Whole of Life Assurance

Whole of Life assurance policies remain in force right throughout your life. This means the insurance company will have to pay out in almost every case and premiums are therefore higher than those charged on term assurance policies.

There are different types of whole of life policies, some offer a set payout from the outset, others are linked to investments and payout will depend on performance. Investment linked policies are either unit linked policies, linked to funds or with-profits policies which offer bonuses.

Past performance is no guide to future returns. The value of investments can fall as well as rise.

Whole of Life assurance policies pay a lump sum to your estate when you die. This could be used by your family in whatever way suits them best such as providing for an inheritance, paying for funeral costs and even forming part of an Inheritance Tax planning strategy.

Some whole of life plans require that premiums are paid all the way up to your death. Others become paid up at a certain age and waive premiums from that point onwards.

The level of protection selected will normally be guaranteed for the first 10 years at which point it will be reviewed. If the review reveals that the same level of protection can't continue you will have two choices:

To increase your payments
or
Keep the payments the same and reduce your cover.

Insurance