UK LCIIP: Insurers & Hybrid Britain
How UK Insurers Are Adapting to the New Landscape of Blended Work and Regional Mobility, Driven by the LCIIP and the Emergence of a Hybrid Britain
UK LCIIP for a Hybrid Britain: Insurers Adapting to Blended Work & Regional Mobility
The UK workforce has undergone a seismic shift. The traditional 9-to-5 office commute has been replaced, for many, by a dynamic blend of remote work, in-office collaboration, and flexible hours. This isn't just a temporary adjustment; it's a fundamental redefinition of how we work and live. Alongside this, a notable trend of regional mobility has emerged, with many individuals and families reconsidering their urban ties in favour of quieter, often more affordable, rural or suburban locales.
These profound societal changes present both challenges and opportunities for the UK's Life, Critical Illness, and Income Protection (LCIIP) insurance sector. Insurers, traditionally reliant on long-standing actuarial models based on more static lifestyles, must now innovate. They need to understand the new risks and needs of a "hybrid Britain" – a nation characterised by blended work patterns, evolving health profiles, and shifting demographic distributions.
This comprehensive guide explores how LCIIP insurers are adapting to this new landscape, what these changes mean for consumers, and why securing appropriate protection has never been more crucial in an increasingly fluid world.
The UK's Evolving Work Landscape: More Than Just Remote Working
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated a trend towards flexible working that was already gaining traction. What began as a necessity quickly evolved into a preferred mode for many organisations and employees.
The Rise of Hybrid Work Models
Hybrid work, where employees split their time between working from home and attending a physical office or co-working space, has become the dominant model for knowledge-based industries. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in late 2023 indicated that over 40% of working adults in the UK now engage in some form of hybrid working, with significant regional variations. This model promises the best of both worlds: flexibility and reduced commuting, alongside opportunities for in-person collaboration and social connection.
However, it also introduces new dynamics:
- Blurred Boundaries: The line between work and home life can become indistinct, leading to longer hours and potential burnout.
- Digital Fatigue: Constant video calls and screen time contribute to eye strain, headaches, and mental exhaustion.
- Ergonomic Challenges: Home office setups may not always be as ergonomically sound as traditional workplaces, leading to musculoskeletal issues.
- Social Isolation: Reduced in-person interaction can impact mental wellbeing for some individuals.
The Four-Day Work Week Experiment
Beyond hybrid working, the concept of a four-day work week has moved from niche experiment to mainstream discussion. Trials across the UK have shown promising results, with many companies reporting no loss in productivity and significant improvements in employee wellbeing, reduced stress, and better work-life balance. Should this become more widespread, it could have profound implications for overall health, leisure patterns, and the types of risks individuals face. More free time could lead to increased participation in hobbies or sports, potentially altering accident risk profiles.
The Gig Economy and Self-Employment Growth
The gig economy continues its expansion, offering flexibility but often lacking traditional employer-provided benefits such as sick pay or group life insurance. ONS figures show that the number of self-employed individuals in the UK reached nearly 5 million in 2023. These workers, often operating with variable income and less job security, have a distinct need for robust personal LCIIP cover to protect their financial future.
Regional Mobility: A Redrawing of the UK Map
Simultaneously, a significant demographic shift is underway. Fuelled by the ability to work remotely, a desire for more space, and a re-evaluation of lifestyle priorities, many Britons are moving out of traditional urban centres.
The Great Relocation: From Cities to Shires and Coasts
Post-pandemic, numerous studies, including reports from major property portals, highlighted a surge in property searches in areas outside London and other major cities. Coastal towns, rural villages, and commuter-belt towns with good broadband connections became highly desirable. This trend is driven by:
- Affordability: Lower housing costs outside metropolitan areas.
- Space: Larger homes, gardens, and access to green spaces.
- Quality of Life: Perceived better environment, less congestion, slower pace.
- Family Needs: Growing families seeking better schooling options and community feel.
Implications for Infrastructure and Services
This regional mobility is not without its challenges. It places new demands on local infrastructure, from schools and healthcare services to transport links and broadband connectivity. For LCIIP insurers, this geographical redistribution has several considerations:
- Healthcare Access: While many rural areas boast excellent general practice services, access to specialist care or major hospitals can be more challenging. This could impact diagnosis times or access to specific treatments for critical illnesses.
