The first factors to decide when considering life insurance are why you taking out the insurance and how much cover you require.

Generally speaking, if you have anyone who is financially dependant on you, then life insurance is going to be a good idea. Such people usually include:

• Spouses, a civil or unmarried partner


• Children


• Business partner(s)


• Elderly dependant(s)

So, in a nut shell, if you have none of the above, then no one is going to gain from your cover.

The main reason many people choose to take out cover is to ensure their family do not fall into financial hardship upon their death.

Making sure their children’s childcare needs are met is also a common cause, along with the peace of mind that they will have enough money to afford university in the future. In some cases though, the reason behind opting for cover may be as simple as wanting to ensure your family’s standard of living is maintained when you are no longer here.

Taking all this into consideration, there is a significant amount of people that are underinsured.

Shockingly a quarter of homeowners do not have enough cover to pay off their mortgage if the breadwinner dies – in some cases no provision is made at all.

Various surveys have revealed that one in three people have no life insurance, and that a third who do have insurance have not reviewed it in the past five years.

Annually reviewing ones cover is vital as it allows your cover to reflect any changes in relationships, employment, property or business ownership etc.

Put simply, if you have something to lose, then you have something to insure, so life insurance is likely to be a good option.

Although at first glance life insurance can be considered a generally simple form of cover, it still pays to shop around to make sure you get the best life insurance quotes.