Comparing Life Insurance

We have created a range of useful product pages and comparison tools to help make your life easier when it comes to finding out about Life Insurance.

Below, we have put together an overview of key policy factors and things to consider when choosing and setting up your Life Insurance policy. After you’ve looked it over, you can use the menu bar above to beginning looking at different insurers and their policies.

Life Insurance Terms Explained

There are a range of Life Insurance policy options to choose from. The choices you make will depend on your personal circumstances and needs.

Benefit

Definition: The total payout you are entitled to when you claim

What to Look for: You will need a Life Insurance payout that covers important costs for your loved ones, such as funeral expenses or a mortgage. The benefit can be level, so stay fixed over time, or decreasing, declining over the life of the policy (typically to match a mortgage).

Premiums

Definition: The regular payments you make to insurers in exchange for your policy.

What to Look for: Life Insurance policies are typically long-term, which is why you will need to be cautious about reviewable and age banded premiums. These can become much more expensive the longer you have your policy.

• Guaranteed
  Core premiums stay the same throughout the policy; premiums only rise if you index link your benefit so it keeps up with inflation.
• Age-Banded
  Premiums are increased each year as you get older, the rate of increase can be guaranteed or reviewable.
• Reviewable
  Premiums are reviewed regularly and increased depending on your situation and the insurer’s.

Indexation

Definition: A policy’s cover is linked to changes in the the cost of living to counteract the effects of inflation.

What to Look for: With Level Life Insurance, it’s important that you consider index-linking Life Insurance. In 20 or 30 years time, the purchasing power of your Life Insurance may be far lower due to erosion by inflation.

Policy Coverage Options

Definition: The type of cover your policy gives you. Different types will cover a different amount of people, payout differently, or change over time.

What to Look for: The option you choose will depend on what you need from your policy.

• Level Term Life
  Benefit stays fixed over the life of the policy.
• Decreasing Term Life
  Cover decreases over time
• Family Income Benefit
  Benefit is broken down into regular payments rather than a lump sum
• Whole of Life
  Cover has no cease age and runs until the policyholder dies, whenever that might be
• Joint Life
  Two people covered by the same policy. With joint life, first death the policy pays out on the death of the first person and then ceases. With joint life, second death the policy pays out on the death of the second person.
• Life of Another
  Policy is taken out by you on someone else’s life

Critical Illness Cover

Definition: An additional type of cover to add to your policy that pays out if you develop a critical illness.

What to Look for: Covered critical illnesses are defined by the insurer. Look for insurers that cover a good number of critical illnesses and have robust definitions of those illnesses to ensure you can claim when you need it.

Comparing UK’s Best Life Insurance Providers

	Aegon One of the features in Aegon’s Life Insurance policy includes an advanced payment facility, which will pay up to £10,000 to a funeral director to cover the costs of the send off if the Life Insurance payout is tied up in probate.
	AIG AIG gives policyholders a range of interest rates to choose from when taking out a Decreasing Cover policy, allowing them to tailor their cover to their needs. It also has a ‘Best Doctors’ service where policyholders can get fast access to medical advice.
	Aviva Aviva offers increasing term life insurance in addition to decreasing life insurance and their level cover offers either guaranteed or reviewable premiums.
	Guardian Guardian’s children’s Critical Illness Insurance is an optional extra on its policy, unlike most other providers, which allows you to remove it from the cover if not relevant to your needs.
	Legal & General Legal & General has won several awards over the years for their client services. It offers guaranteed or reviewable premiums with unlimited cover.
	Liverpool Victoria LV is the UK’s largest friendly society. In 2016, LV paid 97% of its Life insurance claims and regularly publishes its claims payout rates. Its optional Critical Illness Insurance covers as many as 64 pre-defined critical illnesses.
	Royal London Royal London is one of the UK’s most recognisable Life Insurance providers. It offers a comprehensive range of options for its Life Insurance policies and additional benefits, such as legal services that help you write your will.
	Scottish Widows Scottish Widows enjoyed one of the highest payout rates of all Life Insurance companies in 2017, standing at 99.4%.
	Vitality Vitality offers Term Life Insurance and Whole of Life Insurance with flexible options. Its plans may come with the chance to reduce premiums and collect rewards in exchange for regular exercise.
	Zurich With the Level Protection Plan, you can opt to convert some of all of your Life Insurance to Whole of Life Cover at the end of the policy’s term subject to certain conditions being met.