- Mental Health Support: The availability of mental health services can vary significantly by region.
- Property Values and Living Costs: While general living costs might be lower, specific services could be more expensive or less available, impacting financial resilience during periods of illness or incapacity.
This dynamic interplay of evolving work models and regional population shifts creates a complex risk landscape that LCIIP insurers must navigate.
Life Insurance in a Blended World: Adapting Underwriting and Offerings
Life insurance provides a financial safety net for your loved ones if you pass away. In a hybrid and mobile Britain, the factors influencing premiums and policy suitability are subtly but significantly changing.
Underwriting Challenges and Opportunities
Historically, life insurance underwriting has relied on factors like occupation, postcode, lifestyle (smoking, drinking), and medical history. While these remain crucial, new considerations are emerging:
- Occupational Risk Reassessment: For many, the physical risks associated with a daily commute have reduced. However, new sedentary risks associated with prolonged desk work at home, or increased stress from blurred work-life boundaries, might become more prominent. Insurers are refining their occupational categories to reflect these nuances.
- Postcode and Regional Mobility: While postcode still plays a role in determining access to healthcare and general mortality rates, the fluidity of movement means a single postcode might not fully capture an individual's lifestyle risks if they regularly move between locations. However, moves to regions with different average life expectancies or disease prevalence could influence future risk assessments.
- Mental Health Implications: The rise of remote work has, for some, led to increased feelings of isolation, anxiety, or depression. Mental health conditions are increasingly recognised as having a tangible impact on mortality and morbidity rates. Insurers are therefore looking at mental health disclosures more holistically, often offering support services alongside cover.
- Lifestyle Changes: The opportunity for more exercise (e.g., walking in nature) might offset some sedentary risks, but increased screen time and reliance on convenience foods could introduce new health challenges. Insurers are keen to incentivise healthy behaviours through wellness programmes integrated with policies.
Tailored Solutions for the Modern Family
Modern families are diverse. Blended families, single-parent households, and individuals supporting elderly relatives are increasingly common. Life insurance needs must reflect these complexities.
- Income Replacement for Hybrid Earners: For households where one or both parents work hybrid, the financial implications of losing a primary earner can be profound, especially if mortgages are tied to specific regional property values that have shifted.
- Supporting Dependents in Different Locations: With families spread across different regions due to mobility, the financial security provided by life insurance might need to account for varying costs of living or specific regional needs of beneficiaries.
Case Study: The Smith Family's Move
Consider the Smith family. John, 45, works in IT, and Sarah, 42, is a freelance marketing consultant. They decided to move from bustling South London to a quieter village in Wiltshire, where house prices were more affordable, and they could get a larger garden for their two young children.
When reviewing their life insurance, they realised:
- Their mortgage had increased slightly to secure a bigger property, meaning they needed more cover.
- Sarah's freelance income, while flexible, lacked sick pay, making life insurance (and income protection) even more critical.
- Their new rural location, while peaceful, meant longer travel times to major hospitals, a factor they hadn't considered for critical illness cover.
Working with an expert broker like WeCovr allowed them to review their existing policies and compare new options that accounted for their updated circumstances, ensuring their financial safety net was truly fit for their new lifestyle.
Critical Illness Cover (CIC) Redefined for Contemporary Health Challenges
Critical illness cover pays out a lump sum if you're diagnosed with a specified serious illness, such as cancer, heart attack, or stroke. The modern world, with its evolving work patterns and societal shifts, is changing the prevalence and nature of certain critical illnesses.
Changing Health Risks in a Hybrid Nation
- Mental Health Conditions: While not always classified as 'critical' in traditional policies, the impact of severe depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders on an individual's ability to work and live a full life is undeniable. Insurers are beginning to recognise this, with some policies now including severe mental health conditions or offering extensive support services for milder conditions. The ONS reported a significant increase in mental health-related absences from work in 2023, reaching record highs.
- Sedentary Lifestyles: Despite the potential for more outdoor activity, hybrid work can lead to prolonged periods of sitting. This increases the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases – all common critical illness claims.
- Stress and Burnout: The 'always on' culture facilitated by technology can lead to chronic stress, impacting cardiovascular health and increasing susceptibility to various illnesses.
