Probably the only time in your life when you may not actually need life insurance is if you re single and have no one depending on you. Beyond that, as soon as you have people who rely on you for their needs, can you be sure that you can provide this, under all circumstances?
Many people get involved with life insurance when they take out their first mortgage. Normally a policy is taken out at this time as the mortgage is a major debt and it means that the loan can be repaid in the event of their death. In a way this is protecting your dependents but only to the degree that they have a roof over their head. Strictly speaking if the question Do you have life insurance in place? the answer is in the affirmative and so often the discussion ends at that point.
Often life insurance is forgotten about until the time comes to extend the home or move to something bigger and often the cover will be extended to cover the newer mortgage amount. At this time you would be advised to give some thought to other non mortgage debts and your dependents ability to pay them off if you were no longer around to look after them.
Many people will have some sort of insurance scheme built into their employment contract. It s usual to have an arrangement where a lump sum is paid to your dependants if you die. Normally this is three or four times your annual salary. Whilst this is obviously an improvement on mortgage cover only, it s not going to protect your family for very long. It s tied to your employment too, so if in the future you change jobs and your new employer doesn t offer a death in service deal, you ll be left with no cover. It s true that you could then take out your own life insurance policy better late than never, but if your health is not good, then you may find it more difficult at this time.
It s a common misconception that the state will take care of your family. There is some help available, but it s very limited and really can t be counted as part of your financial planning. For instance, if your children are still financially dependent when you die, your spouse or civil partner may be entitled to a Widowed Parents Allowance, but there is no way it can cover anything but the very basics and it can t possibly provide the amount of protection your family will need.
Life insurance is not expensive and in fact it s cheaper now than it has been for several years. If you re in good health and are reasonably young you should have no trouble at all in finding a policy which is not too expensive.
Many people put off sorting out their life insurance because it ll not happen to me, at my age. Many people are wrong about this though, because accidents and illness do happen. Your family would be devastated enough in the event of your death, without having financial problems adding to their distress. You wouldn t really want to leave them in this position, would you? Check out your cover now, for peace of mind for everyone.
Author Resource:
At the CIC Protection website ( http://cic-protection.org.uk ) we can provide you with great deals and information on Critical Illness Insurance and other financial products. So visit CIC Protection and see what we can offer.
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