For most people the overall objective of life insurance is to maintain standards of living for their dependents on the event of their death.

Life insurance is overlooked by many people, with two in three people in Britain having no life insurance cover other than to cover their mortgage.

Life insurance is a simple means by which you can plan for the future, giving yourself peace of mind that your family will be financially secure after your death. GET A QUOTE NOW

This site provides information that can be used to help you decide whether you need life cover, and if so what type of cover is most suitable and how much that cover should be for.

Everyone's circumstances vary, but you might consider life insurance if you have any of the following 'outgoings':

• Paying off a mortgage
• Paying off loans and other debts
• Family income needs
• Emergency funds
• Family education costs
• Estate costs
• Possible inheritance tax

Before committing yourself to life insurance cover it may be worth checking your employment benefits at work as some employers include life insurance as part of your employment package. Also, if applicable, check your company pension scheme as some provide a pension and/or lump sum for your family after your death.

Different types of term insurance are available:

'level' - a lump sum is payable on the event of death. This lump sum remains constant throughout the period of the life insurance term. This is the most common form of life insurance.

'decreasing' - a lump sum is payable on the event of death. This lump sum decreases by a fixed amount during the period of the term, decreasing to nil by the end of the insured period. This form of cover is usually used for mortgages or other loans where the amount owed decreases year on year.

Single and joint life plans are available. A single life plan insures one life. A joint life first death plan insures two lives but only pays on the first death.

Premiums will depend on the sum to be insured, the period of insurance cover, your age, your sex and whether you smoke or not. A non smoker is usually defined as someone who has not smoked for at least twelve months. Premiums for women are generally lower as on average they tend to live longer.

Additional options can be added to increase the level of cover, although this in turn increases the premiums.

Medicals are not normally required, although in some circumstances a report may be required from your doctor. Always complete any life insurance application honestly as failure to do so will result in the insurer refusing to pay on the event of death.

We don't like to dwell on the worst things in life. Which is why a straightforward Mortgage Protection Plan is designed to cover your family if you die at anytime or if you become terminally ill before the last year of the selected term.

This policy is known as "decreasing term assurance". The amount of benefit decreases each year as the amount owed on the repayment mortgage decreases. This means you are insured for a set period of time (in this case the term of the mortgage). If you live beyond this, you will not receive a pay out. In addition, the plan does not have any cash-in value at any time.

You can choose from either single or joint cover, and can be covered for any period between 5 and 40 years but the plan must end before your 69th birthday.

You may want to increase the scope of your cover by including Critical Illness to your plan. By taking out Mortgage Protection with Critical Illness Cover, your plan will also pay out on diagnosis of a specified Critical Illness in addition to your life cover. The premiums you pay under this policy might increase whilst the policy remains in force. For more information on this policy please contact us via the link.

Waiver of premium

Waiver of premium provides a means of insuring your life insurance monthly premiums. In the event that you are unable to work through ill health, payments are made until the end of the policy term, a specified age or until you are able to return to work.

It is usually purchased as an optional extra with your life insurance policy. This type of policy does not normally cover unemployment.

As with all insurance products, the terms and conditions of policies do vary so check the policy criteria in detail before committing yourself.

• Counselling: counselling may be included to help your family cope with your death.

• Guaranteed Premiums: guaranteed premiums ensure that the premiums remain the same throughout the duration of the policy term. Alternatively 'reviewable premiums' require the premiums to be reviewed periodically, typically every five years, meaning that premiums can increase dramatically following review.

• Trusts: can the policy be set up in a trust? This can avoid delays in money going to dependents and can avoid the risk of having to pay inheritance tax.

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