Compare and find affordable life insurance policies from just £5 per month with uSwitch
Choosing your life insurance with uSwitch is easy – just fill in your details and we’ll show you a range of comprehensive and affordable life insurance policies.
How does life insurance work?
Whether you’re looking to protect your mortgage or leave something behind for loved ones, there’s a life insurance policy to suit your situation. Different types of life insurance work in different ways:
- Level term life insurance – if you pass away during the policy term your insurer will pay the policy benefit, a lump sum agreed at the start of the policy
- Level term life insurance and critical illness insurance – if you pass away or are diagnosed with a critical illness pre-defined by your insurer (such as cancer, heart attack, stroke or loss of limb), your insurer will pay out the amount you’re covered for
- Mortgage protection insurance – also known as decreasing term insurance. If you pass away your insurer will payout the calculated amount of cover at that time – the amount of cover reduces in line with your repayment mortgage
- Mortgage protection and critical illness insurance – if you pass away or are diagnosed with a critical illness your insurer will payout the calculated amount of cover at that time – the amount of cover reduces in line with your repayment mortgage
What to check before taking out life insurance
Before you compare life insurance quotes, it’s important to check the following details:
- The amount of cover you’ve chosen – this should be enough to cover your debts and main outgoings
- The premiums are fixed for the term of the life insurance policy
- The life assurance policy is in trust – this ensures any pay-outs will not be subject to inheritance tax
- The type of policy you’ve chosen is suitable for your circumstances
It’s also important to consider how your family would cope financially if you were to die. As well as the mortgage and bills, think of how much money they would need to maintain a comfortable lifestyle.
Life insurance guides
You may see life insurance sometimes referred to as life assurance, but there is a small key difference between the two.
Life assurance does not cover a fixed term, but is designed to cover you for the rest of your life. As the name implies, death is assured, and thus the policy will cover you when you die. On the other hand, life insurance means that the policy can cover you in the event that you die during the length of the term i.e. term life insurance.
While you can compare life insurance on uSwitch, you can also check our advice guides for the facts on how to buy cheap life insurance, life assurance for over 50s, level term life insurance, and critical illness cover.