Protect the future you’re building together with a joint life insurance policy to take care of your partner no matter what happens.
Joint life insurance covers both you and your partner and will pay out the benefit to the surviving partner if one of you passes away. Single life insurance policies only cover one person, while a joint life insurance policy covers two people. It’s important to note that a joint life insurance policy only pays out once. While single life insurance may be more popular, a joint life insurance policy can be less expensive than two separate single policies.
Joint life insurance is suitable for a married couple, people in a long-term relationship, or even partners in a business. When one partner dies, the insurer pays a lump sum payment or benefit to the survivor and the policy finishes.
You can decide the cover amount you need. Your sum insured should be enough to cover any mortgage repayments and leave behind an amount of your choosing. These policies are especially important for a couple with young children because the death of a parent or carer leaves a tremendous gap to be filled.
The terms of joint life insurance are like a single life insurance policy. You must pay your monthly premiums to maintain your policy. Risk factors such as age, health, and lifestyle contribute to your policy costs. The insurer pays the benefit of the policy to your beneficiary and loved ones when one person covered by the policy dies.
Most commonly people will pick a joint policy over two single life insurance policies especially in regards to mortgage cover. The important thing to remember however is that when the policy is paid out in the event that one of the policy holders is deceased, the joint cover will cease after the payout. So if you or your partner die, there is no further protection after the lump sum payout, if you want to be covered again, you’ll need to get a new policy in place.
Once the cover ends and you are interested in a new policy, you’ll have to be reassessed, which means taking into account your age, health and so on – so if you are older and are in poorer health then it may be difficult to get as favourable a policy the second time round. Because when you are younger and healthier naturally the policies are cheaper. So even if you would prefer a cheaper joint cover policy initially, it is worth considering the implications of this longer term.
Health and lifestyle will influence your premiums per month and how much cover an insurer is willing to provide to you. Smoking, your height and weight, BMI, and any history of illness, your occupation and lifestyle factors like these will determine the cover and premiums.
Some jobs are riskier than others and so an office clerk will be considered less risky than a construction worker for example.
Joint life insurance is offered in three main packages. Here are your options:
High-Risk Jobs and Hobbies
One Person is a Smoker
Life insurance policies aren’t fixed and are absolutely modifiable. That is to say if your life circumstances change, perhaps you have a baby, maybe took out a mortgage on a new house or got married and need to change your coverage. Maybe you took a pay cut and need to reduce your monthly premiums.
