to expect parents to have life insurance as a matter of course?

[probablyoverinsured]

Is it not the first thing you think about when you first hold your newborn? How can I best care for this little one? What do I need to do/sacrifice to ensure their welfare? in any circumstances?

I appreciate you can't be insured for every eventuality, and with the best will in the world, you can think you have taken out adequate insurance, and in the event it doesn't actually pay out for some reason or other.

But it's about £2 a week, in most cases - surely this is factored into the cost of providing for a child, when you do your calculations? I expect there are a few that can't afford it, but most can.

I am just amazed to hear of someone recently, really struggling, with no life insurance payout for the children, because there was no policy.

Am I living in a fool's paradise? Don't most parents have life insurance? Am I just showing my ignorance? Why wouldn't a parent have life insurance? Do you? if not, why not?

Until the day you die unexpectedly.

Pretty much ALL life insurance has terminal illness cover. Effectively if they know they are going to be paying, they will pay a year early.

That’s not the point, it’s always linked to life insurance, not stand alone. Once an illness has cut life expectancy to 12 months, they prepay the life cover

Unless you have a massive mortgage or lots of health conditions you need to redo this as you're being ripped off. Unless it does cover critical illness and you're unaware.

Also critical illness cover and income protection are sometimes even more important than life cover, they cost more because they cover more and statistically more likely to be claimed upon. A good financial planner or decent mortgage advisor would set you up with all as needed (and within budget) as part of sorting your mortgage. Or separately as required if you're mortgage free. Worth looking into for those that have children or partners or want to protect themselves if single.

As a single parent I looked into this and it was very expensive - for not very much in return. If you have some money that would go to your child in the event of your death- eg equity in your house - I think it's better to save what you would have to pay in insurance premiums. I don't think it's worth it. And I think it makes even less sense if your DC has 2 parents, and possibly even other supportive relatives.

I have life assurance and income protection through work but DH is under a consultant for heart problems and insurers are understandably reluctant to cover him until he’s discharged back to the GP.

This

But in the case of minor children say, a 2 and 5 year old most people don't have enough in equity to finish rearing these kids to age 18 and then send them to uni. If something happens to the parent(s), who do they think is going to fund the next 10-15 years of childrearing?

So, what's the plan, then? Just roll the dice and assume others will pick up the slack if something happens to the parent(s)?

Save as much as I can and hope for the best

£2 a week will buy a shit policy. For some with pre-existing conditions life insurance can be expensive, its better than it was, at one point my best quote was nearly £200 a month, sod that. It has come down much more in recent years, but those of us with chronic conditions are more likely to have a lower income and higher outgoings, so having a policy that is just 10-20% more expensive than average can be unaffordable.

We have it, even before DD was born. First just attached to the mortgage but when she was born we upped it to DH having critical illness and death cover as he is the higher earner. It was set up to last until DD is 18 so if he wouldn't be able to work anymore we had income.

I am covered via work with a 8x annual salary life insurance.

I know unfortunately cases in my family and colleagues where a spouse (and always the higher earner) got so serious ill that they weren't able to work at all/not for several years and then only with restrictions. In all cases the family had young children. Without insurance in place, they would have lost their house and ended on benefits.

While insurance is hardly £2/week, it is worth having it.

So I should have taken out a policy when I was 6? My husband before birth?

Yes, if it’s not prohibitively expensive. Just try getting it with existing health conditions at an affordable cost.

It's an individual choice isn't it.

Weigh up the risks, dependent on your own situation.

Many people are anecdotally talking about tragedies that do occur, but let's face it, most of the time don't, hopefully and thankfully.

Putting in £100 a month from age 20, say till 60 is £1200 a year; £50k over said time. Or instead Overpay from the beginning on your mortgage and that £50k is possibly £100k (cos you no longer pay the interest on that bit for the next 25 years).

I am covered via work with a 8x annual salary life insurance.

So many people have mentioned this as their alternative. Which is fine if you stay in that job/aren't made redundant/have to stop working due to ill health, before the illness actually kills you (as in the case of my late DH).

By the time you lose/leave your job with the nice comfy death in service package, you're older or have more of a medical history, and may well find it difficult to replace it with an insurance policy.

To get a substantial payment on death required a really substantial investment. My DCs are now adults. And actually, bringing children up doesn't have to be very expensive, once they're no longer in paid nursery. And yes, the equity in the house and the money in my pension scheme would have more than covered the cost of their uncle and aunt bringing them up (which they had agreed to do if necessary). I'm glad I didn't throw that money away. I don't pay for pet insurance, on the same basis.

I'm a single parent and nope don't have it.
So many circs where it wouldn't pay out.
It's not £2 a WEEK, it's not even £2 a day it's more like £100 a month.

My son will get a good chunk of equity from the house if I pop my clogs.

Right now I couldn't afford it, I work public sector and pay rises for last 12 years have been massively below inflation.
Right now when my energy company keep trying to bill me more than my mortgage I can't afford it.

Well OP you can expect all you like, some people are looking down the back of the sofa right now for a couple of quid to buy food for their kids.
Maybe you should expect that everyone living in a nice middle class bubble to have life insurance?

We pay £40 a month on a joint policy . Pays out £500k if one of us dies. Have critical illness through work at £12 a month that pays our £100k and then death in service

You do not have to literally die at work for your beneficiaries to get the death in service benefit (what an odd idea, in over 35 years of working I've never had someone die at work, though I have dealt with a few death in service claims), you only have to be on the payroll.

Life insurance doesn't actually have many situations where it won't pay out. Dead or alive is pretty much a binary concept. Dead - pay out. Alive - no pay out.

Some won't pay in the first year, some don't cover existing conditions, but you know that when you buy it, and some don't cover suicide. But you buy what you need, you can buy cover without those exclusions. But probably not for £2 a week.

I don't have kids so I've never bothered with life insurance.

We don't have it anymore because we have paid off our mortgage, get a good death in service benefit each , could manage on one salary and the children are a lot older now.

Most need that as an absolute minimum, critical illness insurance too preferably, although I appreciate CI premiums have risen astronomically, I wonder why?