A Big Welcome To Pension Life Assurance
Posted by Tousala | Posted in General Interest | Posted on 04-11-2009
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Summary
There are various sorts of cheap life insurance cover available in the market. Many clients are now benefiting from lower premiums by changing to pension term assurance (PTA) because of the tax benefits on the cost of this type of insurnace plan. It is not, however, suitable for all clients.
It was revealed recently that the cost of life cover has dropped dramatically in recent years. What sort of policy is most suitable for you?
Term cover is the cheapest and simplest typeof life insurance cover – you pay a monthly premium for an agreed amount of life insurance for an agreed number of years that the policy will run for. If you die, it then pays out a cash sum. If the policy reaches the end of its term and you are still surviving, no money is paid out.
There are several sorts of term insurance: “level” term where the payout is a fixed amount; “decreasing” term, which is always quite a lot cheaper because the cash to be paid out decreases each year. In most cases this sort of insurance policy is taken out to cover a mortgage.
There is also “increasing” term insurance where the cover increases annually in line with inflation; this can be a good way of protecting your financesagainst inflation.
Joint life plans are very benefitial for couples who require both of their incomes to pay the mortgage because a payout is made if either policyholder dies.
Family Income Benefit offers the customer’s beneficiaries a regular income from the date of death until the policy ends rather than paying out one single lump sum.
The amount of insurance you need will relate to your own individual circumstances. Most large and medium-sized companies offer a death in service benefit which can often payout as much as four times to your partner if you were to die whilst still employed. Therefore if you are reasonably confident about remaining in employment, you may conclude that paying for additional life insurance with another arrangement was superfluous.
The cost of a life insurance plan depends on numerous factors, namely the sort of plan, the number of years it should be in force, and certain medical questions – whether you are over-weight or whether you smoke. Insurers are also coming down hard on those who are over-weight.
There are major advantages to moving to pension term insurance. If you already have a term insurance policy which pays out a l;arge tax free lump sum, you can save a lot your monthly premiums by changing to a pension term cover. The reason is because under new pension regulations, most customers qualify for tax relief on the money they pay for life cover if they opt for a pension term assurance (PTA) policy. PTA is basically the same as standard term insurance in so far as it is still protection-only. So it pays out if you were to die within the term but if you survive, the policy has no value.
However, not everyone stands to benefit from switching to PTA. For instance, if you purchased your life insurance plan a long time ago, the more expensive premiums that you may now have to pay owing to the increase in your agecould well outweigh the benefit of tax relief. Similarly, if you have had a significant illness since you bought your plan, you will probably be better off keeping your term insurance.

