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Home /Family Life Insurance Quote

There are two ways you can provide life insurance cover (also known as life assurance cover) for your family.

You can either:

  • Provide a cash sum (lump sum), all in one go upon death or,
  • You can provide an income tax free and guaranteed from the date of death until the policy end date.

For example if you would like your dependents to receive say £200,000 if you die and then nothing else then you should select the lump sum option.

Alternatively it might be better (and cheaper) to calculate how much your dependents need to live on if you die.

So supposing your family shopping bill, plus monthly electricity, gas, phone bills plus all your other clothing and household expenses comes to £1,000 per month, then you should insure £1,000 x 12 = £12,000 on a “Family Income Benefit” plan.

This means that if the life assured dies the plan will pay £1,000 per month guaranteed and tax free from the date of death until the end of the plan term. This is an excellent way of protecting your family.

 

Life Insurance News
'Lack of sunlight increases breast cancer risk'

Life insurance policies may be affected by the news that scientists in America claim to have found links between breast cancer and a lack of exposure vitamin D from sunlight.

Researchers at the University of California used information from a database of cancer incidence and mortality rates in 175 countries, set up by the World Health Organisation for their study.

After creating a graph with a vertical axis for breast cancer incidence rates and a horizontal axis for latitude, they plotted age-standardised incidence rates for the 175 countries according to latitude.

"In general, breast cancer incidence was highest at the highest latitudes in both hemispheres," said Dr Cedric Garland.

"Even after controlling for known variables such as meat, vegetable and alcohol intake, cigarette consumption, weight, fertility and others, the inverse association of modelled vitamin D status with breast cancer incidence remained strong."

However, the researchers emphasise that as the study was of countries, the findings may not apply to individuals.

Further research on the effect of vitamin D from sunlight, diet and supplements on the risk of breast cancer is needed for individuals, they said.

According to Cancer Research UK, the disease is now the most common cancer in the UK, with more than 44,000 women are diagnosed with it each year.

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Sunbeds banned for under 18's in bid to beat cancer

A new law has been passed to ban under-18s in Scotland from using sunbeds.

The bill was passed in Parliament yesterday (June 12th) and will mean that Scotland is ahead of the rest of the UK in such legislation.

Other measures established to help control the incidence of skin cancer include outlawing coin-operated, unstaffed tanning salons and preventing under-18s buying or hiring sunbeds.

Ken Macintosh, Labour MSP, said: "I'm proud that it is Scotland that is leading the way yet again in the United Kingdom with this cancer-prevention measure."

Commenting on the new bill, public health minister Shona Robison, argued that the "provisions strike the right balance between government intervention and individual responsibility".

Under the new law sunbed operators will have to provide adult users with information about the health risks associated with tanning machines.

Skin cancer (melanoma) has seen the fastest growth of any cancer and there were 713 cases of skin cancer in young people aged 15 to 24 between 1999 and 2003 in England. ADNFCR-980-ID-18638888-ADNFCR


Young people and life insurance: No need to wait

When it comes to buying life insurance, many people wait until they are older and feel more "confident and capable" about their finances, according to one provider.

Norwich Union's Darren Dicks pointed out that "certain things" tend to trigger an individual's need for life cover, such as a mortgage or a family event.

"Life insurance is often sold as an addition to a mortgage and while there are some young policy holders, the majority of our customer base is a bit older," he commented.

"It takes a while for customers to feel confident and capable and people tend to want to have experienced financial services for some time before they start buying things like life insurance," he continued.

The Norwich Union representative noted that having a family "makes it register" with a lot of people that "spending the extra £10 or more per month" is worth it to cover a spouse and children if unforeseen circumstances arise.

"As people get older they get more responsible; they also tend to have kids from about 30 plus, so they think more about things like life insurance," claimed Mr Dicks.

According to a report from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) earlier this year, the UK insurance industry paid out over £160 million per day in pension and life insurance benefits in 2005, including £144 million to pensioners and long term savers and £17 million in death benefits.

Nevertheless, the most recent figures from the ABI highlighted that one in three Britons have no life insurance at all, with another one in three neglecting to renew their life cover for five years, facing a risk of being underinsured.

"People may prioritise paying the mortgage because of the high interest and then covering themselves after that," confirmed Darren Dicks.

"But it's something that should be assessed. If you think about life cover, the amount that it costs compared to what it actually protects mean it's something that most people should take out."

Previous studies have shown that there is also a tendency among young people to go with their mortgage provider when opting for life cover, instead of shopping around for the best deal.

However, "by not shopping around at such a young age you can be paying much more than you actually need to pay," explained Claire Moyles of Sainsbury's Bank.

"Younger people tend to go with their mortgage lender because they might be a first time buyer and that tends to be the easiest thing to do. Not shopping around is a disadvantage for them because with life insurance your premiums do stay the same," emphasised the finance specialist.

In addition she reminded consumers that "the younger and healthier you are, the cheaper your premiums will be".

Echoing the findings of Norwich Union, Ms Moyles concluded by advising that anyone aged 18 or over with a spouse or children "really needs to be thinking about protecting their family and protecting their mortgage."

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