Talk to me about life insurence please.

[TitsalinaBumSquash]

I have been meaning for ages to get some life insureance. My Mum dies in April, leaving not a bean and the pressure it put on everyone was huge, luckily we were given a government grant for the funeral but it didn't cover it!

Anyway as I say I have been meaning to get some LI, I am confused though, there are so many plans and policiys. What do I need?

All I want it to do is pay for my funeral in the event of my death so my family doesn't need to worry about it. Any extra is a bonus.

Speak to an IFA. They are the only ones allowed to give advice on this sort of thing.

If you just want to pay for your funeral, you need what's called a whole of life policy. Basically it means that you pay a premium for the whole of your life until you die , at which point a lump sum will be paid. If you stop paying then you get nothing back, it's not a savings plan.

It should be fairly cheap as you will only need a small payout of about £5k or so.

Some companies do specific funeral plans.

Yes a simple policy that only pays out on death and has no other investment benefit is the one you want. They are often called 'Term Policies'. There are specialist Funeral Plans from places like the Co Op that do the same thing but pay your funeral costs.

Dont allow yourself to be talked into a policy that ofers investment benefits or any other kind of complicated benefit. They are all expensive and generate commisison for the sales people.

I got a Term Policy from Legal and General. It pays out when I die. I can cancel it any time.

A term policy only lasts for a certain time though, normally the term of a mortgage. You need one that doesn't finish after a specified term, but will continue until you die.