How does life insurance work in UK?
11 min
Securing life insurance doesn’t have to be confusing. Read…
You can get instant life insurance two different ways through Reassured.
Simply choose the best option for you:
Instant life insurance can provide immediate financial protection for your loved ones and peace of mind for you.
Affordable life insurance can be arranged quickly and easily through a broker, such as Reassured.
We can compare instant quotes for all the main types of policies from a panel of top UK insurers.
Our award-winning team can help you find the right cover, at the right price, within minutes.
Even if your circumstances aren’t straight-forward, we’ll do our best to get you an instant decision.
Make the most of our fee-free, no-obligation comparison service today to find the best instant life insurance quotes we can offer.
Term life insurance is the most popular type of life insurance and usually the cheapest option.
At Reassured, we offer two types of term-based cover; level term and decreasing term life insurance.
Level term life insurance - often taken out to help protect a mortgage and/or family living costs. Provides a fixed amount of cover (sum assured) for a set term and will pay out if the worst were to happen to you during the term.
Decreasing term life insurance - often taken out to help protect a repayment mortgage, as the sum assured can decrease in line with your outstanding mortgage debt. It will pay out if you pass away during the set term.
Whilst it's possible to arrange term life insurance instantly, the application process does require information about your health and lifestyle.
If you’re in good health, it could take less than 11 minutes to complete our online form and get the cover you need.
We'll always endeavour to get you instant cover, but in some less than ideal circumstances, your application may require further information or a referral.
In any instance, we have a team of life insurance specialists dedicated to helping you get the right cover to suit your budget as soon as possible.
An over 50s plan is a popular type of life insurance where you don’t have to answer any health questions or undergo a medical exam when applying.
If you’re aged 50 - 85 then you’ll be accepted instantly for a policy, even if you have a pre-existing medical condition or any other high-risk factors.
You can secure up to £20,000 (depending on your personal circumstances and budget), which could be used to help cover your funeral or as a small inheritance.
While it’s possible to get an instant decision when applying for an over 50s plan, you’ll need to wait a period of time before you’re fully covered.
This ‘waiting period’ is usually the first 12 or 24 months, during which the policy will only pay out for accidental death.
If you pass away due to natural causes before the end of the waiting period, any premiums paid will be refunded to your loved ones.
If you’re looking for life insurance that offers instant peace of mind, an over 50s plan may not be the right option for you.
At Reassured, we can talk you through the options we have available to you and provide all the information you need to make an informed decision.
Whole of life insurance lasts for the rest of your life, meaning that a pay out is guaranteed when you pass away.
Your loved ones can use the funds to help cover:
As with term life insurance, you’ll need to provide information about your health and lifestyle during the application process.
This means it’s not always possible to get an instant decision when applying for this type of cover.
For example, if you have a pre-existing medical condition then an insurer may request to see a GP report for further information before they can provide an accurate quote.
However, once you’re accepted, the cover will start right away – unlike an over 50s plan which has a 12 or 24 month waiting period from the start of the policy.
If you’re considering whole of life insurance then it’s important to bear in mind that you’ll need to pay premiums for the remainder of your life.
This means you could pay more into the policy than what it pays out when you pass away, depending on how long you live.
Yes, most standard life insurance policies will provide instant cover for both natural and accidental causes of death as soon as your application is accepted.
The one exception to this is an over 50s plan which typically has a waiting period (or ‘qualifying period’) of 12 or 24 months, depending on the insurer.
Accidental death is often instantly covered from the moment you take out the policy, but natural death cover doesn’t start until after the waiting period.
In the event you were to pass away due to natural causes within this period, no lump sum pay out would be made, but all premiums paid would be refunded.
If you’re looking for life insurance with no waiting period, you may consider term life insurance or whole of life insurance which both offer immediate cover.
Life insurance starts from just 20p-a-day through Reassured.
However, the exact amount you’ll pay is calculated based on a number of factors, including your:
Insurers use this information to determine the risk of a claim and price your premiums accordingly.
The more likely you are to make a claim, the higher the cost of your life insurance premium.
The tables below show example premium prices for some of the different policies we offer.
