Do I Need Life Insurance?

When asking yourself the question 'do I need life insurance' it is vital to consider what the cost would be to your family or partner should the unexpected happen? Could they survive without your income? Without you could they afford to keep a roof over their heads?

Life insurance is an unquestionable necessity to the average family in modern times as it provides them with financial safety and invaluable peace of mind.

You may think that it won't happen to you and that you already have enough outgoings each and every month. However more than 12,000 people died from accidents in 2008 in the UK, not to mention over half a million people who died from various diseases, during the same year in the USA over 5,000 people died due to accidents just in the workplace and well over a million people died from heart disease and cancer combined! These are statistics that sadly rise year upon year. The fact is we are all human and therefore all vulnerable.

Life insurance can cover not only the unfortunate event of death but can also provide you with concurrent terminal and/or critical illness cover. Illnesses that can also prevent you from living a normal life and providing for your family.

To help you answer the question do I need life insurance answer the following points 'yes' or 'no':

• Do you bring home the highest income in your household?
• Do you have children?
• Do you have a mortgage?
• Do you have any kind of debts, eg credit cards or loans?
• With only your partners income would all of your family's outgoings be covered each month?
• Do you support an elderly parent in addition or even as opposed to a partner or family?
• Could your loved ones cover the cost of your funeral tomorrow?

If you have answered 'yes' to ANY of these questions then it is important that you have some kind of life cover in place.

Taxation is often something that people think about before taking out Life Insurance. Please click here for more information on Life Insurance Tax.

Life Insurance is something can be quite varied with a basic contract being a Life Term Assurance Policy covering your life for a fixed sum over a fixed period of time. This can be added to so that you are covered should you be diagnosed with any 'Critical Illnesses' so that you are provided with Life and Critical Illness Cover and so there is more to the policy than just protection against death. These terms may be used more frequently within the UK. There are also various Whole of Life Insurance products and Endowments available as well as specific policies for the elder generation such as over 60's.

Your responsibility is simply to choose a justifiable amount of protection and how long you want the protection for and pay the premium each month, quarter or year. Taking out Life Insurance is really that simple.

For further detailed information please see our 'Types of Insurance Policies' site.