Over 50 Life Insurance - What are your options

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Life insurance and in particular over 50 life insurance is a topic many people would rather avoid as it makes us consider our mortality - even if it's only briefly. If you have family or loved ones who count on you to care for them you should consider life insurance. Making an informed choice and understanding how this type of insurance works could save you money.

You don't have to be over 50 to consider life insurance but it can act as a reminder to start evaluating your options. To find the cheapest and best life insurance policy get a free quote from a life insurance broker and use comparison websites ASDA Financial Services and Staysure. We recommend using both as each may cover different insurers. Also, they periodically have promotions which may not be available on both comparison websites. Once you have used the comparison websites get free quotes directly from the leading over 50s life insurers as they may provide better value for money.

Life Insurance - Cheapest Quote
STEP 1: For the cheapest life insurance price we recommend getting a FREE quote from a specialist online life insurance broker. STEP 2: To make sure you have checked all life insurance policies get a quote from ASDA Over 50s Life Insurance or you can call ASDA for Free on 0808 2563423. They offer FREE no-obligation advice and guide you through the whole application process. STEP 3: Get quotes directly from the leading life insurers such as Sun Life, Engage Mutual, Liverpool Victoria and Staysure. By going direct you may get a better deal and it only takes a few minutes per quote.

Life Insurance Direct - Standard and Over 50s Life Insurance
Company	Information	Free Quote
	From as little as £5 per month. Quote SD1 if obtaining free quote by telephone.	Get Quote
	5% online discount. Guaranteed acceptance – and no medical needed. Over 50s life cover from just 27p a day.	Get Quote
	Life cover for the over 50's from £5 a month. Acceptance guranteed. Free £30 M&S voucher.	Get Quote
	If you’re aged 50-85, you could have affordable, no fuss life cover from just 14p a day.	Get Quote
	From £10 per month	Get Quote

So what are your life insurance options?

The first point to note is that not all over 50s life insurance policies are the same. Choose wisely and you can save money and your family will be financially compensated in the event of your death. Choose poorly and you could end up with a policy which is poor value for money.

Here's a tip. Start your search with "term insurance". Simply explained, the insurer guarantees to pay out the policy if you die within a certain time. However, no benefit will be paid if you survive to the end of the policy term.

Term insurance is the most affordable form of life insurance, with policies ranging from one year up to a few decades. Just remember life insurance for men tends to be more expensive due to age expectancy and things such as smoking also increase premiums.

Some of the main types of term insurance are:

Level Term Insurance
Increasing Term Insurance
Decreasing Term Insurance
Convertible Term Insurance
Renewable Term Insurance

Level Term Insurance

The policy is paid on death and the payout will remain the same throughout the term of the policy. At the end of the specified term, the policy simply expires and has no value.

Increasing Term Insurance

Such policies usually increase by 5% a year or in line with inflation. This type of policy can be beneficial if you intend to insure for a long period, helping to prevent rising prices from eating away at your cover.

Decreasing Term Insurance

The opposite of an Increasing Term policy a Decreasing Term results in the level of cover falling each year until the policy reaches zero. This type of cover is mainly used to assist in the repayment of loans.

Convertible Term Insurance

Allows you to convert your existing term insurance policy into a 'whole of life' or endowment policy. The beauty of such a policy is you cannot be refused a new policy based on the state of your health. However, you will incur higher premiums - usually 10% higher than basic policies.

Renewable Term Insurance

A renewable term insurance policy allows you to renew your existing policy at its expiration. Much like convertible term insurance you will be able to renew your policy irrespective of your state of health. However, some policies may not be renewal if you're over a certain age at time of renewal, for example over 65 years.

Other types of life insurance policies

Whole-of-life policies provide the policyholder with cover for their entire life, rather than a fixed term. The policy will only be paid out in the event of death with the beneficiaries receiving a lump sum.

Depending on the policy, policyholders may need to make ongoing contributions for the life of the policy or the payments may cease once the policyholder reaches a certain age. Typically, contributions for whole-of-life policies are investment based and future benefits may fluctuate depending on the performance of the investment.

It's also worth noting that such policies tend to have review dates. The insurer will compare the value of your policy with the benefits it's expected to provide. This can result in the insurer asking policyholders to increase their contributions. Alternatively, the insurer may leave the contributions at the same level if they are satisfactory.

How much life insurance is needed?

A good rule of thumb is buying a life insurance policy worth about seven times your yearly income. So if you make £25,000 a year, an insurance policy of £175,000.

How much does life insurance cost?

The cost of life insurance depends on a number of factors:

Your age
Your sex (male tend to pay higher premiums)
Your health
Behaviour such as smoking
What kind of life insurance you choose
The insurer you purchase the policy from

What to do next

Your best starting point is to compare life insurance policies across the entire market. You can do this by visiting the over 50 life insurance page and getting free quotes from both ASDA and Staysure. You can get a free, no obligation quote online in under 2 minutes. Between them they which will check several hundred policies, saving you considerable time, effort and money.

Just remember Over 50 life insurance can be used in the same formats as standard life insurance, so it is advisable to determine if a standard policy or an over 50 life insurance policy is more suitable.