The new parents guide to choosing Life Insurance

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Becoming a parent for the first time is a life-changing event. Suddenly, you go from being a carefree couple to a responsible family, with all the stresses and challenges which this amazing event entails. Because of this, it’s more important than ever before to make sure that you have the right protection in place to safeguard your new family financially, no matter what life throws at you.

Finding the right Life Insurance is one of the activities which should be near the top of any new parent’s list of things to do. A good Life Insurance policy will pay either a lump sum or a regular income to the surviving spouse, in the event that one parent dies. This supports the family to pay off a mortgage, and cope with ongoing financial demands. Having comprehensive cover in place for both parents is always a good idea, to safeguard the financial security of either spouse, offering the opportunity for the breadwinner to give up work to bring up the children if this is required.

There are a number of different types of insurance available for new parents, including Term Insurance, Level-term Insurance and Whole-of-life policies. Term insurance offers a cheap way of obtaining cover for a fixed period, which means that if your circumstances remain the same for the term you take out the policy, you don’t get your money back. The payments can be reduced as your needs change, in line with mortgage payments or other savings.

Level-term Insurance provides a fixed amount of income throughout the period you are covered, but this benefit obviously leads to higher premiums throughout the term of the cover. A Whole-of Life policy is designed to offer a return on an ongoing investment. More complex than other forms of cover, this offers a long-term option for the policyholder, which again will push up premiums.

Critical Illness cover enables new parents to implement a ‘safety net’ in the event that one partner is diagnosed with an illness which prevents them from earning an income or looking after the children. Again, the cost of premiums for this may be quite steep when compared with more simple products which simply pay off your mortgage in the event of your death.

The main considerations for new parents when it comes to buying Life Insurance are: How much cover is required? How long would you like to be covered for? These factors will be determined by how old your child is, how much you will need to pay off key debts such as the mortgage or loans, and whether or not you already have some form of protection in place through employee schemes and benefits.

To find the best and most suitable life insurance for you and your family, fill in the form at the top of the page.