Undecided whether to cancel our life insurance

[ItsStillWork]

We have a joint life insurance policy which pays out once. It pays 425k upon death of me or dh. It also has 75k of critical illness cover included in the policy.

i took it out 9 years ago when we didn’t have much savings and had a mortgage. We’re now mortgage free.

the children are 13 and 9 years old. House is worth around 650k.

im a SAHM and dh was very recently a high earner but has recently had a big decline in work.

the policy is £106 a month. Im late 30s, dh late 40s.

i dont know whether to cancel it. Dh has always resented it and the policy was taken out for my own piece of mind. We have a lot more savings now than we did 9 years ago.

Maybe you could change it to a cheaper one?

I wouldn't just have no life insurance though.

Tried to change it but it needed a solicitor because our current one is in trust.

if I cancel this one and set up another one then I would be paying more as we’re now much older.

dh has since developed liver disease (stage one) that would need to be declared on a new policy plus I’ve had low grade skin cancer (just cut away, no further treatment required), so that would also need to be mentioned.

If you have enough money to live on for 10 years, why are you trying to save £100 on something that could keep you afloat if the worst happens?

Then no I would suck it up.

Use the savings even if you have enough to live on for 10 years.

I'm living with incurable cancer as a mum in my 40's. We have life insurance that will clear the mortgage should I die or be given a prognosis of under 12 months. Thankfully I'm not there yet. Out biggest regret is not having taken out critical illness cover that would have paid out on diagnosis.

I'm too ill to work. We've gone from comfortably off to living in a strict budget. We are also looking to borrow extra to make some essential renovations/adaptations to our house, which will increase our mortgage by around £350 per month and completely remove our ability to save anything. Due to my pre-existing condition we will not be able to get life insurance to cover this extra.

I would urge everyone to take all the life insurance they can get. Even with your mortgage paid off, the payout in the event of one of your deaths/ill health will still take a huge weight off your minds and allow you choices.

If the worst happened and your DH died suddenly, you would need that money surely?

My dbro died suddenly without life insurance and it’s been really tough for my sil, he never would have wanted that.

I am looking to get another life insurance policy because I work full time and am now the higher earner while DH is retired as he’s older. If DH passed away I would get half his pension and still plan to work so I’d be okay. DH would lose my income and my pension isn’t anywhere near as good so we will insure me for the next 10 years or so.

I’m a huge advocate for this type of insurance. Critical illness insurance paid for our extension 20 years ago when I had cervical cancer. The unexpected can happen to anyone, best to be prepared.

I have paid out for life and critical illness insurance for us both for years but I don’t begrudge the peace of mind. My mum died young of breast cancer. She’d first been diagnosed younger than I am now and she’d been ill to varying degrees with it for many years before she passed so it’s always been in the forefront of my mind that it might come to me too.

The premium went up when I got over 50 and we have paid the mortgage off so we did discuss if it’s still worth it but DC are in their teens one at school and one off to uni so I think we still need decent earning power for a bit longer yet. Ours does pay out at diagnosis and covers a generous range of conditions. I can imagine that if I knew I had limited time left I would not want to spend any of it working even if I technically could so I hope this would allow me that freedom.

Do not cancel as you never know what’s around the corner. I got cancer at 45. If I didn’t have the critical illness (£100k) we would have had the sell the house. Whilst waiting for benefits we were going to the food bank.

ive almost paid the mortgage off, got a woodburner and new bathroom.

I now have a 5 bed house by the sea…. If I hadn’t had life insurance it would be a very different story!

I wouldn’t cancel it completely. You could look at reducing the premium instead (for example, to around £50–55 per month). A proper review could bring the cost down while keeping the cover in place. I know an adviser who can also arrange £300–£400 cashback and reviews the policy every couple of years to keep it competitive. They can also set it up in trust, which can help with inheritance tax planning. If you want, you can DM me and I’ll share the details.