There are many different types of life insurance and it can all get a bit confusing. You may find yourself at the point where you’re: Mixed up about Mortgage Protection, perplexed when it comes to Serious Illness, baffled by Whole of Life, or perhaps you left it late and just want funeral cover?
Don’t worry, we’re here to help!
At Onequote.ie, we explain all types of life insurance in plain language, so you’ll soon be on your way to becoming a Life Insurance Guru.
(1) MORTGAGE PROTECTION
The term Mortgage Protection refers to a life insurance policy that is used to clear the outstanding balance on your mortgage if you die, during the mortgage loan term.
As your mortgage loan gets paid down over time, your life cover reduces in line with the outstanding loan balance and this is why it’s the cheapest form of life insurance available.
If you’re getting a typical capital and interest mortgage loan from your bank, then you must have a mortgage protection “reducing cover life insurance policy” as described above.
If you have an interest-only mortgage, where the loan is not being cleared down, then you must also provide your lender with a life insurance policy, but this time with a “level cover life insurance policy”.
Mortgage Protection – Added Protection
Completely your call, as your lender can only insist on life insurance, you can also include serious illness coverage for the same or a lesser amount, on your mortgage protection life insurance policy. (You can read more about Serious Illness cover below).
How to Get the Best Deal?
If you’re getting a mortgage on a residential home, you must buy mortgage protection, but you don’t have to buy it from your mortgage lender.
So, the best thing to do is to use a broker to do the shopping around for you, with online brokers being the most convenient.
But be careful, while all online brokers compare insurer prices, they don’t all give discounts.
To get the best policy at the lowest discount price now, click: Quote.
(2) LIFE INSURANCE
Life insurance is about a life insurance company paying out tax-free a cash lump sum on the result of someone’s death.
There are 3 different forms of life insurance policy:
- Guaranteed Term.
- Guaranteed Whole of Life.
- Unit-linked Whole of Life.
So let’s take a look at each:
Guaranteed Term – Life Insurance for the family
When it comes to life insurance to protect your partner or family, the best value option is Guaranteed Term – Life insurance.
It’s called “Term” because it is taken out for a specific number of years i.e. known as the policy term. You cover yourself up to age 90 and the premium is “Guaranteed” meaning its fixed.
To protect your family, click: Quote
Guaranteed Whole of Life – Life Insurance for inheritance tax
This is a more expensive form of life insurance than guaranteed term, as a pay-out will happen regardless of age, but due to the price is best suited to covering inheritance tax liabilities, that the beneficiaries of a will may incur.
To cover inheritance tax, click: Quote
Unit-linked Whole of Life – Old-style expensive policies
I only mention is form of life insurance coverage as some people may still have such policies, although no longer available. They are no longer sold as the premiums could be hiked up after the first 10 years and then every 5 years by the insurance companies. The unit-linked part referred to a savings element, but these days savings and life insurance must be separated.
If you have one of these old policies, get in touch and we will quote you a better fixed-price alternative.
Life Insurance – Added Protection
You can also include serious illness coverage for the same or a lesser amount, on your life insurance policy. (You can read more about Serious Illness cover below).
(3) SPECIFIED SERIOUS ILLNESS
Serious Illness Cover also sometimes referred to as Critical Illness Cover is designed to provide you with a tax-free payout, on the diagnosis of a specified serious illness.
Unlike life insurance, this benefit is payable to the insured person themselves and is typically used to reduce any debts and to help cover expenses when you are ill and out of work.
As mentioned above, this cover can be added to a Mortgage Protection or Life Insurance policy, but it can also be taken out as an independent insurance cover.
The number of specified illnesses covered can be as high as 100 with some insurers, but they all cover those illnesses where most claims occur e.g. Cancer, heart attack and stroke
TYPES OF LIFE INSURANCE – CONCLUSION
We hope you found that overview helpful, of course we are all at different stages in life, but you should now have a strong idea now to get started and there’s lots more information on our website, to allow you find tune your cover, so as to make it just right for you!
- Life Insurance – For my Mortgage
- Life Insurance – For my Family
- Life Insurance – For Inheritance Tax
- Life Insurance – For Funeral Expenses
Whatever your requirements or life stage, we promise that you’ll get the most suitable cover at the best market price – saving you time, money, and hassle.
If you fancy a chat, give us a call on: 01 845 0049
OneQuote.ie | Smart Financial Protection
