What is life insurance for women?
Whatever your gender, life insurance is there to give financial protection to those you care about most if you pass away. It lets you leave a lump sum behind – helping your loved ones maintain their living standards or pay mortgage costs.
Our cover pays out a cash lump sum if you die or are diagnosed with a terminal illness that meets our definition, and you aren't expected to live longer than 12 months.
Why do women need life insurance?
Think about who depends on you financially. Life insurance can be worthwhile, it could help pay off a mortgage, rent, bills, debt, or for childcare. If you pass away, life insurance could remove some financial stress for your family in an already difficult time.
Can I get life insurance if I’m pregnant?
With an event as life changing as pregnancy, it’s understandable that your priorities might change too. After all, you have an extra person to worry about now, as well as making sure you look after your own health and wellbeing.
Luckily, your pregnancy shouldn’t affect whether you can get life cover, although you may need to tell your insurer about any related medical conditions if you’re taking out a new policy.
We even offer £15,000 of free life cover for 12 months when you become a parent, until your child turns 4. Find out more about our free life insurance for new parents here.
Can health conditions affect women’s life insurance?
As with many life insurance applications, you’ll need to tell your provider, if asked, about pre-existing medical conditions that may affect the cost of your cover. Make sure you answer truthfully, as if you don’t, you risk your policy not paying out if you die.
Most of the time you won’t need to have any medical exams or health checks to get cover with us, but if you do, we’ll cover the cost.
What else affects the cost of life insurance?
You can tailor your cover to your circumstances, so when you apply, we’ll want to get to know a bit about you and your lifestyle. We’ll ask about your health history and whether your hobbies range into risky territory – skydiving or spelunking, anyone? We’ll also consider things such as your age when we calculate your unique quote.
When to take out life insurance
You can take out life insurance with us anytime up until you turn 77. It’s actually cheaper the younger you are. You’re charged more as you get older because you’re more likely to claim during the policy term. Next, we’ll look at some of the reasons why you might want to get life insurance based on your situation.
If you buy a property
When you start paying a mortgage, you might want the reassurance that your loved ones will have support with these payments after you die.
This can be especially true if you live with your family or someone else you share the mortgage with. That way, you’ll know that they should still be able to stay in their home if you pass away.
Decreasing cover – sometimes called mortgage protection – can help those you care for pay off a repayment mortgage (or other long-term loan) if you die during your policy term.
Your life cover will last for a specific length of time, and your monthly payments will stay the same. But since the value of what you’re paying off gradually decreases over time, so does the cover.
If you’re a parent
According to the ONS (2019), Footnote [1] an estimated 1% of children in England and Wales born between 1971 and 2000 lost their mother before they were 16 years old.
It’s understandable that people often think about life insurance when they have a child because, whether you work or not, raising them is expensive.
If you work, it’s likely a fair amount of your income, supports your children’s wants and needs. School trips, clubs, toys, it all adds up. Consider whether your children would have the same quality of life if your money were to stop. And if you’re a single mother, think about who‘d look after your kids if you die and what financial support they’d need.
As a stay-at-home mum, you might wonder whether you need life insurance if you don’t get paid for working. But you still need to consider who’d take care of the kids if you pass on. Your partner or family could benefit from the support of a carer. And money from a life insurance policy could help with that.
Sometimes known as family protection, level cover lets you leave behind a lump sum for those you love and support. You choose how long you want your cover to run for and how much you want to leave behind. The amount we'll pay stays the same – unlike with decreasing cover – and so do your premiums. But this usually makes level cover more expensive.
If you’re single and don’t own a property or have children
Think about anyone who might struggle without your income. For example, do you rent a property with friends who’ve built a life there? Is there anyone in your family who might still need financial support if you die? Life insurance can help them stay on their feet even after you’ve gone.
Plus, the lump sum can go towards anything. So, it could help to pay for your funeral or anything your friends and family would like to do as a tribute to your life.
What kind of life insurance should you get?
It depends on your circumstances – think about who and what you want to protect. Your home, your family, both?
Think about how things might change over time. How long might your loved ones need financial support? Or, if you have one, when might your partner retire?
We offer critical illness cover too. You can add it alongside your life insurance policy as protection in case you become critically ill with one of the 52 conditions we cover. It pays out a tax-free lump sum that you can use however you like – whether that’s to help cover health costs, monthly expenses, or any income you lose while getting better. Find out more about critical illness cover here.
And, if you’re a mum, there’s cover for your children as well. If they have a critical illness we cover, we’ll pay up to £25,000, or 50% of the cover amount (whichever is lower).
Plus, both our level and decreasing cover help look after you while you’re still enjoying life. Get annual health check-ups as well as help with nutrition, exercise, mental health, and stress through our smartphone app, Aviva DigiCare+.
Please be aware that the benefits of the app don't form part of your cover, and they could change, or be removed, in the future. This is a non-contractual benefit Aviva can change or withdraw at any time.