Keyman Insurance Calculator

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04/07/2022
7 mins

Keyman insurance is a very important form of business protection for small businesses where the loss of key individual could make or break it’s success.

When we talk to clients about business protection and particularly keyman insurance there are two main questions that tend to come up straight away.

  • How much does Keyman Insurance cost?
  • How much cover do I need?

This guide and associated calculator should help to answer these questions but firstly a brief introduction to Key Man Insurance:

  • It protects your business against the loss of a key person through death or critical illness.
  • The business owns and pays for the policy.
  • On a claim, the policy pays a lump sum into the business to maintain financial stability.

The business can use these funds however it sees fit to make up for the loss of the key individual.

This often includes the costs of hiring a replacement, making up for lost profits, repaying outstanding loans or any other way the company chooses to use the funds to mitigate the impact of the loss.

You can read more on why our clients Bikmo and Adworks both chose keyman insurance to protect the future success of their business.

Calculating How Much Key Person Insurance You Need

The level of cover can vary considerably from one firm to the next and depends on your business’ needs and circumstances. However, as a general rule of thumb, when advising our clients on how much Keyman Insurance they need we tend to look at the individual’s contribution to profit, either:

  • A set multiple of net profit the key person is responsible for

OR

  • A set multiple of gross profit the key person is responsible for.

The multiple of profits you need will depend on whether your company is growing or breaking even. It’s complicated to work out and it’s therefore best to discuss this with your expert adviser to ensure you get it right.

In addition to profit protection you may also require Keyman Insurance for more specific purposes within the business. This is often easier to put a value on — for example, you might know how much it would cost to hire and train a replacement key individual. Here you ensure a payout which covers salary, recruitment costs and any fees associated with training them up to their predecessor’s standard.

Alternatively, you may be looking at keyman cover to repay an outstanding loan, in which case you’d set the level of cover to match the loan.

If you need help pop us a call on 02084327333 or email help@drewberry.co.uk to speak to one of our expert advisers.

Samantha Haffenden-Angear, Independent Protection Expert at Drewberry

Deciding how much Keyman Insurance you need can be tricky.

You don’t want to claim and find you have too little cover, meaning your business struggles. You also need to consider whether tax would be due should a claim arise.

Samantha Haffenden-Angear
Business Protection Expert at Drewberry

Calculating The Cost Of Keyman Insurance

While the business owns and pays for the policy, the cost of Key Man Insurance will vary between companies. This is because, although it’s a company taking out the policy, it’s underwritten on the life of the key person / key people.

This means two very similar businesses in the same sector could pay wildly different amounts for Keyman Insurance if the insured people at each firm have wildly different backgrounds.

For example, the price of cover is based on an individual’s:

  • Age
    The older we are, the greater the risk of passing away during the term of the policy.
  • Current state of health
    Those with health conditions, especially those which might limit life expectancy, will typically pay more for Key Person Insurance to reflect the greater risk the insurer is taking on.
  • Smoker status
    If the key individual smokes, they are at greater risk of developing a serious, fatal health condition and so insurers charge more.
  • Lifestyle and hazardous activities
    Lifestyle habits, for example regularly drinking more alcohol than is recommended, or participating in hazardous activities, could result in an insurer increasing the cost of the cover.
  • Family history
    Has any of the key individual’s immediate family ever suffered a serious and / or hereditary illness that could impact on them? If so, the premiums may be increased to reflect this.

Another factor influencing the cost of Keyman Insurance includes how long you want the policy to run for. A longer policy will be more expensive as the risk to the insurer is present over a longer period.

Lastly, the cost of cover will depend on how much Keyman Insurance you need (see below). The more cover necessary, the higher the cost of premiums.

Adding Critical Illness Cover

With Key Man Insurance, you can cover an individual on a life-only basis. This will secure a payout should they die. You can also choose to add Critical Illness Cover, so the insurer pays out if the key person develop a critical illness as defined in the policy terms.

This will notably increase the cost of your cover, however. This reflects the fact that a critical illness is much more likely over the policy term than passing away.

Average Cost Of Keyman Insurance

To come up with the premiums in the table below, we’ve assumed the individual is:

  • A healthy non-smoker
  • Looking for a 10 year policy
  • Seeking £150,000 of Keyman Insurance on a level basis.

Age

10 Year Policy

Cost of Life Cover Only

Age 35

£7.10

Age 45

£12.66

Age 55

£26.78

Cost of Life & Critical Illness Cover

Age 35

£32.56

Age 45

£72.21

Age 55

£158.57

Premiums were calculated February 2020

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Who Are The Top Keyman Insurance Providers In The UK?

We are an independent advisory firm which provides Key Person Insurance quotes from every leading UK Insurer. Below is a list of the main insurers we work with to protect businesses up and down the country:

  • Aegon
  • AIG
  • Aviva
  • Legal & General
  • Liverpool Victoria
  • Royal London
  • Scottish Widows
  • Vitality
  • Zurich.

No two insurers are the same, with some preferring certain types of risk more than others.

This makes it really important to compare Keyman Insurance quotes from all the leading insurers when doing your research. You can use our calculator to compare the cost of key person cover from all the top UK insurers

Compare Keyman Insurance Quotes & Get Expert Advice

Calculating how much Key Person Insurance you need and working out how much it will cost can be tricky.

Business protection is more complicated than personal protection, one reason why many of our clients find an expert adviser’s assistance in this area invaluable.

Why Speak to Us?

We started Drewberry™ because we were tired of being treated like a number.

We know that our clients give so much to their businesses. They therefore deserve first class service when it comes protecting that business and their interest in it. Here are just a few reasons why it makes sense to talk to us:

If you need help working out how much key person insurance cover you need pop us a call on 02084327333 or email help@drewberry.co.uk.

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Contact Us

Head Office & Pensions and Investments
Senator House
85 Queen Victoria Street
London
EC4V 4AB
Personal Insurance & Accounts Payable
Telecom House
125-135 Preston Road
Brighton
BN1 6AF
Drewberry London Office MapDrewberry Brighton Office Map

If you are unhappy with our service, we have a complaints procedure, details of which are available upon request. If you are unhappy with how your complaint has been dealt with, you may be able to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FOS website is www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

Drewberry Ltd is registered in England and Wales. Companies House No. 06675912

Drewberry Ltd registered office: Telecom House, Preston Road, Brighton, England, BN1 6AF. Telephone 0208 432 7333

Drewberry Ltd (Financial Conduct Authority No. 505473) is an Appointed Representative of Quilter Wealth Limited and Quilter Mortgage Planning

Limited, which are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

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