AIG life insurance review

AIG life insurance

AIG Life Limited financial products are available to people in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Gibraltar.

You can’t apply for life insurance through AIG directly. Instead, you’ll need to use a broker, such as Reassured.

AIG Life Limited offers a wide range of policies to meet different requirements:

• Term insurance (level, decreasing on increasing)
• Family income benefit
• Life start term insurance
• Instant life insurance
• Critical illness cover
• Over 50s life
• Whole of life.

We compare AIG life insurance quotes against other leading insurers, just click below to get started, (it’s FREE!)

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About AIG Life Limited

AIG Life Limited is the UK life insurance extension of AIG (American International Group).

AIG recently celebrated their 100th-year milestone and are now one of the largest global insurance providers.

In 2014, they acquired Ageas Protect and created AIG Life Limited.

Read on to learn all about AIG Life and establish if they’re the best insurer for you…

Term life insurance

Term life insurance is a form of cover that pays out a lump sum to your loved ones if you pass away during a set term.

Hence, if you outlive your policy no pay out is issued.

The term length with AIG can be set between 2 – 70 years but must end before your 90^th birthday.

AIG term cover is available to applicants aged 17 – 86 and can be taken out as either a single or joint policy.

The policy can be taken out with either a level, decreasing or increasing sum assured (pay out amount).

Learn all about level, decreasing and increasing policies below…

Level term life insurance

Level term life insurance is cover that pays out a fixed lump sum to your loved ones if you pass away during the set term.

The sum assured remains the same (or level) throughout the policy term.

Level term can help you cover:

• An interest-only mortgage, (where the capital borrowed doesn’t reduce)
• Outstanding debts
• Day-to-day living costs
• Funeral costs
• An inheritance.

Reassured can help arrange the right level term cover for you, contact us today to start comparing quotes.

Decreasing term life insurance

Decreasing term life insurance provides a reduced sum assured each month or year throughout the term of the policy.

Although your sum assured will decrease, the cost of your premiums will remain fixed throughout the policy.

Decreasing term tends to be the cheapest form of cover because the risk to the insurer reduces over time.

If you’re on a tight budget and only need protection for a set period of time; for example, to cover a repayment mortgage, this could be a good option.

With AIG, you can choose the interest rate in which you wish your sum assured to be decreased; from 5% to 15%.

AIG doesn’t offer decreasing term for second event policies or on policies with a two-year term.

At Reassured, we can help you arrange the most affordable decreasing term cover, simply contact us today.

Increasing term life insurance

Over a period of time, the real terms value of your life insurance may gradually decrease due to inflation.

With increasing term cover your sum assured increases each year in line with inflation.

This ensures that your loved ones receive the full value of your investment to cover the increased expenses.

The sum assured increases by a fixed 5% each year, after the first year of the policy.

It’s possible to reject an increase in your premiums (up to three occasions), but this means your sum assured will also not increase for that year.

Please note, at Reassured we don’t sell increasing term policies.

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Whole of life insurance

Whole of life insurance, also known as whole of life assurance, provides cover for life, rather than a set period of time.

It, therefore, guarantees a pay out to your loved ones when you pass away, (and not if).

You may take out a whole of life policy if you wish to leave behind a more substantial sum for loved ones, to cover:

• An inheritance
• Family living costs
• Clear a mortgage debt
• Funds for your funeral.

Whole of life through AIG is available to applicants aged 17 – 84 and can be taken out as single or joint life cover.

Unusually, AIG offer a whole of life policy with either level or increasing cover.

With level cover, the sum assured remains fixed throughout the policy.

And with increasing cover, the sum assured would increase annually in line with the Retail Prices Index (RPI), up to a maximum of 10%.

Reassured can compare quotes for whole of life cover from multiple insurers including AIG.

AIG care cover with whole of life

AIG offer the option to add care cover to your whole of life policy.

With care cover you can make an early claim of 75% of the sum assured, up to £300,000, if you have an accident or an illness and require life-long care.

If you have care cover and a claim is not made, 100% of the sum assured will be paid out on your passing.

