As you leave the maternity ward knowing that a tiny baby is totally reliant on your care and attention, the life-changing experience of parenthood starts to kick in. Too often, it takes those turning points to remind us of how valuable being present really is. That’s why life insurance for new parents and other types of financial protection can be so important, especially with the power of hindsight.

Tragic events can happen at the most unexpected times. And while nothing can make up for losing a loved one, the money from life insurance can at least help remove financial worry at a difficult time.

The cost of life insurance is usually lower if you take out the policy sooner than later. We offer our customers several options to protect their families, including:    

Level life cover is where you choose how much your family might receive and how long you want to be covered for. So, if you asked for £250,000 over a 30-year policy, we'd pay this out if you die at any point during those 30 years. There's also the option to help protect the payout from inflation. To explore your cover needs further, you can use our cover calculator.

Decreasing life cover is a popular option with homeowners, offering a way to help cover a mortgage or other outstanding loans if you pass away during the policy term. This cover reduces over time, roughly in line with your repayment mortgage, so it usually costs less than level life cover. Figure out how much life insurance you might need with our calculator.

With both options described above, there’s no cash-in value. Your cover will end if you stop your monthly payments.

Find out more about our life insurance.

Free parent cover can be thought of as baby steps while considering long-term life insurance options. This policy provides a £15,000 death benefit, free of charge, if a parent dies within twelve months of the policy start date. Parents can take out a policy for any of their children under four years old. So consider it a supportive form of life insurance for new parents.
Read more on our free parent life cover.

Income protection cover pays you a proportion of your income every month if you’re unable work due to an injury or illness. It’s up to you to decide how long to wait until payments begin, and the longer you delay, the less it costs you. This gives you some security that your monthly outgoings are covered so you can focus on getting better.
Read more about our income protection cover.

Critical illness cover offers a one-off cash payment if you're diagnosed with one of 52 life-changing impacts on your health that meet our policy conditions. It's important to note that this isn’t a death benefit, so you won't be covered if you don't survive ten days following a diagnosis. Additionally, you need to know that there is no cash-in value, and you need to make payments every month to be covered.

Children's critical illness and death benefit

Children over 30 days of age up to the age of eighteen are also covered under our critical illness policy (or 21 if they're in full-time education). If your child is diagnosed with an illness that meets our definitions, we'll pay either £25,000 or 50% of the cover amount (whichever is lower). This covers one claim per child.

Children's death benefit pays a lump sum of £5,000 per child. 

Read more about our critical illness cover.

  Life insurance [Level Cover] Life insurance [Decreasing cover] Critical illness [Level] Critical illness [Decreasing] Income Protection cover
Policy length From one to 50 years, or until you’re 90 years old. From one to 50 years, or until you’re 90 years old. From 5 to 50 years (or until you’re 75). From 5 to 50 years (or until you’re 75). From five to 52 years (or until you’re 71)
Payout Lump sum up to £5 million if you pass away within the policy term. Lump sum up to £5 million if you pass away within the policy term. Lump sum (up to £1 million) if you're diagnosed with serious health condition during the policy term. Up to £1 million decreasing if you're diagnosed within the policy term. £500 to £1,500 a month. 
Type of payout Fixed. Option to adjust amount to protect against inflation. Reduces over the policy life. Fixed. Option to adjust amount to protect against inflation. Reduces over the policy life. You choose your monthly benefit and deferred period. 
Premium Fixed (option to pay extra for inflation protection). Fixed (price tends to be lower than level cover). Fixed (option to pay extra for inflation protection). Fixed (price tends to be lower than level cover). Fixed.
Additional features Inflation protection - maximum annual increase 15% (cost) and 10% (payout). If you separate from your partner, we can split your joint policy into single policies^. Option to change length of cover. If you separate from your partner, we can split your joint policy into single policies^. Inflation protection - maximum annual increase 15% (cost) and 10% (payout). Includes joint cover, additional critical illnesses and children's cover. If you separate from your partner, we can split your joint policy into single policies^. Includes additional critical illnesses and children's cover. If you separate from your partner, we can split your joint policy into single policies^. Increase your cover amount if your mortgage or rental payments go up.

^Subject to the application being accepted on our standard terms.

Looking for life insurance?

Our life insurance page explains what you need to know about our cover.

Contact us

Still need help? Give us a call.

0800 068 5549

Monday to Friday: 8:00am - 6:00pm

Saturday and Sunday: Closed

For our joint protection, telephone calls may be recorded and/or monitored. Calls to 0800 numbers from UK landlines and mobiles are free. Our opening hours may be different depending on which team you need to speak to.

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