Life insurance for later in life
Preserve your legacy and help provide for your loved ones after your passing with life insurance for the over 50s
Key points:
- Life insurance pays out a sum of money upon your death
- Different types of life cover can help towards funeral costs or leaving some money to loved ones
- Options may include whole of life insurance and other life policies with varying terms
- Some life cover options for older adults are available without medical checks, within set age ranges.
Most term life insurance plans have a maximum expiry age, generally this is when you hit 90, but varies from provider to provider. Insuring yourself in your later years can help to give some support to those around you. It could help towards funeral costs or just offer a little financial boost for your family and loved ones.
Types of life cover for older adults
Making sure you’re covered in the best way is important. You need to consider how much money you wish to leave behind as this will decide what type of cover you'll need.
Guaranteed Whole of Life insurance
This type of cover lasts for as long as you live rather than a set period of time. It pays out a modest lump sum when you die, letting you leave a small gift to your loved ones. They can use the money for anything they like, including towards funeral costs.
Aviva's whole of life cover is called Over 50 Life Insurance. You won't need to carry out any medical checks, all we ask is how much you want your payout figure to be, or how much you’d like to pay as a monthly premium to give you a quote. The cover amount will be fixed, and inflation can reduce the real value over time. You'll be covered for your whole life and once you reach the policy anniversary after your 90th birthday, you won't pay a penny more.
We guarantee to cover you if you’re a UK resident with a legal right to live here. The UK must be your main home with no intentions to move. You must be aged between 50 and 80 at the start of the policy.
We'll pay out every penny of the cover amount as a lump sum if you die for any reason after the first 12 months of having the policy – or if you die because of an accident within the first 12 months. It's not a savings or investment product and will only pay out on a successful claim when you die. If premiums aren’t paid when due or if the policy is cancelled, the plan will end and you'll get nothing back.
However, if you die before the first 12 months are up and it wasn't an accidental death, we will return the premiums that have been paid.
Term life Insurance
Our Life Insurance Plan is a type of term cover. It’s usually more expensive the older you are but it can also give you a bigger payout.
There are few different types of term life insurance to consider. They all protect your loved ones for a set amount of time, or a term.
Decreasing cover is often called mortgage protection. It can help your loved ones pay off a mortgage or a long-term loan if you die during the policy term. You don't need to have a mortgage to get this cover.
The amount you owe on your mortgage usually goes down over time. This cover does the same. The payout gets smaller as time goes on. The amount paid each month stays the same.
Level cover means you pay the same amount each month. The payout stays the same for the whole term. Because the payout doesn't change, the cover usually costs more than decreasing cover. It's worth noting that this type of cover will not take into consideration inflation.
Increasing cover will change with rising prices and helps the policy to keep its real value over time. Your cover can automatically increase each year. Your premium may also increase.
Term life insurance isn't a savings or investment product and will only pay out on a successful claim. If premiums aren’t paid when due or if the policy is cancelled, the plan will end and you'll get nothing back.
Find out more about the difference between level cover and decreasing cover.
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