All you need to know about the following kinds of life insurance:

Level Term Insurance
Mortgage Protection Insurance
Critical Illness Insurance
Level Term and Critical Illness Insurance
Mortgage Protection and Critical Illness Insurance
Family Income Benefit
Waiver of Premium

You will need to input your sex, date of birth, if you are a smoker, the kind of policy you require, whether you require waiver of premium, how much you would like to insure yourself for and for how long.

If you require joint cover you will also need to provide the details for your partner

Level Term Insurance (top)

Term Assurance is the simplest sort of life cover available. It pays out an agreed sum (the sum assured) if you die before the end of the policy (the term). It could also be called death insurance! The policy can cover either one person, or two people jointly. In the case of a "joint life" policy it pays out when the first person covered (lives assured) dies. As soon as the policy has paid out, or if the end of the policy term is reached, the policy ceases. The policy has no "cash in" value at any time, and only pays out if one of the lives assured should die during the policy term. This makes it a very simple and cheap policy to arrange and administer, and cover from different insurers can be compared on price alone since the policies are so straightforward. Term assurance offers protection for your family or dependants, paying out a lump sum on your death. Commonly, this is used to pay off the mortgage and/or provide a lump sum which can be invested to produce an income for your dependants

Mortgage Protection / Decreasing Term Insurance (top)

This is also known as decreasing term insurance, it is the same as level term except the sum assured decreases over the life of the policy. It is specifically designed to protect a repayment mortgage which also decreases over the term. The initial sum assured should not be greater than the amount of the mortgage. If you have an interest only mortgage (such as an endowment or pension or ISA mortgage) then the debt outstanding on the mortgage remains level throughout the mortgage term, hence a Level Term policy would offer more appropriate protection in this case.

Critical Illness Insurance (top)

While Term Assurance is protection for your dependants, Critical Illness Cover is protection for you. Even if you have no dependants you should consider Critical Illness Cover - who will pay your mortgage and other bills if you cannot work as a result of a heart attack for instance? Critical Illness Cover is offered in the same variations as Term Assurance · Level Term where the sum assured remains the same (level) throughout the term of the policy. · Decreasing Term or Mortgage Protection where the sum assured reduces each month, in line with a standard repayment mortgage. It is also arranged for a fixed term, but unlike term assurance it is designed to pay out when you are diagnosed with one of a number of specified critical illnesses (e.g. Cancer, Stroke, Heart Attack, Kidney Failure, etc).

Today, we are far more likely to survive illnesses that may have killed us in previous generations. But although we may survive a critical illness like heart attack the recovery period is usually long. Often it is not possible to return to work full-time (or sometimes even at all) after such an illness, but the mortgage and other bills still need to be paid. That is where Critical Illness cover comes in. It pays out a lump sum when you are diagnosed. You can use this lump sum to pay off the mortgage, to pay medical expenses, to invest to provide an income in the future, or for any other purpose. Knowing that the mortgage is paid off for example would greatly reduce the financial stress when recuperating from a critical illness, and avoid the need to go back to work before you were fully recovered. The policy can cover either one person, or two people jointly. In the case of a "joint life" policy it pays out when the first person covered (lives assured) is diagnosed with a critical illness.

As soon as the policy has paid out, or if the end of the policy term is reached, the policy ceases. (You should also consider Permanent Health Insurance which pays out a regular monthly income in the event that you are unable to work for a prolonged period as a result of illness). The policy has no "cash in" value at any time. Cover is more expensive than Term Assurance because the probability of suffering a critical illness is higher than the probability of death during the policy term. It is still a simple policy to arrange and administer, and cover from different insurers can be easily compared on price, although care should be taken to check which specific critical illnesses are covered. Different insurers may vary which conditions they cover..

Level Term & Critical Illness (top)

Covers against both critical illness and death in the same policy. The policy will pay out if any life assured dies during the policy term, or are diagnosed with a specified critical illness during the policy term. This offers a high level of protection for you and your dependants. The policy can cover either one person, or two people jointly. In the case of a "joint life" policy it pays out when the first person covered (lives assured) is diagnosed with a critical illness or dies. As soon as the policy has paid out, or if the end of the policy term is reached, the policy ceases. It will not pay out twice - it will pay out on either death OR critical illness, not both.

The policy has no "cash in" value at any time. Cover is more expensive than both Term Assurance or Critical Illness Cover because it offers a higher level of protection and a higher probability of paying out than either policy individually. It is still a simple policy to arrange and administer, and cover from different insurers can be easily compared on price, although again care should be taken to check which specific critical illnesses are covered. Different insurers may vary which conditions they cover..

Mortgage Protection & Critical Illness (top)

This is the same as Level Term and Critical Illness except the sum assured for diagnosis of a critcial illness reduces in line with the death benefit, over the term of the policy.

Family Income Benefit (top)

The main difference here is the benefit is paid monthly for the remainder of the term of the policy rather than a lump sum should the person insured die. If you decide your partner requires £1,000 per month until your children leave school in 15 years time, then a 15 year term policy would provide this. If the life assured was to die after 5 years, the policy would provide this income for the following 10 years. This is a cheaper way of providing necessary income should the worst happen as to provide £1,000 a month cover you would require a lump sum invested of £200,000 if interest rates are 5%.

Waiver of Premium (top)

The insurer will take over the premium payments 6 months after you become unable to work following an accident or illness. This means the cover continues free of charge to the policyholder during extended periods of disability. The waiver of premium claim stops when you are assessed as fit to return to work. Waiver of premium is to be recommended as it protects the you against the possibility that cover may lapse during a long period of illness which if followed by death might mean the cover had been withdrawn at the very time it was needed.