How much life insurance

[flummingbird]

I need some advice please...

I am a single parent (her dad is involved). I am in the process of buying a house but can't decide how much insurance I need. It's approx a 65% mortgage as I have equity in my current house.

Is there a point in covering the entire outstanding amount of the mortgage as she wouldn't stay here if something happened to me, she would go and live with her dad. He's terrible with money so I'd need to put any payout in trust, so what's the point of paying off the house?

Or am I thinking about it all wrong?

How old is the child? Have you thought about what might happen if both of you were to die /be incapacitated in short succession and how that might affect any decisions re insurance and wills?

Ideally both of you need it but firstly check if you get anything from your workplace (death in service award) Is a decreasing life insurance policy an option I.e designed to pay off a repayment mortgage but payout reduces inline with expected decrease as your mortgage balance reduces? A will is useful to stipulate who cares for children in event of both parents death particularly for unmarried parents or those who are separated/ single.

Thanks for the replies. My DD is 6. I'm divorced from EXH, no way he will get or have life insurance (awful with money, wont have anything to leave her)

@Bunnycat101 I haven't thought about that no, I guess I need to also make a will then...

I don't know if there's a point getting it decreasing as she wouldn't keep/stay in the house unless she had "come of age", and even then I wouldn't expect her to really. Is just ~some~ money better than an arranged mortgage pay off??

I would suggest you talk to an insurance advisor who will do a review of your needs and give you some products and advice based on these

you could get some calls from some insurance companies who will go through these- legal and general/vitality etc if you go on their websites and ask for a quote

usually the conversations are around 30 mins and you can get the best of their knowledge

personally I like using brokers they take individual responsibility of your accounts and act as an intermediary if you experience any issues

Brilliant, will do. Thank you!!

@flummingbird I'm a single parent and took out life insurance in an amount that would pay off my mortgage as it stood at that point in time. It's non-decreasing as I figured that any surplus would just be a bonus to ds, as it only costs me £11pm at the original rate.

My intention would be that if I were to die before ds is 18, the mortgage would be paid off and the house would pass to ds. The property could then be let out and the rental income could be saved for ds to access when 18. At 18 ds could either live in the house or continue to use it as an income/investment.