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Life insurance cover

Sandy_123
Sandy_123 Scope Member Posts: 49,796 Disability Gamechanger
in Coffee lounge
Hi I'm looking for life insurance and have a company ringing me tomorrow. I don't know 1st thing about them, like who's best, what cover, is there one for disabled people, or how they work. I don't want to be paying in one for years and not receive anything. Google is a mine field for information about them. I figure it's best to have a policy then none.
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Comments

  • 66Mustang
    66Mustang Community member Posts: 13,569 Disability Gamechanger
    We were looking into it for a few of us recently.

    From what I understand, whether you need it or not depends on a few things

    If you have a mortgage that you would like to be paid off, then it’s a good idea. Also if you live in a rented property and own no other significant assets to pass on, it’s a good idea if you want to leave something behind when you die. It’s also a good idea if you don’t have enough money to cover the cost of your funeral and don’t want to burden your family with having to pay for it.

    I did without it because I have just enough money to pay for my own funeral, and don’t have any dependents that I need to leave money to…One relative also did without it as they own their home which will be passed on, and they don’t feel they need to leave anything more. Final relative went for it as they have a mortgage that they don’t want to burden anyone else with.

    This is just our experience, don’t crucify me if I’ve got anything wrong :D

    Sorry if I’m teaching granny to suck eggs
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  • Sandy_123
    Sandy_123 Scope Member Posts: 49,796 Disability Gamechanger
    @66Mustang no its good to read others views,I find it all confusing 
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  • chiarieds
    chiarieds Community member Posts: 16,098 Disability Gamechanger
    My only person opinion would be to get 2/3 quotes, but be prepared to look into the small print. This is something I always do, but realise it's not for everyone. A good insurance broker, however, will do all this hard work for you, so long as you can identify your personal circumstances (such as the examples @66Mustang has given above).
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  • Sandy_123
    Sandy_123 Scope Member Posts: 49,796 Disability Gamechanger
    Thanks will look later as I've  been on so many pages. 
    Defo will read the small prints as the glossy large prints all look enticing 
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  • woodbine
    woodbine Community member Posts: 11,609 Disability Gamechanger
    edited January 2022
    Most mortgage lenders will insist that you take out insurance to cover the mortgage should you die before it's paid off, such insurance for most people is usually relatively inexpensive.

    Life insurance for it's own sake is a whole different ball game and what it cost will depend on your age, your health and how much cover you want, comparison sites are your friend for this.

    Finally there are over 50's no questions asked plans myself and SM both have two of these which will pay out around £1500 when we die, which atm will cover our funeral cost as we both want "direct cremations" which will cost around £1400 as opposed to £3500 for a full funeral.
    2024 The year of the general election...the time for change is coming 💡

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  • Lisatho11987777
    Lisatho11987777 Scope Member Posts: 5,911 Disability Gamechanger
    What I can tell you is that you don't get back what you paid in for them to pay out you have to pay for rest of life for the claim to be active it can be complicated I have sunlife  and I had two policies when I lost my full time job i couldn't afford to pay as I was waiting for universal credit 

    I phoned them and told them and I lost one of my polices and all the money I paid in I complained because it wasn't my fault but very very tiny waiting at the bottom says that if you go into default the policy will be cancelled so be very careful 

    When my dad passed he had been paying life insurance all his life he only got 15,000 back and had paid 25,000 the longer live the more uou over pay 
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  • woodbine
    woodbine Community member Posts: 11,609 Disability Gamechanger
    Insurance companies are businesses in business for one thing and one thing only to make profits for their shareholders, they pay some very clever people some very good wages they are actuaries, based on the principle that whilst some people will never get back what they have paid in others will get back far far more than they have paid in.
    Those in the "middle" is where they make most of their money.
    2024 The year of the general election...the time for change is coming 💡

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  • Sandy_123
    Sandy_123 Scope Member Posts: 49,796 Disability Gamechanger
    Hmmm now I'm thinking would it better to just save it and get funeral plan on top
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  • woodbine
    woodbine Community member Posts: 11,609 Disability Gamechanger
    Sandy_123 said:
    Hmmm now I'm thinking would it better to just save it and get funeral plan on top
    In all honesty that depends on two things 1) how old you are now 2) how long you think you might live.