Instant term life insurance
Example monthly premiums are based on a non-smoker, in good health, taking out £100,000 of cover with a 20 year term:
Age | Decreasing term monthly premium | Level term monthly premium |
---|---|---|
20 | £3.50 | £3.59 |
25 | £3.50 | £4.34 |
30 | £3.85 | £4.38 |
35 | £4.50 | £5.63 |
40 | £5.39 | £8.12 |
45 | £7.61 | £11.67 |
50 | £11.20 | £17.26 |
Over 50s life insurance (over 50s plan)
Example monthly premiums are based on a non-smoker taking out £4,000 of cover:
Age | Decreasing term monthly premium |
---|---|
50 | £13.75 |
55 | £15.48 |
60 | £17.35 |
65 | £20.67 |
70 | £27.36 |
75 | £38.75 |
80 | £53.54 |
85 | £72.29 |
Whole life insurance
Example monthly premiums are based on a non-smoker, in good health, taking out £100,000 of cover:
Age | Decreasing term monthly premium |
---|---|
25 | £65.43 |
30 | £72.10 |
35 | £84.56 |
40 | £103.03 |
45 | £126.75 |
50 | £150.17 |
To ensure you aren’t paying more than required for your life cover, it's best to compare multiple quotes.
At Reassured, we can use our award-winning skills to help you find an appropriate policy that suits your budget, (without charging you a fee).
Reassuringly, some life insurance providers offer free instant life cover if they can’t give you an immediate decision on your life insurance.
While most people can get the cover they need quickly and easily, in some cases, an insurer may require further information before proceeding with an application.
This could be in the form of:
If this happens, you may benefit from free cover on a temporary basis until the insurer has made a decision about your application, or up until a certain date.
The table below shows the types of free instant life insurance available with some insurers:
Insurer | Free instant cover benefit |
---|---|
Protection promise Aviva provides free instant life cover for the amount you’ve applied for (up to £500,000 cover) until they’ve made their decision, or for up to 90 days | |
Accidental death benefit Legal & General provides instant accidental death cover for the amount you’ve applied for (up to £300,000) until they’ve made their decision, or for up to 90 days | |
Immediate cover AIG provides instant life cover for the amount you’ve applied for (up to £1,500,000) until 14 days after they’ve made their decision or for up to 90 days | |
Free cover Zurich may provide free temporary life cover with their policies if they can’t give you an instant decision |
The information in this table is taken from the individual provider’s websites and is subject to change at any time. Further terms and conditions will also apply, please see your policy details for more information
If you think your application may be delayed due to health or lifestyle factors, get in touch with Reassured.
We can compare quotes for the insurers mentioned above who can offer free temporary cover while you wait for a decision.
Critical illness cover provides you with a lump sum pay out if you’re diagnosed with a serious, yet non-life threatening illness, such as:
The pay out could help to replace your income while you’re unable to work and cover a range of costs such as:
It’s possible to add critical illness cover to any term life insurance policy taken out through Reassured for an additional cost.
This will protect you in the event that you become seriously ill or if you pass away during a set term.
Compare instant life insurance with critical illness cover quotes through Reassured to find an affordable deal. Quotes start from just 33p-a-day º .
All term life insurance policies arranged through Reassured come with terminal illness cover as standard.
This means that if you're diagnosed with a terminal illness and given less than 12 months to live, you can make an early claim on your policy.
Illnesses covered include:
The pay out could help you get your financial affairs in order, and help to cover a range of costs such as:
As mentioned, when you take out term life insurance through Reassured, this additional level of protection will be included with your policy at no extra cost.
If you’re looking for instant life insurance quotes and cover that starts immediately, at Reassured, we’ll help you to secure financial protection instantly.
As the UK’s largest life insurance broker, we can compare multiple quotes from a panel of top UK insurers to help you find a fantastic deal.
You can also make the most of our expertise as we’re able to identify the insurers most likely to give you an instant decision on your application.
Our award-winning and highly efficient team are on hand to help you find the right policy at the right price as quickly as possible.
Reassured has helped protect more than 2 million families in the UK, why not let us help you save time and money today?
11 min
Securing life insurance doesn’t have to be confusing. Read…
8 min
Have you ever asked 'Can you have more than one life…