What factors can add to the price?

When your insurer calculates your premium, they have to work out how long they think you will live.

STEP 1 of 2
Type of cover
Life Insurance       Mortgage Life Insurance
 
Cover Level (£)

Number of years
Do you want:  
Critical illness cover
Family income benefit
 

Hot Topics

What is Life Insurance?
Life Insurance is also known as Term Insurance.
Life Insurance - why do you need it?
You may want Life Insurance to provide some financial protection for the family or to cover the payment of an Interest Only Mortgage.
What do you need to know about Life Insurance?
Life Insurance pays out a tax-free lump sum if you die; there is no investment value.
Should you consider Critical Illness cover instead?
If you have no dependants or already have Life Insurance, you should consider Critical Illness Insurance instead of Life Insurance.
What is the Difference Between Critical Illness Insurance and Terminal Illness insurance?
Critical Illness Insurance is much more comprehensive than Terminal Illness cover.
With Critical Illness Insurance, they also need to assess whether you are likely to become seriously ill before your policy terminates.

To do this the insurance company takes a number of factors into account including your age, whether you smoke, your job and your health record.

Your sex:

Men are expected to die earlier than women, and are statistically more likely to suffer from a critical illness. Therefore premiums for men are higher than for women.

Smoking:

On average, a smoker will pay around 65% more than a non-smoker.

Your age:

The older you are, the more likely you are to die or to become critically ill. Therefore, the Insurance Company will look at your age from two angles - the age you are when you first take out the policy, and your age when the policy is due to terminate. This is period of time during which the insurance company is at risk of having to meet a claim. In short, the longer and older the age range, the more likely the insurance company will have to pay out, and this is reflected in higher premiums.

Your medical history:

If you have a health record that indicates the likelihood of future health problems, or you want an especially high level of life insurance cover, the insurance company will probably require more information about your health. To obtain this information the insurer may write to your Doctor, ask you to have a quick "mini-medical" or perhaps a full medical. (The cost of these medical reports will be met by the insurance company).

Level of cover:

The higher the amount you want to insure for, the higher your premiums will be.

Frequently Asked Questions related to the above topic.
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