    The first is a given the second is guess work but if you are in your early 50's (as an example) a sunlife funeral policy (there are others) will cost you about £5 a month for around a £1000 worth of cover and you will get about £100 in gift vouchers 6 months after taking out the policy making the first 20 months free.
    2024 The year of the general election...the time for change is coming 💡

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  • Sandy_123
    Sandy_123 Scope Member Posts: 49,796 Disability Gamechanger
    Its  confusing, it's no good just for funeral costs as I'm having a buriel and the plots are 3k just below at moment
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  • Lisatho11987777
    Lisatho11987777 Scope Member Posts: 5,911 Disability Gamechanger
    The gift cards are 110.00 and I pay 50.00 a month for a payout of 18000 that's with sunlife  I lost one policy because I lost my job and you don't get your money back  thats if I live long enough lol 
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  • Lisatho11987777
    Lisatho11987777 Scope Member Posts: 5,911 Disability Gamechanger
    Some life insurance doesn't cover corona virus so you would need to check that out 
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  • TheAlien
    TheAlien Community member Posts: 228 Pioneering
    edited January 2022
    The biggest issue with life insurance is that you pay for life, miss a payment and your insurance could become invalid.  It says in the small print that the final payout could be less than the sums invested.

    As it has been pointed out, they are a business, they are there to make money.

    You may be better to put what you would pay in premiums in a separate bank account, at least that way, you should be able to get back at least what you've put in and i you need to miss a payment or two, it won't endanger the rest of your investment.
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  • MarkM88
    MarkM88 Community member Posts: 3,127 Connected
    I was under the impression that life cover didn’t work the way Lisa is explaining? 

    For example, I always thought you chose an amount you wanted cover for and then depending on answers given a monthly amount was what you paid? 

    If what you pay over the course of life is more than the amount they pay out then that can’t be helped? 

    Or have I grasped this wrong? 
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  • vikingqueen
    vikingqueen Scope Member Posts: 1,432 Disability Gamechanger
    Always read the small print, every last little bit. They are all out to make an extortionate amount of money. My mother in law has prepaid her funeral and deep in the small print is a list of things not included. If you do want to go down the path of insurance I'd forget the likes of sun life and the others that offer free incentives to join. 
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  • woodbine
    woodbine Community member Posts: 11,609 Disability Gamechanger
    The big advantage with the likes of sunlife is that they don't want to know any medical history, if you are between 50 and 80 you're in and they pay out around 98-99% of all claims, the "free" gift is just a bonus
    2024 The year of the general election...the time for change is coming 💡

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  • Sandy_123
    Sandy_123 Scope Member Posts: 49,796 Disability Gamechanger
    I didn't answer the phone to the life insurance company, even tho I arranged it with them  :# need to think about it at moment 
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  • Lisatho11987777
    Lisatho11987777 Scope Member Posts: 5,911 Disability Gamechanger
    I think its personal choice wether you haveife insurance or not they are there to make money with sunlife I was only allowed to have up to four polices but would still only pay out 18,00,00so I I started with two and ended up with one but had policy changes since corona virus 
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  • woodbine
    woodbine Community member Posts: 11,609 Disability Gamechanger
    @practition this thread was started at the beginning of the year, having said that I've had a number of insurance policies over the years and have never needed a solicitor to check the T'S&C's, what I would add now that threads been opened up again is that for some people starting a private pension can make more sense than taking out insurance, as whatever you pay in the govt. add 20% to.
    2024 The year of the general election...the time for change is coming 💡

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