Four things to think about before taking out life insurance

Leaving a gap in the family is hard for everyone, so the last thing they need is to have their home and lifestyle changed too. Think about how your partner and/or children would manage without your income. For example, would there be enough to continue mortgage repayments?

Financial stability is a key ingredient for a family unit, so it's important to get the right cover to ensure that everyone will be taken care of if you die within the policy term.

• Living cost support
  Let's say you want to support your family's living costs like mortgage or rent, food and travel. A policy offering 'level cover' could be the solution. And with Aviva's Life Insurance Plan you'll get a fixed payout if you die or are diagnosed with a terminal illness as we define it, and it's unlikely you'll live beyond 12 months. All you need to do is pick a lump sum, decide your policy's length, and then pay the monthly premium until the policy's term ends.
• Inflation protection
  By choosing 'increasing cover', the lump sum payable would change in line with inflation. And although monthly payments will also go up, it helps ensure the cover you choose keeps up with changing living costs.
• Mortgage protection
  You could also get life insurance, as the lump sum could help cover the costs of your mortgage. This could make it easier for your family to remain in your home if you’re no longer around. This type of mortgage protection cover is often called decreasing cover, as the payout decreases each month, broadly in line with how much is expected to remain on the mortgage balance.

These are not savings or investment products, they will only pay out on a successful claim.

If you'd like some help deciding how much cover you need, our life insurance calculator can help.

You can take out a joint policy to cover a partner too, as it could be more cost effective. But bear in mind that joint policies only pay out once, so it won't cover your partner if you pass away and vice versa.

You can also take out separate policies. If one person's policy pays out, the second person's policy continues, even if the first person's policy ends.

No one wants to think about getting seriously ill, but it can strike at any time. And if you have children or other people relying on you, it could cause even more disruption to their lives if you're not covered. So, it could be worth thinking about critical illness cover too, in case a future illness means you're off work for a while.