Reviewing Your Own Cover After Losing A Partner
This is not a page about making a claim. That part is handled by the insurer and, if we arranged the policy, by us, and it is not something to read about on a website.
It is about the position the surviving person is left in afterwards, which almost nobody looks at for a long time and which has usually changed more than they realise.
There is no urgency to any of this in the first weeks or months. It is simply worth knowing that it exists, so it can be dealt with when there is room to deal with it.
The short answer
Losing a partner changes the surviving person's own protection needs rather than just resolving a claim. A household that could absorb one person being ill now cannot, any joint policy may have ended when it paid out, and children who relied on two parents now rely on one, so the cover that remains was sized for circumstances that no longer exist.
What this changes
- A household that ran on two incomes, or on one income and one person's unpaid work, now runs differently
- There is no longer a second adult to fall back on if the survivor becomes ill
- A joint life policy that has paid out has normally ended, leaving the survivor with no cover
- Children who depended on two parents now depend entirely on one
- Pension income may have fallen, sometimes substantially, depending on how the scheme was arranged
- The estate position has changed, which can affect any future inheritance tax question
The bit people miss
The part that catches people is joint life cover. A joint policy on a first death basis pays once and then ends, which means the surviving partner is left with no life cover of their own at precisely the moment they have become the only parent or the only earner. People often assume the policy continues for the survivor. Usually it does not. Checking what, if anything, is still in force is the single most useful thing to do once there is capacity for it.
Check Whether Any Cover Is Still In Force
The first practical step, whenever it feels possible, is simply to find out what exists.
If the policy was a joint one written to pay on the first death, it has almost certainly ended now that it has paid. If there were two single policies, the survivor's own policy carries on unchanged. If cover came through an employer, it ended with that employment. These are different situations with different answers and it is worth knowing which applies rather than assuming.
The same applies to the other direction. Policies the survivor holds in their own name continue as normal, and they may now be sized for a household that no longer exists, either too small because they are the only earner or too large because the original purpose has gone.
One Adult Changes The Risk, Not Just The Income
The change people account for is the income. The change that matters as much is the loss of a second person.
In a two-adult household, one person being ill for six months is difficult. In a one-adult household with children, it is a different order of problem, because there is nobody to earn, nobody to do the school run and no slack anywhere in the arrangement. The financial exposure to illness roughly doubles while the resources available to meet it halve.
That is why income protection tends to move to the top of the list at this stage, ahead of life cover, which is the reverse of the usual order. It is also why this is worth a proper conversation rather than a form, because the right answer depends on children, work, pension and what the policy paid out, and no general rule covers it.
What usually fits, and why
Often the most important and least considered. With one adult in the household, there is nobody else to cover the bills if illness stops the survivor working, which was not true before.
Relevant if anybody now depends on the surviving partner, particularly children. A joint policy that has paid out has usually ended, so there may be no cover left at all.
Pays a lump sum on diagnosis. With no second income behind it, a serious illness in a one-adult household creates an immediate problem rather than a manageable one.
Common questions
Does our joint life policy continue for me?+
Usually not. Most joint policies are written to pay on the first death, which means the policy has done its job and ended. The surviving partner is then left without life cover of their own. It is worth confirming exactly what your policy was, because the answer determines whether you have any cover at all.
What should I look at first?+
Whether any cover is still in force, and then income protection. With one adult in the household there is nobody else to pay the bills if illness stops you working, which was not the case before. There is no rush to do any of this in the early months, but those are the two that matter most when you get to it.
I have children. How much cover do I need now?+
More than before, because they now depend on one person rather than two. The usual approach is to work out what would be needed each year to keep the household running until the youngest is independent, multiplied by the years remaining. That is a conversation rather than a calculation, because guardianship and childcare costs come into it.
Will my pension income change?+
It may well have done. Many schemes pay a surviving spouse a proportion of the income rather than the whole amount, and the rules depend on the specific scheme. It is worth getting the actual figures, because that number affects how much, if anything, your own cover needs to do.
Do I need to do this straight away?+
No. Nothing here is urgent in the first weeks or months, and policies you hold in your own name carry on while the premiums are paid. It is simply worth knowing the review exists so it can happen when there is room for it, rather than being discovered years later.
Cover that often goes with this
The gaps we most often find sitting next to this one.