Over 50s life insurance

You will be covered if you were to pass away because of coronavirus, as long as you are outside of the waiting period. You can find out more about how coronavirus affects life insurance here.

When you’re over 50, whether life insurance is worth it depends on your personal circumstances. If you have a steady income which your dependents might not be able to do without, a life insurance policy works to make sure they are well looked after if you pass away.

The main differences between life insurance and over 50s life insurance are:

• Cover lasts a lifetime: Unlike standard life insurance, over 50s life insurance is designed to cover you for the rest of your life, as long as you keep up with your payments. Usually standard life insurance policies will only cover you for a set term
  
  
• No medical info needed: You’ll get guaranteed acceptance regardless of any medical conditions you have

As long as you’re age 50 to 80 (this can vary depending on your provider, so make sure to check their age limit), you should be eligible for over 50 life insurance. Do keep in mind that the older you are when you take out life insurance, the higher your premiums will be. For this reason, it may be worthwhile to take out your over 50 life insurance sooner rather than later.

You may be able to have more than one over 50 life insurance policy, but do check this with your life insurance provider. Make sure you check with your provider if there’s a maximum combined amount of cover for all the over 50 life insurance policies you hold with them. 

You won’t need a medical exam to get over 50 life insurance. Most life insurers will accept you whatever your medical history is, and you won’t have to pass any test or answer any health-related questions.

Joint over 50 life insurance policies may be hard to come across and aren’t common, but it’s worth asking your insurer if a joint policy is possible and comparing your options just to be sure.

With over 50 life insurance, no medical questions will be asked when you apply. This means you should be able to get over 50 life insurance with a pre-existing condition, but for peace of mind, it may be worthwhile checking this with your provider. Some policies can come with minimum claim periods. These are usually one or two years – if your dependants make a claim before the period has passed, they won’t get a full pay-out. This means that over 50 life insurance may not be worthwhile for those with a terminal illness.

How long you pay for over 50 life insurance will depend on the age you take out your policy, and the specifics of your cover. Some insurers stop payments at the age of 90, even though your cover will run for the rest of you life. 

Your premiums aren’t likely to go up with over 50 life insurance. This is because most premiums are fixed and won’t increase year by year. Make sure you check how much your premiums are and if they’re fixed with your life insurance provider, so you’re not caught out unexpectedly.

Inflation may affect the pay out of your over 50 life insurance, so it’s worth taking this into account when deciding how much cover you need.

You can get life insurance when you’re over 60, 70 and 80. But do bear in mind the monthly premiums are usually higher if you take out life insurance when you are older. This is because you are more likely to pay more into your policy over time if you take it out when you are younger.

Putting your over 50 life insurance policy in trust can be a way of protecting your pay out from inheritance tax and prevent the pay out falling within your estate. There are different types of trusts available depending on your individual or family circumstances.

To find out more about putting a policy in trust, speak to our specialist over 50 life insurance partner, Assured Futures, by calling 0330 022 9921.

There are a few insurers which offer increasing-term life insurance for the over 50s. In this type of policy, the pay out and the premiums are reviewed every year in line with inflation.

This type of life insurance holds its value over time, which can be a great benefit. But you’ll need to be confident that you can keep up with the increased payments over the years, otherwise the cover will lapse.

Your over 50 life insurance policy will have no cash-in value. This means you can’t get the money you’ve paid back if you change your mind, and if you stop paying your premiums your policy will be worthless. 

With over 50 life insurance, if you miss a payment your policy can lapse and you’ll no longer be covered or receive any return from your previous payments.

If you miss a payment, your insurer may offer you a ‘grace period’ of time to pay the missed premium before your policy lapses. Make sure you check with your life insurance provider the specifics of your policy so you aren’t caught out unexpectedly and left uninsured.

Guaranteed acceptance for life insurance is just that – guaranteed. As long as you’re a UK resident and within the age bracket specified by the insurer, you will be insured regardless of your medical history or lifestyle.

While the pay out from your over 50 life insurance can be used towards funeral costs, your insurer may have specific funeral options and limitations. For this reason, a funeral plan may be worthwhile, to make sure you have money aside to cover funeral costs when you pass away. 

A funeral plan is a good way to arrange and pay for your funeral before you pass away, to take the worry off your loved ones while they’re grieving. You can pay either in instalments or a lump sum to a funeral planner, who will invest your money into an insurance policy or independent trust fund for when your family needs it.