What Are The Best Life Insurances For Family?

Do you have a family and are wondering how best to protect them? What kind of life insurance should you choose? Is there a life insurance policy specifically for families? What are the best family life insurance options? There are so many things to consider.

If you’re looking for the answers, you’ve come to the right place!

In this guide, we will explain everything you need to know about life insurance for a family: which cover you should get, what life insurance terms you should pay attention to, etc.
Stay tuned!

Is it important to have family life insurance?

First of all, you should consider taking out life insurance for your family because it is the best way to protect your loved ones if something happens to you.

Secondly, it’s simply for peace of mind. Needing to take care of all financial matters during a period of grief is not an ideal situation. Taking out family life insurance would take the weight off your shoulders. For example, if you took out a mortgage to buy a house, life insurance can protect your family if you passed away.

There is no “family life insurance” as a policy; it is more a combination of elements in your policy that can give financial protection to your family. There is a specific insurance called “family income benefit” that could also be of interest to you.

You will have to consider these points when taking out life insurance:

• Choosing you coverage: term life insurance or whole life? Single life or joint life?
• If you are taking a term life: for how long?
• Will you include add-ons such as critical illness in your family life insurance?

What are the different types of life insurance for family?

When choosing life insurance for family, you have to make a lot of important choices. You have to choose between different policy types to find what would best cover your needs. As the first big choice, you have to choose between:

• Term life insurance. Term insurance splits into two types: level term or decreasing insurance. If you choose a term insurance, once again you would have to choose between these two.
• Whole of life insurance. This insurance will pay out when the policyholders die.

Term life and whole life insurance	Details	Reviews
Term level	It guarantees that your loved ones get a payment if you die during a specific period of time. You will receive the same amount during a fixed period. Life insurance can be for 5,10, 20 years, etc., depending on your needs.	If you outlive after the term, your family will never have this sum, and neither will you. Cheaper than whole life insurance.
Term decreasing – also known as mortgage insurance	It guarantees that your loved ones get a payment if you die during a specific period of time. The amount decreases over the policy term. Really useful if you have a loan, as the price tends to decline over time.	If you took out a loan to buy a house, for example, it is a good policy to have.
Whole life insurance	It covers you for your whole life. You pay a premium each month, and your loved ones will receive a fixed lump sum when you die. With this policy you are building a cash value that can be borrowed if needed.	Really protective insurance, as your family will receive a cash sum in all cases as long as you pay your premium. More expensive than others, such as term life insurance.

Should you take out single or joint life insurance for family?

You can also choose between having a joint policy or a single policy:

Types of insurance	Details	Reviews
Joint policy	Covers two people that are together by the same policy. At the end it is cheaper than two single policies. Covers both of your contributions to the family. Only pays out once. The sum will be given to the other partner if one dies. Leaves the surviving member of the couple without life insurance after the death of the first partner.	Cheaper than taking two single policies. Not really protective, as when one passes away, the other is no longer insured and will have to take out a single policy that will be at higher cost as they are now older.
Single policy	This kind of insurance pays for one person only. Pays out the amount chosen.	Taking out two policies is more expensive. You can choose the level you want, beneficial if the two partners don’t need to be insured at the same level. Much more protective than a joint policy because you are sure to have two pay-outs, and you are protected in case of a break-up.

What could you add to your family life insurance?  

Choosing life insurance for family is not an easy thing to do, because you must consider all the add-ons that you can put in your policy in order to be best protected:

Adds-on	Details	Reviews
Critical illness as an add-on	It is an extra that can be added to your policy, or can be combined with your standard life insurance. Pays out if you contract a disease. The illness developed must be specified in your policy contract. The most common illnesses covered are cancer, heart attacks, etc. If you become really ill, your insurance will pay out exactly as if you’ve passed away. If you have combined critical illness and standard life insurance, it will pay just once, either when you become really ill or when you pass away; it is not the case if you take it as an add-on, where it will pay twice.	Can really protect your loved ones in case of illness. If you combine critical illness with standard life insurance, it pays out for the first event that occurs – death or illness, so better to take it as an add-on as you will be covered for the two situations. If your children get really ill, you can claim a percentage for them too. Some insurers include children’s critical illness as standard when taking this add-on: Legal and General, for example.
ligne Children’s critical illness	Can add children’s critical illness cover. Could cover the Childcare expenses and medical bills linked to the critical illness. Not all insurers propose this.	Can be a good add-on as it takes care of medical bills that can be really heavy.
Policy in trust	Life insurance usually is tax free, but if your policy is not written in trust, your loved ones may have to pay tax on the sum they will get.	Your family, relatives, partner won’t have to pay for taxes when receiving the sum.
Indexation	Indexing your life insurance allows you to have the equivalent pay-outs today or in 20 years, as life insurance is a long-term product.	Really protects your family by indexing your life insurance as they are sure to get the same benefit a few years later.