If you choose to have care cover with whole of life insurance, the maximum sum assured is £400,000, with an additional £300,000 for care cover.

Only one of these sums will be paid out, whether you make a claim on death or a terminal illness, or for care cover.

Over 50s plan

An over 50s plan, or over 50s life insurance, guarantees a pay out to your loved ones when you pass away.

They’re commonly used to cover funeral costs, clear any outstanding debt and/or to leave an inheritance.

An AIG over 50s plan guarantees acceptance for UK applicants aged 50 – 85. Although, the maximum age for smokers is 81.

You’ll not need to provide any medical information on application, which is ideal if you’ve a poor medical history.

An over 50s plan with AIG has the following benefits:

• Protected benefit – This protects your investment if you have trouble keeping up with monthly payments. As long as you have paid half of your premiums due between starting your plan and your 90^th birthday, your loved ones will receive a pro-rata pay out, (this will not be the full sum assured, but a sum assured based on what has been paid towards your policy).
• Accidental and early death cover – If you were to pass away from an accident in the first two years of the policy, AIG will pay out three times your lump sum. Or, if you were to pass away in the first two years of the policy by any other means, AIG will refund your premium payments and pay an extra 50% of the full amount on top. If you pass away after the two years, your full sum assured will be paid out.
• Available as increasing – An AIG over 50s plan can be taken out with an increasing sum assured. Cover will increase in line with Retail Prices Index (RPI), up to a maximum of 10% (and monthly premiums will increase).

AIG’s over 50s plan will only cover up to £15,000 and up to a total monthly premium of £50.

This sum assured may not be sufficient for those wishing to leave behind enough to cover their funeral and leave an inheritance for loved ones.

Particularly as the current cost of dying in the UK is £9,702^[1]; a cost that is predicted to increase substantially in the future.

At Reassured, we can compare multiple over 50s plan quotes to a sum assured of up to £25,000.

Or, if you’re in the later stages of life and in good health, it may be worth looking at whole of life or term cover, as you can secure a much greater sum assured.

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Family Income Benefit (FIB)

Instead of paying out a fixed lump sum like other policies, family income benefit pays out a fixed, tax-free monthly income to loved ones.

Family income benefit may be suitable if you have dependants who rely on your income and who’ll need to budget for mortgage repayments and living costs.

FIB is term-based and with AIG the length of cover can be from 3 – 70 years, (but must finish before your 90^th birthday).

This type of policy is available to applicants aged 17 – 86.

With AIG you’ll also be able to select a level or decreasing sum assured for your policy.

Level cover means the monthly payments will remain fixed throughout the policy. Increasing cover means payments will increase by 5% each year.

Contact Reassured to find out more about family income benefit and to compare quotes.

Joint life insurance

Joint life insurance, also known as couple’s insurance, covers two people simultaneously under one policy.

It’s possible to save up to 30% on your premiums with a joint policy, compared with two separate policies.

AIG provides two different types of joint policies, one for first event only and one for second event only.

An ‘event’ describes the death of one person covered on the joint policy.

You can choose whether the sum assured is paid out on the first death or the second death.

If the pay out is to be made on the second death, then a claim can’t be made for the first death.

Other than an over 50s plan, AIG life insurance and critical illness cover can be taken out as a joint policy.

AIG life start term insurance

As with level term insurance, life start term insurance pays out a fixed lump sum if you pass away during the policy term.

However, life start allows you to take out a higher sum assured for a more affordable premium.

Your premiums would then increase throughout the term of the policy as the risk to AIG increases.

This may mean it’ll cost more than a standard life insurance policy, depending on the length of the cover.

It’s possible to reject an increase of your premiums (up to three occasions), but this will mean your sum assured will also not increase during that year.

An AIG life start policy term can be from 3 – 70 years and available to applicants aged 17 – 86 years.

AIG instant life insurance

Instant life insurance is essentially a quick way to obtain life cover.

You can skip the lengthy application process and you won’t need to provide any medical information.

The insurer will pay out a lump sum to your loved ones if you pass away during the term of the policy.

