About CoverLife Insurance

The situation

A married couple with two children came to us after taking out a repayment mortgage. They wanted to protect their home and their family's finances within a monthly budget they were comfortable with.

What we recommended

• •£300,000 of joint decreasing life cover over 30 years, designed to reduce broadly in line with their repayment mortgage.
• •For family protection on top of the mortgage, we compared one joint policy paying £200,000 on the first death with separate policies paying £200,000 for each parent. The separate policies cost only £1.50 a month more in total.

The outcome

Each parent now has their own family life cover alongside the mortgage policy, and the overall cost stayed below their budget.

The family policies include an annual option to increase cover without further medical underwriting, subject to the policy terms.

The situation

A customer asked us to review her life insurance policy, which provided £155,000 of cover until age 80 for £98 a month.

What we recommended

• •A replacement policy with another insurer, keeping the £155,000 cover amount and extending the term to age 90. The new policy also included additional benefits.
• •We discussed income protection and critical illness cover as well, but she chose to prioritise reducing her monthly spending at that time.

The outcome

The new premium is £56 a month: a saving of £42 a month, or £504 a year, which is approximately 43% of the previous premium, with cover lasting ten years longer.

The situation

Two company directors, each owning 50% of the business, came to us about shareholder protection. If either died, they wanted the surviving director to have the money to buy the deceased director's shares from their family.

During our fact-find they also raised the cost of recruiting a replacement director and paying their salary. Both already held personal life insurance.

What we recommended

• •Shareholder protection based on each director's 50% shareholding and the company valuation.
• •Key person cover designed to help fund recruitment and two years of a replacement director's salary.
• •Relevant life cover paid for by the business, replacing their personal life policies and keeping life protection in place for their families.

The outcome

Together the policies address three separate needs: ownership succession, the financial impact of losing a key person, and protection for each director's family.

Moving to relevant life cover reduced their monthly premiums and offered potential tax advantages, subject to their circumstances and the applicable tax rules.

The situation

A foster carer came to us wanting to protect her family and her financial independence if she became seriously ill, could no longer work, or died.

If illness stopped her fostering, her fostering income would stop with it, and she would need another way to meet household costs. She also had high blood pressure and had recently had surgery.

What we recommended

• •£100,000 of life cover with Vitality to age 75, including terminal illness benefit subject to the policy definition, to help her family with funeral costs, outstanding debts and housing costs.
• •£50,000 of critical illness cover with Vitality to age 75, covering 114 conditions. The £50,000 is roughly a year's earnings, giving her a financial buffer during recovery. It pays the full £50,000 for a qualifying condition, or a reduced amount for a less severe one, depending on severity and the policy's claim definitions.
• •Income protection combining policies from LV= and British Friendly, with a total selected benefit of £3,500 a month and cover to age 68. Cover started from day one, without a referral process or medical tests. Both policies have a 4-week deferred period, so payments begin once she has been unable to work for 4 weeks, and pay out for up to 2 years in total for any one claim.

The outcome

Four policies covering three needs: life cover for her family, a critical illness lump sum, and a replacement income if she cannot work.

Her high blood pressure and recent surgery were considered during underwriting, and under the accepted terms no specific exclusions were applied for those disclosed conditions.