- Environmental Factors: Regional mobility might expose individuals to different environmental factors, for example, varying air quality between urban and rural areas, which can subtly influence long-term health risks.
Evolving Policy Definitions and Inclusions
In response, leading UK insurers are continually reviewing and updating their CIC policy definitions:
- Broader Cancer Definitions: Many policies now cover early-stage cancers or offer partial payouts for less severe forms of the disease, reflecting advancements in diagnosis and treatment.
- Heart Conditions: Definitions for heart attacks and strokes are being refined to align with modern medical understanding.
- Neurological Conditions: More nuanced definitions for conditions like Parkinson's and Multiple Sclerosis.
- Early Intervention and Support: Beyond a lump sum, some policies now include access to second medical opinions, counselling, or even private physiotherapy, recognising the holistic needs of someone facing a critical illness.
Table: Common Critical Illnesses and Hybrid Work Relevance
| Critical Illness (Example) | Relevance to Hybrid/Mobile Work | Insurer Adaptation & Support |
|---|---|---|
| Cancer | Stress (immune impact), lifestyle factors | Broader definitions, early stage payouts, second medical opinions |
| Heart Attack / Stroke | Sedentary lifestyle, stress, diet | Refined definitions, access to cardiology support |
| Type 2 Diabetes | Diet, sedentary work, stress | Wellness programmes, early intervention focus |
| Multiple Sclerosis | No direct link to work pattern, but care needs vary regionally | Access to neurological specialists, rehabilitation support |
| Mental Health (severe) | Isolation, burnout, blurred boundaries | Some policies now include specific severe conditions or offer extensive mental health support lines |
| Musculoskeletal Issues | Poor home ergonomics, lack of movement | Access to physiotherapy, ergonomic assessments (preventative) |
The Role of Telemedicine and Digital Health
The pandemic accelerated the adoption of telemedicine. For critical illness, this means:
- Faster Initial Consultations: Easier access to GPs for early symptom checking.
- Remote Monitoring: For chronic conditions or post-treatment care.
- Digital Pathways: Streamlined access to specialist referrals, though waiting times for in-person appointments can still vary regionally.
Insurers are increasingly partnering with digital health providers to offer these services as added benefits, promoting earlier diagnosis and better management of health conditions, which ultimately benefits both the policyholder and the insurer.
Income Protection (IP) for the Modern, Flexible Workforce
Income Protection (IP) is arguably the most versatile and crucial LCIIP product for a hybrid and mobile Britain. It pays a regular tax-free income if you're unable to work due to illness or injury, after a pre-agreed waiting period.
Covering the Unpredictability of Modern Work
- Self-Employment and Gig Economy Workers: These individuals often lack employer-provided sick pay, making IP an absolute necessity. Policies are adapting to accommodate variable incomes, allowing for average earnings over a period to be used for claim calculations.
- Variable Earnings and Zero-Hour Contracts: For those with fluctuating incomes, finding appropriate IP has been a challenge. Insurers are now offering more flexible solutions that can adjust to changes in earnings, ensuring the cover remains relevant.
- Burnout and Mental Health Absences: As discussed, mental health is a leading cause of long-term absence from work. IP policies are increasingly recognising and covering mental health conditions, often without the strict exclusions seen in the past. This is vital for hybrid workers who might struggle with the demands of an 'always on' digital environment.
- Regional Healthcare Disparities: If a policyholder moves to a region with longer waiting lists for specialist treatment, IP can provide the financial buffer needed to consider private treatment options, potentially speeding up recovery and return to work.
Rehabilitation and Wellness Support
Modern IP policies are about more than just paying out. Insurers are investing heavily in support services aimed at helping individuals recover and return to work. These include:
- Rehabilitation Programmes: Access to physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and mental health professionals.
- Vocational Training: Support for retraining if an individual can no longer perform their previous job.
- Return-to-Work Specialists: Dedicated case managers who help navigate the complex journey back to employment.
- Early Intervention Services: Many policies now offer access to helplines or online resources even before a claim is made, focusing on preventative care.