The term length can be from 3 – 40 years. The downside of instant life insurance is that the cover term can’t go beyond your 70^th birthday, a time when you may need cover the most.

AIG instant life insurance offers a sum assured that is either level, decreasing (8% each year), or increasing (10% each year).

Terminal illness cover

Like all other policies provided through Reassured, AIG’s come with terminal illness cover as standard, (excluding over 50s plan).

Terminal illness cover allows you to make an early claim on your life insurance if you’re diagnosed with an illness and expected to die within 12 months.

The pay out can be used in any way you wish to make your last days more comfortable, such as hiring a home carer or paying for private medical care.

• Critical illness cover (CIC)

  
  It’s possible with any policy secured through Reassured to add critical illness cover, for additional protection.

  Critical illness cover provides a tax-free lump sum if you’re diagnosed with a non-life-threatening illness.

  The pay out can be used to cover:

  • Private medical treatment
  • Adaptations to your home
  • The loss of an income if unable to work.

  AIG offer CIC with term insurance, CIC start with term insurance and Key3 critical illness insurance.

• Critical illness with term insurance

  AIG critical illness with term insurance will cover you for over 100 illnesses and operations, including cancer, heart attack and stroke.

  It’ll also cover any of your children up to £35,000, at no additional cost.

  CIC with term insurance can be taken out by applicants aged 17 – 75 years old, but the policy must end before their 86^th birthday.

  The term length for this type of policy is from 3 – 50 years.

  AIG offers two additional protection options (for an extra charge) to go with CIC and term insurance;

  • Total Permanent Disability – Cover for permanent disability, in which you would receive the full sum assured after 26 weeks.

  • Total Disability and Total Permanent Disability – Cover for non-permanent and permanent disability. A percentage of the sum assured will be paid out for non-permanent disability. Total Disability and Total Permanent Disability is available to policyholders under the age of 59 when they take out the policy.

  CIC with term insurance can be taken out as either level, decreasing or as an increasing cover type.

  Start critical illness with term insurance

  AIG CIC start term insurance works much like life start term insurance, in which the policy allows you to take out a higher sum assured initially, (the full amount of cover you need) at a more affordable monthly premium.

  Although, you’d also be protected if you suffered with a critical illness.

  Your premiums would increase throughout the term of the policy as your risk to the insurer increases.

  CIC start is only available as level cover, and the term length can be between 3 – 40 years.

  CIC start with AIG is available for applicants aged 17 – 59 years and the policy must end before your 70^th birthday.

  You’re also able to add on Total Disability and Total Permanent Disability cover.

  Critical illness insurance

  Very similar to Reassured’s Big 3, this policy from AIG covers the three most common critical illnesses; cancer, heart attack and stroke.

  Like with the Big 3, you can take out Key3 separately to your life cover, so that you can make an individual claim for critical illness (and your life cover will remain in place).

  Key3 without life cover will pay out 2 weeks after diagnosis. Key3 with life cover will only pay out once for either a critical illness, terminal illness or death.

  To be eligible for this type of cover you’ll need to be aged between 17 – 75 and the term length is 3 – 50 years.

  Again, you can choose either level, decreasing (5% to 15% each year), or increasing (5% each year) sum assured.

Waiver of premium

All of AIG policies, excluding instant life insurance, have the option to come with a waiver of premium feature at an additional cost.

If you lose your job or become ill during the policy and are unable to pay your premiums for a period of 26 weeks or more, a waiver of premium will cover your payments until you’re able to return to work.

Any missed premium payments can risk your entire investment, so a waiver of premium can protect your life insurance policy.

To take out waiver of premium cover on your policy with AIG, you would need to be aged 54 or under when the policy starts.

For more information on the waiver of premium feature, contact Reassured.

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AIG life insurance benefits

There are a number of benefits you can enjoy as an AIG policyholder, some that are included in your policy and some that are at the discretion of AIG.

Included in every policy;

PDG Funeral Pledge

It can take many months for funds to be released from your estate (due to probate) and without a funeral plan in place, your family may struggle with the initial expense of your passing.

