The UK housing market is starting to settle down post-Brexit, but the chronic shortage of affordable housing is still causing prices to rise. This week the government have announced a £5bn injection to get new homes built on brownfield sites.
But, in the short term, many people are taking advantage of rising prices to sell up and find somewhere new. Therefore, the demand for life insurance to cover new mortgages is also rising.
To help customers find the best deal possible whilst searching for life insurance, we’ve come up with seven steps to follow so that you can obtain the right cover at a fair price:
- Life insurance gets more expensive with age, therefore it’s best to apply sooner rather than later. Some life insurers will even recalculate premiums on ages down to years and months.
- Seriously consider how long you need your policy for. Term assurance will cover you for a set length of time and can be used to cover important financial commitments such as a mortgage. . Whole of life assurance will cover you for the rest of your life and provides a guaranteed payout upon death, providing premiums are maintained.
- Term life insurance is always cheaper than whole of life assurance and will often provider a higher level of cover, so it is worth considering why you need the life insurance and whether a term assurance policy will be more cost effective.
- Buy premiums that are guaranteed, not reviewable. Guaranteed premiums may be higher initially but will not rise, whereas reviewable premiums are likely to be reviewed throughout the duration of the policy , potentially becoming unaffordable
- If you’re a smoker, give up smoking. Being a non-smoker could almost halve your life insurance costs.
- Avoid cash back or gimmicky gifts such as special offers, vouchers or ‘a free Parker pen’. These may seem appealing to begin with, but you may find you are paying a higher premium for the privilege.
- Adding medical conditions online can be confusing. Give us a call on 01243 784000 if you suffer from any medical conditions and we can ensure all disclosures are made correctly and you get the best price possible
PayingTooMuch.com director, and life insurance expert, Michael Ward said, "Almost all families need life insurance in some regard to cover mortgage repayments in the event of an unexpected death. Life insurance can also help support children in the event of an early death of both parents.”
"However, think carefully before buying life insurance direct from your bank, building society or an insurance company as premiums are rarely cheaper. Shop around and use an online insurance broker, such as PayingTooMuch.com. We compare prices from all the leading UK life insurance companies providing our customers with some excellent unbeatable premiums.
"The impact of smoking on premiums may sound obvious but if you have smoked in the last 12 months you must own up to this and buy a smoker rated policy at the outset. But you can buy a policy where the premiums can be dropped to the non-smoker rate without having to reapply. You will receive the savings immediately once you pass the ’12 months without smoking’ threshold, providing you let the insurer know."
