Life insurance
for women

In the past, opposite-sex couples often relied on the man of the house to be the primary breadwinner and he would take out life insurance to ensure his family wouldn’t suffer financially if he were to pass away.

Today, it’s more common for women to contribute equally to the household income, be the higher earner in a relationship or be a sole provider for her family.

If you’re a woman who works, it’s likely your family would struggle without the income you provide, which highlights the need for financial protection.

Women who choose to stay-at-home to help raise a family would also significantly benefit from having some form of life cover in place.

It’s estimated that the unpaid work of a stay-at-home mum is a staggering £108,937^[2].

If you were to pass away, could your loved ones afford to continue their everyday lifestyle? Or would they have to make changes to adapt to their new circumstances?

Starting a family is a wonderful and life-changing event and may increase your need for life cover.

It’s completely possible to take out life insurance if you’re pregnant and it’s likely that your pregnancy won’t have an affect on the cost of your premiums.

During a standard life insurance policy application, it’s likely you’ll be asked questions regarding:

• Your alcohol consumption
• Smoking status
• Your weight

Due to pregnancy, these aspects of your life may have changed.

For example, it’s likely you stopped drinking and smoking when you found out you were pregnant.

When asked questions about your alcohol consumption or smoking status, you’ll need to provide information from before your pregnancy.

This will be the same with your weight. You won’t be asked for your current weight but, instead, your pre-pregnancy weight.

This information will then be used to calculate your monthly premium.

No mother wants to think about what will happen to their children when they’re no longer around, but life insurance can ensure that they won’t face any financial hardship.

As a mum, it’s likely you’ll want your life insurance policy to protect your children’s home and their lifestyle to result in minimal disruption if the worst were to happen to you.

If you were to pass away would your partner be able to afford additional childcare fees or would they have to become a stay at home parent?

Life insurance is not strictly for those with a family. At Reassured we believe that most people would benefit from having some form of life cover in place.

Although being a single woman (with no dependants) may reduce the amount of cover you require, it’s still a wise idea to take out some form of financial protection.

For example, so that your loved ones will receive some funds to help cover your mortgage and sell the home, or to go towards your funeral costs.

If you were to pass away, the financial obligation of paying for your funeral will likely fall to your loved ones.

With the average cost of dying now at a huge £9,200^[3] it may be hard for some families to find these funds at short notice.

A pay out from a life insurance policy can help to cover this expense and ensure your loved ones aren’t left paying over the odds.

If you have no dependants or anyone that would be impacted financially by your passing, you may not need to take out life insurance.

If you’re not sure whether you would benefit from taking out life cover, get in touch with our award-winning team and they can help answer any of your questions.

For an additional fee, critical illness cover can be added to your life insurance policy to help provide an extra safety net of protection.

If you’re diagnosed with a life-changing (but not threatening) illness, that’s listed within your policy, you’ll be able to make an early claim and receive an early pay out.

If you’ve been left unable to work, this can be extremely beneficial as the pay out can help to replace any lost income.

This can help pay for medical bills, make adaptions to your home or pay for carers.

Due to an EU ruling in 2012, women no longer pay less for life insurance than men^[4].

Taking out life insurance while you’re young and in good health can help you secure the cheapest premium.

Typically the younger you are, the better your health and the less of a risk you pose to the insurer.

Living a healthy lifestyle by not smoking and not over-consuming alcohol can also help you to secure a more favourable premium.

By calculating exactly how much cover you’re likely to need, you eliminate the risk of overpaying for your cover.

Lastly, comparing quotes will help you to find a cost-effective option.

You could do this research yourself or you could let our team of experts source quotes for you to compare.

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2019/10/25/yes-there-is-a-life-insurance-gender-gap/#18016928ff5b

[2] https://www.channelmum.com/a/the-salary-mums-would-make-if-they-got-paid-for-childcare-revealed

[3] https://www.sunlife.co.uk/funeral-costs/

[4] https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/archive/fsa-gender-directive.pdf