As well as looking at insurance provider reviews, you should make sure that your insurer is able to provide you with what you need for your cover. Some insurers limit their cover or may not have the right options you need, so be sure to shop around.

Victoria Slade
Independent Protection Expert at Drewberry

Terms to Look Out For

Payout Rates

Definition: How often insurers pay out when customers try to claim.

What to Look for: Insurers that publish their payout rates show their commitment to transparency and consistently high payout rates show a dedication to customers. Fortunately, payout rates for Life Insurance are incredibly high.

Additional Services and Benefits

Definition: Supportive services and rewards that insurers offer policyholders at no extra cost.

What to Look for: Addition benefits and services, especially those focused on support, can be valuable during difficult times. Look at AIG’s ‘Best Doctor’ service as an example of the sort of valuable benefits to look

Applying for Life Insurance

Not all of the policies we have reviewed are available to be purchased directly from insurers. Instead, you can speak to a financial adviser, like Drewberry, to learn about and apply.

How Do Life Insurance Policies Work?

• The policyholder dies or is diagnosed with a terminal illness.
• The policyholder’s loved ones/beneficiaries file a claim with the insurer.
• They provide evidence of the death or illness with official documentation.
• If the claim is approved, the insurer will pay out the benefit to the appropriate person.

How Do I Apply for Life Insurance?

• Identify what you want from your policy and how much cover you need.
• Review your available policy options and decide which are the best for you.
• Go to every UK insurer to collect and compare quotes to find the best policy for you or, alternatively, use financial experts such as the team at Drewberry to do the legwork for you
• Provide the necessary information to apply, including age, occupation, smoker status and any medical questions required.
• Review the policy offer you have been given and, if you’re happy, finalise your application.

Need Advice Comparing Life Insurance?

Being life insurance brokers we can talk you through your options to ensure you gain the cover you want, without any unexpected limitations.

If you have a pre-existing medical condition we are also able to speak to the underwriters at each insurer to try and gain you the most favourable terms available in the market.

Why Speak to Us?

We started Drewberry because we were tired of being treated like a number and not getting the service we all deserve when it comes to things as important as protecting our health and our finances. Below are just a few reasons why it makes sense to talk to us.

• There is no fee for our service
• We are independent and impartial
  Drewberry isn’t tied to any insurance company, so we can provide completely impartial advice to make sure you get the most appropriate policy based solely on your needs.
• We’ve got bargaining power on our side
  This allows us to negotiate better premiums for you than you going direct yourself.
• You’ll speak to a dedicated expert from start to finish
  You will speak to a named expert with a direct telephone and email. No more automated machines and no more being sent from pillar to post – you’ll have someone to speak to who knows you.
• Benefit from our 5-star service
  We pride ourselves on providing a 5-star service, as can be seen from our 2049 and growing independent client reviews rating us at 4.92 / 5.
• Gain the protection of regulated advice
  You are protected. Where we provide a regulated advice service we are responsible for the policy we set-up for you. Doing it yourself or going direct to an insurer won’t provide this protection, so you won’t benefit from these securities.
• Claims support when you need it the most
  You have support should you need to make a claim. The most important thing when it comes to insurance is that claims are paid and quickly. We are here to support you during the claims process and make sure it’s as smooth and stress free as possible.

If it is all getting a little confusing and you want to talk through your options to make sure you find the most suitable cover please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Pop us a call on 02084327333 or email help@drewberry.co.uk.

Tom Conner
Director at Drewberry