Life Assurance Guide
06th Apr 2018 |
This life assurance guide is designed to help anyone seeking to achieve the best value life cover in the Irish market. Life Insurance does what it says on the tin, i.e. pays out a tax-free lump sum on the death of the person, or 2 people insured. But to get the right policy at the best price, you need to follow 3 simple steps:
- Choose the right policy type;
- Choose the insurer with the best complimentary added benefits;
- Get the biggest discount, for the full policy term.
This may sound simple, but it can take a lot of time and effort on your behalf with so many policies and prices to compare. But don’t worry, here at One Quote, we make it easy for you to get the right policy, with the best benefits, at the cheapest discounted price!
LIFE INSURANCE GUIDE
There are 3 key questions to be answered, before choosing your life insurance policy type:
1. Do I need whole-of-life assurance or term life insurance?
In a nutshell, term life insurance best suits most people, as it can provide life insurance up to age 90 for a fixed price and if you opt for a shorter term, say up to age 65, you can choose to include a conversion option for a little extra, which will allow you to extend the coverage with any medical questions before your policy ends.
Fixed price whole of life insurance is also available, but due to its very high cost, is only suited to those who want to leave the cash behind for their children’s inheritance tax liability, when they’re gone.
Over 50’s life insurance is also a whole of life insurance contract, but again unless you are in seriously bad health needing to avoid a medical and you only need funeral insurance of up to 25,000 then, term life insurance is still the best option.
2. How much life cover should I have?
People often come up with a nice round figure of 250k or the like, but up until you retire you should opt for a multiple of 5-10 times salary, less any employer-provided life cover, subject to affordability.
You can also opt to include indexation of your policy benefits, to protect against inflation and the real value of your cover over time.
3. Should I include my other half?
If your family depends on 2 incomes, yes, but that’s probably obvious, buy if one partner is a stay-at-home parent then the answer is still yes, as the cost of hiring childcare would be significant.
When opting for a 2-person policy, always opt for dual and not joint cover, as it allows different cover levels on each person. Joint life also only pays out on the first death, whereas dual cover pays out on both people.
THE BEST BENEFITS
Once you’ve got your policy needs down, it then becomes about understanding the free added benefits. So, let’s look at these benefits in turn, before then comparing the life insurers who offer them:
The six leading life insurers in Ireland are Zurich Life. Royal London, Irish Life, New Ireland, and Aviva
Free Standard Benefits
- Accidental Death Benefit – Life Cover before your application is processed, only offered by: Zurich Life, Irish Life and Aviva.
- Terminal Illness Benefit – Life Cover pay-out on terminal illness diagnosis: offered by all 6 leading life insurers.
- Children’s Life Cover – Free Children’s life cover up to age 21 if in full-time education: offered by all 6 leading life insurers
- Missed Payment Reinstatement – Ability to retain policy in the case of missed payments – only offered by: Zurich Life and Aviva.
- Guaranteed Insurability – Ability to increase your cover free of fresh medical questions: offered by all leading life insurers, expect Aviva.
Of the 5 leading life insurance companies operating in Ireland, 3 of them also offer a free added benefit, which is exclusive to them, these are:
Zurich Life – Long Term Care Conversion
Designed to convert up to 150,000 of your life cover into monthly payments towards long-term care, in the event, that life assured has suffered long-term care disablement. A maximum of 50 payments can be made, but you can only make a claim for this benefit between the ages of 60 and 65, on the proviso that there are 10 years remaining on your policy at the time.
Royal London – Helping Hand
Helping Hand gives one-to-one personal nurse support to your family in the case of bereavement.
Aviva – Best Doctors
Best Doctors offers a free expert second medical opinion service to policyholders and their families. Best Doctors isn’t just for serious life-threatening illnesses. You can use the service for any chronic or troubling ailments, affecting your quality of life. Second Medical Opinion could prove invaluable. From migraines to heart conditions, this service could help you find the answers you need.
Irish Life – Nurse Assist
This benefit is available on both life and specified illness cover plans. This confidential service allows you to phone a team of trained nurses who can help you answer a full range of questions or concerns you might have about your family’s health.
THE LOWEST PRICE
As a broker OneQuote.ie can offer you any of these insurer policies at a discount and when you run your life assurance quote, we always quote the best value price and cover combination.
As outlined above, Zurich Life clearly offers the most comprehensive term life insurance policy on the Irish market, closely followed by Royal London.
We also provide the first month free on all standard health accepted policies and uniquely also allow discount on ill-health accepted policies.
Get in touch by online enquiry, or call me on: 01 845 0049, to find out more!
Ken O’Gorman – QFA
OneQuote.ie – Smart Financial Protection