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How much will your Family life insurance cost?

The big question is knowing how much life insurance you need. Your answer to this question will determine the price of your life insurance.

How much your life insurance for family is will depend on several factors:

• Your age
• Your medical conditions
• Whether or not you are a smoker
• Which add-ons you add to your family life insurance
• Your salary
• The coverage you want
• Whether you take out a joint policy or not

So you must ask yourself the relevant questions for your own situation, for example: Do you have a loan? Do you have savings? Do you have debts? Do you have a family? Does your job offer protection?

A 30-year-old in good medical condition will pay less than a 45-year-old smoker who’s in bad medical condition.

Family life insurance can be a little bit more expensive as you must think about education expense.

Age group	Joint life insurance (monthly premium)	Single life insurance (monthly premium)
20-30	£11.79	£7.18
30-40	£16.02	£8.54
40-50	£31.98	£17.52

How much will my family life insurance cost if I add critical illness insurance?

In this table, we can see how much it costs to have critical illness cover with either joint life insurance or single life insurance.

Age group	Critical illness add-on to life insurance with a joint life insurance (monthly premium)	Monthly cost of single life insurance with critical illness cover (monthly premium)
18-28	£24.63	£12.70
28-38	£44.58	£26.63
40-48	£92.09	£50.87
50-57	£174.89	£103.89
More than 60 years old	£528.06	£333.10

Average level term insurance (10 years to 20 years): additional critical illness

What are the best Family life insurance quotes?

You can either choose term insurance or whole life insurance. We have put together a list of the best life insurance quotes and their features.

What are the best term insurance quotes with critical illness?

Best term insurance (single policy)	Details	Reviews	Monthly premium (including critical illness as add-on)
	Vitality life insurance: Min entry age: 16 Max entry age: 74 Min term: 5 years Max term: no max term (but must end before 90 years old) Max cover: £20,000,000 Terminal illness cover	5/5 Defaqto rating Mid-term adjustment	Level: £9.15 Decreasing: £8.01
	Royal London term insurance: Min entry age: 18 Max entry age: 78 Min term: 1 year Max term: 72 years Max cover: Unlimited Terminal illness cover	2/5 Defaqto rating Mid-term adjustment	Level: £9.19 Decreasing: £6.86
	AIG term insurance: Min entry age: 18 Max entry age: 88 Min term: 2 years Max term: 70 years Max cover: Unlimited	5/5 defaqto	Level: £9.24 Decreasing: £8.98
	Legal & General term insurance: Min entry age: 18 Max entry age: 77 Min term: 1 year for level cover and 5 years for decreasing cover Max term: No limit but must end before 90 years old Max cover: Unlimited Terminal illness	4/5 Defaqto rating Mid-term adjustment	Level: £9.90 Decreasing: £9.74
	Aegon term insurance: Min entry age:18 Max entry age: 89 Min term: 1 year Max term: 50 years Max cover: Unlimited	4/5 Defaqto rating Mid-term adjustment	Level: £10.56 Decreasing: £7.49
	Zurich term insurance: Min entry age:16 Max entry age: 83 Min term: 1 year Max term: 50 years Max cover: £40 million Terminal illness cover	3/5 Defaqto rating Mid-term adjustment	Level: £10.76 Decreasing: £9.53
	LV term insurance: Min entry age: 17 Max entry age: 79 Min term: 5 years Max term: 45 years Max cover: Unlimited Terminal illness cover	3/5 Defaqto rating Mid-term adjustment	Level: £10.88 Decreasing: £9.39
	Aviva term insurance: Min entry age: 18 Max entry age: 89 Min term: 1 year Max term: 50 years Max cover: Unlimited	3/5/Defaqto rating Mid-term adjustment	Level: £10.60 Decreasing: £10.48

Cover £150,000 –- 30 years old – non-smoker

What are the best whole family life insurance quotes?