Table: Key Income Protection Features for Hybrid Workers
| Feature | Benefit for Hybrid/Mobile Worker | Insurer Adaptation |
|---|---|---|
| Own Occupation Definition | Ensures payout if you can't do your specific job, not just any job | Crucial for specialists, especially in hybrid roles |
| Flexible Sum Assured | Adjusts to variable income (e.g., self-employed, gig workers) | Average earnings calculation over 24 months for claim basis |
| Mental Health Cover | Protects against burnout, anxiety, depression-related inability to work | Fewer exclusions, access to therapy and counselling support |
| Rehabilitation Services | Access to physio, CBT, return-to-work support | Integrated into policies, proactive support even before claim |
| Deferred Period Options | Flexible waiting periods (e.g., 4, 8, 13, 26, 52 weeks) | Allows alignment with sick pay, emergency savings, or specific needs of self-employed |
| Indexation | Ensures payout keeps pace with inflation | Vital for long-term claims, protecting purchasing power |
Case Study: Eleanor, the Freelance Designer
Eleanor, 38, is a freelance graphic designer who relocated from Manchester to a village in the Peak District, enjoying the outdoor lifestyle and lower living costs. She relies entirely on her freelance income, which can fluctuate. She secured an income protection policy.
When she suffered a severe bout of depression and anxiety, exacerbated by isolation and the pressures of managing her own business, she was unable to work. Her IP policy, which included mental health cover, provided a regular income, allowing her to focus on recovery without financial stress. The policy also gave her access to private counselling, which helped her get back on her feet much faster than relying solely on NHS waiting lists in her new rural area.
This example highlights the critical role of IP for the growing number of self-employed individuals in the UK's hybrid economy, especially those who have embraced regional mobility.
Insurers' Strategic Responses: Innovation and Integration
The UK LCIIP market is responding to these shifts with strategic innovation across product development, technology, and customer engagement.
1. Data-Driven Underwriting and Personalisation
Insurers are leveraging advanced data analytics to gain deeper insights into risk. This goes beyond traditional demographic data to include anonymised lifestyle data, geographical health trends, and occupational risk profiles within hybrid models.
- Predictive Analytics: Using data to identify emerging health trends related to new work patterns.
- Personalised Premiums: Moving towards more granular underwriting, potentially rewarding healthier lifestyles irrespective of location or offering tailored advice based on individual work arrangements.
2. Product Innovation: Flexibility and Modularity
The one-size-fits-all policy is becoming obsolete. Insurers are designing more flexible and modular products:
- Modular Policies: Allowing customers to pick and choose elements of cover (e.g., higher IP cover with less CIC) to suit their unique circumstances and budget.
- Reviewable Premiums: While potentially increasing over time, these offer lower initial costs, appealing to younger professionals or those with fluctuating income.
- Integrated Wellness Benefits: Many policies now come bundled with value-added services like GP helplines, mental health support, discounted gym memberships, or even wearable tech integration that rewards healthy habits. This proactive approach aims to prevent claims by promoting wellbeing.
3. Technology Adoption and Digital Transformation
- Online Application Processes: Streamlined digital journeys make it easier and faster for consumers to apply for cover.
- AI and Automation: Used in underwriting to process applications more efficiently, freeing up human underwriters for complex cases.
- Tele-underwriting: For more complex cases, phone-based medical interviews conducted by nurses are becoming common, offering convenience.
- Customer Portals: Self-service platforms allow policyholders to manage their policies, update details (e.g., address changes due to regional mobility), and access support services.
4. Holistic Health and Wellbeing Focus
Beyond financial payouts, insurers are increasingly focusing on preventing illness and promoting overall wellbeing. This includes:
- Mental Health First Aid: Training for employees and sometimes offered to corporate clients.
- Virtual GP Services: On-demand access to medical advice, often for non-urgent conditions, helping to reduce stress and improve access, particularly for those in remote areas.
- Partnerships with Health Tech Companies: Collaborations to offer apps for mindfulness, sleep tracking, or nutritional advice.
The Role of Regulation and Consumer Duty
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) plays a crucial role in ensuring that LCIIP products remain fair, transparent, and suitable for consumers. The introduction of the Consumer Duty in July 2023 significantly strengthens this.
Key Implications of Consumer Duty
- Fair Value: Insurers and brokers must ensure that the price a customer pays for a product is reasonable in relation to the benefits they receive.
