

It is important to consider taking out Critical illness cover whether you combine it into your Life Insurance policy (which is by far the cheapest way to buy both insurances) or you take out separate policies (which gives you much more protection).

If you do add Critical Illness cover to your Life Insurance policy then, if the policy pays out because of Critical Illness, the policy it is finished and will not pay out again if you were to die. However, if you want your Life Insurance to continue after a claim for Critical Illness, then you will need to buy separate Critical Illness and Life Policies. This costs more but you have, in practice, got a potential payout for critical illness AND another payout if you died whilst the Life policy was in force.

Waiver of Premium
Another add-on that’s well worth considering is Waiver of Premium. If you have waiver of premium the Insurance Company will pay your policy’s monthly premium if you were off work as a result of illness or unemployment. It is not expensive, but could allow you to keep the policy in difficult circumstances.

Indexation
You should add Indexation if you want your sum insured to increase in line with inflation. It protects the buying power of the sum you have insured for. Each year your insurer calculates how much your cover needs to increase and then they automatically adjust your policy. Your monthly premium then increases in proportion to the increase in your sum insured. (Please note: you do not need Indexation if you are protecting a mortgage.)


Frequently Asked Questions related to the above topic.
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