Best whole life insurance – single policy	Details	Pros and cons	Monthly premium (including critical illness as add-on)
	Min entry age: 16 Max entry age: 74 Max sum assured: £20 million	Possibility to add options that lower the monthly premium	£98.63
	Min entry age: 18 Max entry age: 89 Max cover: Unlimited	Free cover before the policy starts	£90
	Min entry age: 17 Max entry age: 84 Max cover: £25 million	Possible to adjust policy during the life of the policy	£148
	Min entry age: 16 Max entry age: 84 Max cover: Depends	No possibility to adjust policy during the term Accidental death benefit included Waiver of premium	£114.65
	Min entry age: 18 Max entry age: 84 Max cover: Unlimited	Waiver of premium	£83.65
	Min entry age: 16 Max entry age: 83 Max cover: Unlimited	Possibility to adjust policy during the life of the policy	£90
	Min entry age: 18 Max entry age: 85 Max cover: £500,000	You can adjust your policy during the term.	£96.03

Cover £150,000 –- 30 years old – non-smoker

Can I take out life insurance for my parents?

Yes, you can decide to take out whole life insurance for your parents. This can help with paying funeral costs and outstanding bills, etc. Of course, you will need their agreement. You can have a look at our article on this subject, about over 50s life insurance.

Some insurers propose a special offer called “free parent’s life cover”:

• Aviva life insurance free cover: 1 year of free life insurance for every child under 4. £15,000 cover if you die during this year.
• Post Office life insurance free cover: Free cover for a year if you have children aged under four years old. The sum insured is £15,000 per child if you die. Each parent can apply for a policy. Up to 8 children.

How do I cancel my family life insurance?

You can cancel your life insurance, but it means that you and your family won’t be protected anymore. Keep in mind that if you want to take out your insurance again, it will be much higher. If you want to stop paying premiums for a while, this doesn’t make economical sense, because the younger you take out your life insurance, the cheaper it is.

Sometimes, it happens that you want to cancel your policy because your situation has changed and you no longer need this type of insurance. For example, maybe you've finally managed to pay off the loan on your house.

• You have 30 days to cancel your life insurance without any charges.
• After these 30 days, you must write to the insurer to announce that you wish to cancel your life insurance. Usually there is no extra charge to cancel a life insurance policy, but you won't be refunded your premium.

How do I make a life insurance claim?

Here are the few steps to make a life insurance claim. Usually, it doesn’t take weeks; it is more a matter of days:

• Contact life insurance company: explain to the life insurance company that you are making a claim.
• A few documents are important in order to make the claim, in particular the death certificate.

You must fill out all documents and forms.

Then you will receive the pay-out. Depending on the circumstances, it can arrive quite fast.

Can I update my life insurance?

Yes, some insurers leave you this choice to take a higher policy premium if you have change in your life: starting a family or expanding your family. Your monthly premium will be higher too.

How do I get a family life insurance quote?

Applying for family life insurance can be a long process. You need to know exactly:

• How much cover you would need. Verify if you already have protection through your job, for example, and calculate the right amount.
• How long you want the cover for.

Find out what the best life insurance for your family is with our 100% anonymous tool.

What are the alternatives to family life insurance?

There are alternatives to life insurance. However, these options are more a way to complement a less expensive life insurance plan than to replace family life insurance completely:

• Income protection: An income protection policy is an insurance plan that covers you if you are unable to work due to illness, injury or unemployment. It is designed to pay part of your lost earnings.
• Death in service benefits: This is a lump sum payment given by your employer. If your employer offers this kind of benefit, it means that they will pay a cash sum when you die. Of course, you must still work for the company to benefit from this insurance. Take a look at the terms and conditions written.
• Family income benefits: You don’t receive a lump sum but instead get a monthly payment during the term.