Wednesday 10 August 2011

Level Term Life Insurance


Level Term Life Insurance is a cost effective way of arranging life assurance in the UK and is a relatively straightforward form of life cover.

Level Term Life Insurance is often used for family protection purposes by providing life insurance cover in the event of the death of the life or lives assured for the benefit of the surviving spouse and, if there are any, the dependant children to make their lives more comfortable financially.

The amount of life cover provided is often agreed upon after receiving advice from a financial adviser who will assess a family's requirements taking into account a number of factors such as the level of income required and the term the life cover is required for i.e. whilst the children are dependant on their parents.

The amount of Level Term Life Insurance remains level for a specific period of time i.e 25 years and is arranged normally on a sole life or joint life first death basis with the premium often remaining constant throughout the term.

If the life or lives assured outlive the term of the policy then the Level Term Life Insurance policy normally finishes and the life policy does not pay out anything. This is one of the reasons why Level Term Life Insurance is normally cheaper than say a Whole of Life policy as a whole of life policy will always pay out whenever the life assured dies as long as the life assured has maintained paying the premiums.

Level Term Life Insurance is also used to cover personal and business liabilities such as overdrafts and some types of mortgages and loans so that in the event of the death of the life assured the liability is liquidated resulting in the survivor not being burdened with the repayments on the loan or mortgage.

Critical illness cover can sometimes be included in the Level Term Life Insurance policy to pay out upon one of the assured being diagnosed with a specific critical illness.If such cover were included this would result in the premium being greater than if cover was just for life insurance.


How To Save Money On Your Life Insurance


There are many different life insurance policies and as such there are many ways that you can make savings when it comes to getting a life insurance policy. The best advice when it comes to purchasing your policy is to shop around for the best deal; there is no better way than to use the internet if you want to make savings on your life insurance.

Shopping online for life insurance will allow you to gain access to a huge amount of insurers, as there are many; all insurers are competing against the other for your custom, which goes a long way towards helping you save money.

All insurers will allow you to get an online quote and compare quotes, which mean that at a glance you can see which seems to be the best deal. However always make sure you look into what the policy offers because sometimes a great deal isn’t so great after reading the exclusions and small print.

A great way to make savings on life insurance is to be as healthy as possible to start with when taking out the insurance. Here a little common sense needs to be applied, for instance if you are a smoker or drinker then you can expect to pay more for your life insurance than you would if you didn’t smoke or drink, this is the ideal opportunity to give up those nasty habits.

Being severely over weight can also add to your premium than if you were the average build for your height. Again making adjustments to your lifestyle and diet and losing weight can not only improve your health but also leave you with a little extra cash in your pocket due to lower premiums.

Any pre existing medical conditions can also raise the premiums on your life insurance although these always have to be declared at the time you take out your insurance.

However by doing all you can to help your condition such as taking regular medication and attending regular check ups at the Doctors or clinics will help when you do declare your condition.

Finally don’t take out more life insurance than you need to, by taking out more insurance you will be paying a higher premium.


Convert Term Policy Before It Expires


Keeping an inexpensive term life insurance policy for too long can cost unprepared families lots of money in the long run.

While term insurance is a great way to protect your family from financial disaster, sitting on the same policy until it is too late to replace it with a permanent options can be a financial disaster.

Term life is temporary insurance. It pays a fixed death benefit if the policy holder passes away during a set period of time. For example, if you have a 20-year term policy and you die before the 20 years end, your beneficiaries will receive the face value of your policy.

Once the 20 years is up, the contract expires. The company keeps your premiums and you have to find new insurance, usually at a higher premium. Term insurance helps you to prepare for the unexpected.

Term insurance is the cheapest form of life insurance because it is temporary and not intended to pay out. Young families benefit from term insurance. In many cases, it is taken out to help support young children and a spouse in case the primary breadwinner passes away. That takes a large policy to accomplish.

Many young adults do not have substantial savings and investments yet. They have a lot of their money tied up in new mortgages and student loans. Term policies offer a cost-efficient solution.

But as families mature, the breadwinners grow older and the policies get closer to expiration. Situations change and families need to consider changing their term insurance into a more permanent option.

Many term insurance contracts have a clause that allows the policy holder to do just that.

You could think of it as leasing insurance with an option to buy. You can use the convertibility clause to convert without having to obtain a new insurance policy. For a price, families can transform their temporary insurance into permanent insurance without having to re-apply for coverage or have medical examinations.

Not all policies have conversion clauses. If you are buying term insurance, look for policies that include the clause. They are often more expensive, but well worth it.

For example, you have a 20-year term policy with a 10-year conversion clause. After nine years, you develop a major health problem. You are still within the 10-year conversion period, so you can convert the policy to a permanent policy. By doing so, you will not need a new physical exam and you will receive your coverage at a much lower rate than if your health problems were taken into account.

If the policy didn’t have the conversion clause, you would be facing an expiring policy and very expensive renewal premiums – if you could renew at all. You should always convert before it is too late.

You should review your policy with your agent on a regular basis. This will help to prevent that your conversion expiration doesn’t sneak up on you. When you are within a year of convertibility, you should take the time to look at your plan. Consider your health, finances, responsibilities and goals.

Don’t just look at your health in considering whether or not to convert a policy. The older you are, the more expensive you are to insure. By locking in a fixed rate and paying toward a permanent policy in your 20s, your monthly premiums will be much cheaper than if you had waited until your 50s.

Your financial needs transform over time. Your family matures and changes. When you are young, you often need a policy to replace your income and provide for your children. When you are older and your children are grown and your mortgage is paid off, you may find that you don’t need such a large policy.

The roughest rule of thumb is to take a multiple of your income. If you only need enough insurance to take care of your family for a few years after you die and set them up until they can get on their feet, buy 4-6 times your annual salary. If you want to take care of them for the rest of their lives, you can look at something quite larger, like 20 times your salary. That gives enough to establish a trust that they can life off of indefinitely.

One strategy involves buying the largest term policy you can afford when you are young. When you can afford more, supplement your term policy with a small permanent policy.

When your term insurance is set to expire, your children will be grown and your mortgage paid off. Then you can look at what coverage you will need.