- Products and Services: Products must be designed to meet the needs of identifiable target markets and distributed appropriately. For hybrid workers and mobile populations, this means policies must genuinely reflect their risk profiles and needs.
- Consumer Understanding: Information must be clear, understandable, and enable consumers to make informed decisions. This is especially important for complex LCIIP products.
- Consumer Support: Support must be provided that meets the reasonable needs of consumers throughout the lifetime of the product. This includes seamless processes for updating details (e.g., changing address after regional mobility) and making claims.
These regulations drive insurers to continually adapt their offerings and processes to the realities of a hybrid and mobile Britain, ensuring that consumer needs are at the heart of product design and delivery.
Securing Your Future: What Consumers Need to Consider
Navigating the LCIIP landscape in a rapidly changing world can feel complex. Here's what you should consider:
1. Assess Your Current Circumstances and Future Plans
- Work Arrangement: Are you fully remote, hybrid, or office-based? How stable is your income? Are you self-employed?
- Regional Mobility: Are you considering a move? How might this impact your commute, access to healthcare, and local costs of living?
- Dependents: Who relies on your income? Children, partner, elderly parents?
- Debts: Mortgage, loans, credit cards.
- Savings: How long could you realistically live on your savings if you couldn't work?
2. Understand the Different Types of Cover
- Life Insurance: Lump sum for your loved ones if you pass away. Essential for mortgage protection and family income replacement.
- Critical Illness Cover: Lump sum if you are diagnosed with a specified severe illness. Helps cover medical costs, lifestyle adjustments, or pay down debts.
- Income Protection: Regular tax-free income if you can't work due to illness or injury. Covers living expenses. Often considered the foundation of financial protection.
3. Review Your Policies Regularly
Life is dynamic, especially in a hybrid world. Your LCIIP policies should be too.
- Life Events: Marriage, divorce, birth of a child, new job, taking on a mortgage, moving house – all warrant a policy review.
- Income Changes: If your salary increases or decreases significantly, or if you become self-employed, adjust your IP cover.
- Health Changes: While generally not affecting existing policies, new diagnoses might prompt a review of whether your current critical illness cover remains adequate for your evolving needs.
4. The Value of Expert Advice
The complexity of LCIIP products, coupled with the individual nature of risk and the evolving landscape of hybrid work and regional mobility, makes expert advice invaluable.
An independent insurance broker, like WeCovr, plays a crucial role. We don't represent just one insurer; instead, we have access to a wide range of products from all major UK providers. This means we can:
- Compare Policies: Help you navigate the nuances of different policy wordings, exclusions, and benefits.
- Tailor Solutions: Understand your unique circumstances – whether you're a hybrid worker, self-employed, or considering a move – and recommend the most suitable cover.
- Save You Time and Money: Do the research and comparison for you, potentially finding better value or more comprehensive cover than you might find on your own.
- Provide Ongoing Support: We can help you review your policies as your life changes, ensuring your protection remains relevant.
The Future Outlook: Continued Adaptation
The trends of hybrid work and regional mobility are likely to continue evolving, not regress. Insurers will need to remain agile.
- Preventative Focus: A stronger emphasis on wellness programmes and preventative health services integrated into policies, aiming to keep policyholders healthy and reduce claims.
- AI and Automation: Increasing use of artificial intelligence in underwriting, claims processing, and customer service, leading to faster decisions and more efficient operations.
- Environmental and Social Governance (ESG): Growing focus on how insurers contribute to societal wellbeing, including supporting vulnerable populations in geographically dispersed areas.
The UK LCIIP market is at a pivotal moment. By embracing innovation, leveraging technology, and prioritising consumer needs, it can successfully adapt to the profound shifts defining a hybrid and mobile Britain, ensuring that individuals and families continue to have access to the vital financial protection they need in an uncertain world.
Conclusion
The seismic shifts towards hybrid work and regional mobility are fundamentally reshaping the UK's social and economic fabric. This new landscape presents a unique set of considerations for individuals and families seeking to secure their financial futures. Life, Critical Illness, and Income Protection insurance are no longer just static products; they are dynamic tools that must adapt to these evolving realities.
