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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask how many have life insurance for both of you and critical illness cover?

55 replies

missslc · 24/03/2011 03:29

Okay so I have never had life insurance but suddenly think we should have it as our son is 15 months. I was ill a month back and was concerned it was going to be something serious. My first thought was if the worst came to the worst my DH would be in a real pickle as he could not afford to pay child care....so am now looking into getting it.

I think it is a no brainer but am trying to decide what coverage to get and whether a 21 year term is enough? I guess that means that in 21 years time we stop paying and stop being covered and hope we will never need the coverage?

Just wondering if the critical illness is worth having- fairly small lump sum (36K) for about 28 quid a month. The life insurance is about the same for modest but wage like monthly pay outs to both of us, in the event of one of us trotting off this mortal coil before we would prefer.

Any advice from people who have it in terms of the length of term worth having? I know kind of silly question but you know what I mean.

OP posts:
Original poster
missslc · 24/03/2011 21:17

Thanks everyone- all your replies are really helpful. I think we will get both of us covered- maybe me for a bit less to cover child care.

Think I will skip the critical illness cover from what people suggest on here- we do have savings so would be able to manage for a year I guess with no income.

Is it better to take out a longer term if the price difference is small_ I suppose it must be since otherwise when the 21 year term is up you have no cover and would have to start a new policy which would cost much more? So a 25 year policy is better than say a 21 year policy?

OP posts:
HooverTheHamaBeads · 24/03/2011 21:34

We have both life and critical illness for the both of us.

PlanetEarth · 24/03/2011 21:51

We have both, for both of us. In some ways I think critical illness cover is more essential than life cover - it's cheaper to be dead than seriously ill! If you're alive but incapacitated, not only do you still need food etc. but you may need care, by your partner or someone else. That would get really expensive.

As for it not paying out very often, I can't say (yet - hopefully never!) But we talked about this and somehow got the giggles as we talked about the things it wouldn't cover. DH said, "If I got such-and-such a condition and wasn't covered, I could chop off my arm and claim for that instead!"

ivykaty44 · 24/03/2011 21:52

I only have life insurance for me Grin

MavisEnderby · 24/03/2011 21:59

Myself and dp do/did.Joint life insurance with the mortgage we took out.Critical illness is another ketttle of fisnh,even tho dp was very ill for a few years before he died his illness didn't fit the criterion for CIC,if you do get this read smallprint carefully.Would reccomend LI for you both though.I would be in a right pickle now if we had not had it as it has enabled the mortgage to be paid off.Oh and PLEASE make a will.Dp died intestate and as we weren't married was a huge nightmare.

MissMaryofSweden · 24/03/2011 22:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ivykaty44 · 24/03/2011 22:06

even if you are married it can be a huge nightmare without a will, so don't think you only need one if you aren't married or you think you don't have a lot etc etc - if you love your family get a will it costs about £100 so not really a huge amount and will last for years if you think forward a few decades - so not relaly that expensive

FreeButtonBee · 24/03/2011 22:06

Yes to crit illness but only cos i work ina bank which provides it for pennies. Never though it worth it from a commercial basis. Life insurance is work based too - linked to pension.dh has life insurance but not crit ill.

Northernlurker · 24/03/2011 22:08

life insurance yes - both have term policies and also death in service. Critical illness only on a small part of the mortgage - too expensive to have much!

COCKadoodledooo · 24/03/2011 22:29

We both have life and CI policies, along with an endowment we took out when we got our mortgage (that we no longer have). The latter has CI cover too, for our children as well as us. I believe dh has a death in service benefit too.

blueshoes · 24/03/2011 22:31

If you are employed, check whether you have death-in-service insurance as a benefit. Where I work, it is typically 2-4x annual salary.

I don't believe in critical illness insurance for all the reasons girlynut said further down. But because my new employer was offering it quite cheaply, I took a small cover.

Northeastgirl · 24/03/2011 22:38

No disrepect to anyone here, but I'd get proper financial advice on this one. Everyone's circumstances are different. Generally I think critical illness isn't such a good bet as it only covers certain illnesses and there are lots of exclusions.

If you are working then an income protection policy is worth a look. You pay X per month and it pays about 50% of your salary until you reach X age, after an initial delay of X months. Premium depends on level of cover, when it is to start and stop.

We have life policies and used to have income protection when I was working

Original poster
missslc · 24/03/2011 22:38

I'm so sorry Mavis that you have had to deal with that loss-very tough. Miss Mary- glad your dd is on the mend and again -what a hard year it must have been.I had no idea you could get cover for your child- in the event of them being ill.