As part of the Protection Distributors Group (PDG) Funeral Pledge, AIG will release £10,000 of your claim in advance to cover costs.

Claims support fund

This is a contribution of up to £300 for services you may need during a period of serious illness.

Additional benefits separate to your policy;

Smart Health

Smart Health is a 24/7 online health service in which you’ve access to free health checks, GP services, personalised fitness programmes, mental health support and more.

Best Doctors

You can access Best Doctors for a second medical opinion to ensure you get the right diagnosis and treatment.

Winston’s Wish

Winston’s Wish is a charity that would provide specialist support to your children during a bereavement.

Bear in mind that Smart Health, Best Doctors and Winston’s Wish benefits can be taken away at the discretion of AIG.

Remember, you won’t be able to arrange life insurance through AIG directly, only through a broker such as Reassured.

Please note, you’ll have access to these benefits if you take out an AIG policy through us.

AIG life insurance cost

The cost of your AIG life insurance, like other insurers, is largely based on your age, health and smoking status.

Of course, it’ll also depend on the amount of cover and the type of cover you choose, (level, decreasing or increasing).

With a whole of life, term, or instant policy, you decide the amount of cover you need and this will influence the cost of your premiums.

An over 50s plan with AIG costs from £5 per month. Your smoking status will still be taken into account, along with your age.

If you choose to add on any other features, such as waiver of premium, CIC, or care cover with whole of life, you can also expect higher premiums.

Get in touch with Reassured and we’ll help you save on your life insurance premiums.

Writing your policy into trust

Like most life insurance providers, AIG offer you the choice to write your policy in trust.

In short, writing your policy in trust gives you more control over who benefits from the policy, as well as when or how the proceeds are distributed.

This is by nominating a person you trust (a trustee) to manage the policy after you pass away.

Writing your life insurance in trust also detaches it from your legal estate, meaning you’d be able to:

• Avoid (or minimise) 40% inheritance tax (IHT)
• Avoid the probate process so your beneficiaries receive the funds faster.

At Reassured, we can provide all the information and guidance you need to write your life insurance in trust.

We can help you through the application process, explain any legal jargon and answer any questions you may have.

Making a claim

When making a claim with AIG it’s sensible to have all the relevant paperwork to hand.

They’re likely to request the details of the policy including the name of the policyholder, the policy number and if the policy is in trust.

At some stage you’ll also need to provide the death certificate for the full claim process to begin.

If making a critical illness claim, AIG will need your doctor’s contact details, details of treatments and any supporting documentation from a medical professional.

The AIG claims team can be contacted in the following ways:

• By telephone: 0345 600 6815
• By email: claimsteam@aiglife.co.uk
• By letter: Claims Team, AIG Life Limited, PO Box 12010, Harlow CM20 9LG.

Is AIG safe?

AIG Life Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), for peace of mind when investing in one of their products.

For further protection, The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) will come into place if AIG are unable to uphold their end of the contract.

Reassured are also fully regulated by the FCA, so you know that your selfless investment is secure.

AIG life insurance highlights

To summarise, we believe these are the key highlights of products available from AIG:

• Level, decreasing or increasing cover options
• Waiver of premium option
• Critical illness cover for over 100 conditions
• Free critical illness cover for children
• Care cover option with whole of life
• Free terminal illness cover with all policies, (except for over 50s plan)
• Variety of inclusive and separate benefits
• Additional cover for disabilities
• Monthly or annual premiums.

Compare quotes for AIG life insurance, (save money)

Remember, it’s not possible to secure life cover directly through AIG, but it’s possible when using a broker service, such as Reassured.

We can compare AIG quotes with other insurers, helping you find the most suitable and affordable life insurance.

Our multiple award-winning team has helped protect over 300,000 families in the UK.

Not only that, but our FCA registered broker service is completely free to use.

Contact us today to arrange financial protection for your family and enjoy reassuring peace of mind.

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Sources:

https://www.aiglife.co.uk

[1] https://www.sunlife.co.uk/siteassets/documents/cost-of-dying/cost-of-dying-report-2018.pdf