UK insurers are demonstrating their resilience and innovation, moving towards more flexible, personalised, and supportive policies. From refining underwriting processes to incorporating cutting-edge technology and a holistic focus on wellbeing, the industry is striving to meet the needs of a modern, fluid workforce.
For individuals, the message is clear: your LCIIP needs are not fixed. Regular review, informed assessment of your unique circumstances, and the invaluable guidance of expert advice are paramount. By understanding the interplay of work, lifestyle, and location, and by leveraging the expertise of brokers like WeCovr, you can ensure your financial safety net is robust, relevant, and ready for whatever the future of hybrid Britain may hold. Don't leave your financial security to chance in an increasingly blended world.
Why life insurance and how does it work?
What is Life Insurance?
Life insurance is an insurance policy that can provide financial support for your loved ones when you or your joint policy holder passes away. It can help clear any outstanding debts, such as a mortgage, and cover your family's living and other expenses such costs of education, so your family can continue to pay bills and living expenses. In addition to life insurance, insurance providers offer related products such as income protection and critical illness, which we will touch upon below.How does it work?
Life insurance pays out if you die. The payout can be in the form of a lump sum payment or can be paid as a replacement for a regular income. It's your decision how much cover you'd like to take based on your financial resources and how much you'd like to leave to your family to help them deal with any outstanding debts and living expenses. Your premium depends on a number of factors, including your occupation, health and other criteria.The payout amount can change over time or can be fixed. A level term or whole of life policy offers a fixed payout. A decreasing term policy offers a payout that decreases over the term of the cover.
With critical illness policies, a payout is made if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness with a remaining life expectancy of less than 12 months. While income protection policies ensure you can continue to meet your financial commitments if you are forced to take an extended break from work. If you can’t work because you’ve had an accident, fallen sick, or lost your job through no fault of your own, income protection insurance pays you an agreed portion of your salary each month.
Income protection is particularly helpful for people in dangerous occupations who want to be sure their mortgage will always be covered. Income protection only covers events beyond your control: you’re much less likely to be covered if you’re fired from your job or if you injure yourself deliberately.
Questions to ask yourself regarding life insurance
Just ask yourself:👉 Who would pay your mortgage or rent if you were to pass away or fall seriously ill?
👉 Who would pay for your family’s food, clothing, study fees or lifestyle?
👉 Who would provide for the costs of your funeral or clear your debts?
👉 Who would pay for your costs if you're unable to work due to serious illness or disability?
Many families don’t realise that life, income protection and critical illness insurance is one of the most effective ways to protect their finances. A great insurance policy can cover costs, protect a family from inheriting debts and even pay off a mortgage.
Many would think that the costs for all the benefits provided by life insurance, income protection insurance or critical illness insurance are too high, but the great news is in the current market policies are actually very inexpensive.
Benefits offered by income protection, life and critical illness insurance
Life insurance, income protection and critical illness insurance are indispensable for every family because a child loses a parent every 22 minutes in the UK, while every single day tragically 60 people suffer major injuries on the UK roads. Some people become unable to work because of sickness or disability.Life insurance cover pays out a lump sum to your family, loved ones or whomever you choose to get the money. This can be used to secure the financial future of your loved ones meaning they would not have to struggle financially in the event of your death.
If it's a critical illness cover, the payout happens sooner - upon diagnosis of a serious illness, disability or medical condition, easing the financial hardship such an event inevitably brings.
Income protection insurance can be very important for anyone who relies on a pay check to cover their living costs, but it's especially important if you’re self-employed or own a small business, where your employment and income is a bit less stable. It pays a regular income if you can't work because of sickness or disability and continues until you return to paid work or you retire.
In a world where 1 in 4 of us would struggle financially after just four weeks without work, the stark reality hits hard – a mere 7% of UK adults possess the vital shield of income protection. The urgency of safeguarding our financial well-being has never been more palpable.
Let's face it – relying on savings isn't a solution for everyone. Almost 25% of people have no savings at all, and a whopping 50% have £1,000 or less tucked away. Even more concerning, 51% of Brits – that's a huge 27 million people – wouldn't last more than one month living off their savings. That's a 10% increase from 2022.
And don't even think about state benefits being a safety net. The maximum you can expect from statutory sick pay is a mere £109.40 per week for up to 28 weeks. Not exactly a financial lifeline, right?
