If you have any form of financial responsibility to some one else, it is likely that you will need life insurance.
There are some exceptions. If you have no debts, own your house out-right, or if you have a large amount of savings or other significant sources of capital or income that could be called on by your beneficiaries in the event of your death, life insurance may not be as necessary.
If you're particularly wealthy you may still require life insurance as a strategy to reduce the impact of inheritance tax for your beneficiaries
In most cases, the minimum amount of life insurance that should be in place should be enough to settle any outstanding debts and cover funeral costs. The amount of life insurance you need depends entirely on your own personal circumstances.
It's generally considered that if you have anyone, especially dependants, who would be financially disadvantaged by your death - i.e. by having to sell your family home due to the inability to keep up mortgage repayments, or would be liable for the cost of bringing up your children, - life insurance should be a high priority for you.
Even if on the face of it your family or dependants wouldn't be financially disadvantaged by your death due to a partners ability to continue to work, it may still be advantageous for you to consider putting life insurance in place in order to help you family maintain the lifestyle they have become used to.In the short term, you may even prefer for your widow or widower not to have to go to work at all whilst they come to terms with your death and readjust their lifestyle to cope with the loss. This may be even more important if you were to pass away unexpectedly.
It may not be just life insurance that you need. Similar protection products such as critical illness cover and income protection plans make provision for the unexpected so if you don't currently have any financial protection plans in place you should extend your research to cover these areas as well.
If you're interested in researching life insurance further you should speak to an independent financial adviser. Alternatively, you can use our interactive online research tool, the Finance Navigator. Based on the answers you give to a number of targeted questions, the Finance Navigator will help you to establish your own life insurance needs. It will then produce a bespoke guidance report for you to read through to help you make an informed decision. It will also allow you to learn more about some of the most commonly used life insurance plans.
Once you have your report, you can then use our online quotation system to find some of the most competitively priced life insurance plans from a selection of major UK life insurance providers. Once you have found the right plan for you, use our 'apply online' facility.