My DH has got some protection with work- only 3 times his salary though.

Neither of us have wills and 'his' flat is on his name. I didn't think this would be a problem if you are married- and the savings in my name would surely go straight to him?

Okay so will do the LI pronto- it did take a health scare for us to realise it would be a good idea to have some....we are ex pats so will be paying a higher amount but I am surprised that the premium is more affordable than I thought.

OP posts:
Meglet · 24/03/2011 22:43

yes to both (am a lone parent), plus salary protection and a will.

LadyOfTheManor · 24/03/2011 22:57

Yes to both. For me and dh. But we have separate policies (as joint policies only pay out the once).

We have bought 18 years (so when ds is 19 it ends) then we will renew it. Ting is, if you buy 40 years now (me personally I am 24) then when I'm 64 it'll be rather a lot for the premium. I'll buy it again in 18 years time.

Liverpool Victoria are cheap (www.moneysupermarket.com has some amazing advice on this). I think I pay £5.70 a month and dh pays £5.20 for 150k coverage NON mortgage protected (as we own our house outright) but including critical illness (some policies cover this automatically).

Please remember that a "sweep" is indeed a medical test, and failure to "admit" to this can determine whether or not they will pay out.

LadyOfTheManor · 24/03/2011 22:57

*thing not ting I am not Rasta Mouse...

westerngirl · 25/03/2011 00:02

life insurance, yes. Mortgage insurance, yes. If you get a conversion option, you may be able to continue insurance after term without another medical.

If anyone has children, get life insurance as early as possible. Also if you are younger it will be at a cheaper rate (before the medical problems shove up price or even prevent you getting cover). Agree that wills and guardianship/trustee issues very important. You never know what life will throw at you and at best will have a plan and peace of mind.

DoubleNegativePanda · 25/03/2011 00:15

We both have life insurance. I'm not sure exactly what critical illness is (although can guess). I do have an insurance policy specifically for cancer, as reproductive cancers are very prevalent on my mother's side.

LaWeasel · 25/03/2011 00:16

We have both - we used an Independent Financial Advisor, when they get quotes for you they have to show you a breakdown of whoe gives them a cut to promote their product and how much it is. It's a bit lazy, but just saved me so much time and helped when I had no clue what I was looking for.

Ours ended up being with LV too.

Stangirl · 25/03/2011 04:18

Life insurance yes, cic no.

FancyALittle · 25/03/2011 07:17

We do for my DP, and I definitely suggest seeing an Independent Financial Advisor to make sure you get the cover that matches your circumstances. My advice (and cautionary tale) is DO NOT PUT IT OFF.

We had Career/Income Protection Insurance for DP (similar to springbokdoc ) and we always planned to get life insurance as soon as we were married - 2 months before we got married, cue DP being diagnosed with cancer. Having the Income Protection Insurance put our minds at ease when there were bigger things going on and although we didn't need to claim it, it was great peace of mind.

It's been a year all clear now and we have recently been searching for life insurance with our IFA. We got three quotes for a £150k 35 year level term (we don't have a mortgage yet).

Two for over £150 per month. We were crapping ourselves... and finally Zurich came through with a £9 per month quote. If he'd not had the diagnosis, we'd have had a much easier time finding something affordable.

That and the Death in Benefit payment would be sufficient for us right now without DC (you can take out as many policies as you like, so when we get a mortgage we will get another policy, and after DC a policy for me).

merrywidow · 25/03/2011 07:38

my H had no life insurance/ mortgage pay off insurance and left no will.

i was not on the mortgage ( very controlling man )

i am lucky the equity in the house is intact. All the cash went on his debts.

My H was an accountant. We have two dcs. Totally irresponsible in my opinion.

I have always maintained my career as an 'insurance' and have alwaus had any of my own debt covered by insurance.

This thread is useful as I am about to begin looking for more insurance to protect me and DCs

merrywidow · 25/03/2011 07:41

forgot to say H died but you probably realised that anyway

JustaNickname · 27/03/2011 15:09

I'm 21 and while taking out a loan to pay for college courses the bank manager recommended that I sit down with the person who deals with insurance etc. I ended up taking out life insurance. Didn't feel pressured into it at all and now I have peace of mind that in the event something happens to me my son will be financially provided for. I didn't take out serious illness cover as I just couldn't afford both although if I could I would have them both.

saggarmakersbottomknocker · 27/03/2011 15:12

We have life cover on both and critical illness for dh. We both also have death in service benefit at work although mine is a paltry sum.

We have separate decreasing life cover for the mortgage.

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