Now, let's tackle a common objection: "But I have critical illness insurance. I don't need income protection too." Here's the deal – the two policies apply to very different situations. In a nutshell:
- Critical illness insurance pays a single lump sum if you're diagnosed with or undergo surgery for a specified potentially life-threatening illness. It's great for handling big one-off expenses or debts.
- Income protection, on the other hand, pays a percentage of your salary as a regular payment if you can't work due to illness or injury. It's the superhero that tackles those relentless monthly bills.
Types of life insurance policies
Common reasons for getting a life insurance policy are to:✅ Leave behind an amount of money to keep your family comfortable
✅ Protect the family home and pay off the mortgage in full or in part
✅ Pay for funeral costs
Starting from as little as a couple of pounds per week, you can do all that with a Life Policy.
Level Term Life Insurance
One of the simplest forms of life insurance, level term life insurance works by selecting a length of time for which you would want to be covered and then deciding how much you would like your loved ones to receive should the worst happen. Should your life insurance policy pay out to your family, it would be in a lump sum amount that can be used in whatever way the beneficiary may wish.
Decreasing Term Life Insurance
Decreasing term life insurance works in the same way as level term, except the lump sum payment amount upon death decreases with time. The common use for decreasing term life cover is to protect against mortgage repayment as the lump sum decreases along with the principal of the mortgage itself.
Increasing Term Life Insurance
Increasing term life insurance aims to pay out a cash sum growing each year if the worst happens while covered by the policy. With increasing term life cover amount insured increases annually by a fixed amount for the length of the policy. This can protect your policy's value against inflation, which could be advantageous if you’re looking to maintain your loved ones’ living standards, continue paying off your mortgage in line with its repayment schedule and cover your children’s education fees.
Whole of Life Insurance
Whereas term life insurance policies only pay out if you pass away during their term, whole of life insurance pays out to your beneficiaries whenever this should happen. The most common uses for whole life insurance are to cover the costs of a funeral or as a vehicle for your family's inheritance tax planning.
Family Income Benefit
Family income benefit is a somewhat lesser-known product in the family of life insurance products. Paying out a set amount every month of year to your beneficiaries, it is the most cost-effective way of maintaining your family's living standards to an age where you'd expect them to be able to support themselves financially. The most common use would be for a family with children who are not working yet so are unable to take care of themselves financially.
Relevant Life Insurance
Relevant Life Insurance is a tax-efficient policy for a director or single employee. A simple level term life insurance product, it is placed in a specific trust to ensure its tax efficiency. The premiums are tax deductible and any benefit payable should a claim arise is also paid out tax free, which makes it an attractive product for entrepreneurs and their businesses.
Important Fact!
We can look at a more suitable option mid-term!
Why is it important to get life insurance early?
👉 Many people are very thankful that they had their life, income protection, and critical illness insurance cover in place before running into some serious issues. Critical illness and income protection insurance is as important as life insurance for protecting your family's finances.👉 We insure our cars, houses, bicycles and even bags! Yet our life and health are the most precious things we have.
Easily one of the most important insurance purchases an individual or family can make in their lifetime, the decision to buy life, income protection, critical illness and private medical health insurance can be made much simpler with the help of FCA-authorised advisers. They are the specialists who do the searching and analysis helping people choose between various types of life insurance policies available in the market, including income protection, critical illness and other types of policies most suitable to the client's individual circumstances.
It certainly won't do any harm if you speak with one of our experienced FCA-authorised insurance partner experts who are passionate about advising people on financial matters related to life insurance and are keen to provide you with a free consultation.
You can discuss with them in detail what affordable life, income protection, critical illness or private medical health insurance plan for the necessary peace of mind they would recommend! WeCovr works with some of the best advisers in the market.
By tapping the button below, you can book a free call with them in less than 30 seconds right now:
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Who Are WeCovr?
WeCovr is an insurance specialist for people valuing their peace of mind and a great service.👍 WeCovr will help you get your private medical insurance, life insurance, critical illness insurance and others in no time thanks to our wonderful super-friendly experts ready to assist you every step of the way.
Just a quick and simple form and an easy conversation with one of our experts and your valuable insurance policy is in place for that needed peace of mind!