Life insurance

[Melinda T]

Hello,All.Do you have life insurance and do you think everyone must have it?

[Calsug]

If you have a mortgage then yes you must, if you don't then its purely optional but not a bad thing to have

[Loz]

Calsug Wrote:

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> If you have a mortgage then yes you must

Not true. Some require them, some don't.

[Salsaboy]

I've got a mortgage and I don't have it.

[indiepanda]

If you have people depending on your income - e.g. if you have a joint mortgage or dependent children, personally I would say it's a bit irresponsible not to have it.

However, if you are employed it's worth confirming you don't have it already through work as many companies give it as part of the standard contract. Often when provided, it's 4 x salary, which would pay off most mortgages, albeit probably not leave enough money if leaving young children behind. Although then some pension schemes will pay a pension to widow(ers) or dependents, which could be enough anyway.

I do have a mortgage but don't have anyone financially dependent on me, so I don't buy any life insurance - as it happens my employer provides enough my parents will be nicely provided for in the unlikely event I die before them. I think years ago some banks / building societies insisted you had to have life cover before accepting you for a mortgage - but am pretty sure that was stopped when they kept selling their own over-priced products to customers.

These days it's actually pretty cheap to cover yourself for the risk of death up to the age most people would have paid a mortgage off as the probability of young death still isn't that high despite all the stories about the obesity epidemic and impact on life expectancy. Worth shopping around for though - not everyone offers that competitive rates and just buying from your bank could prove unnecessarily expensive.

[Tradesman32]

Totally agree with Indiepanda,

If you have dependants or a mortgage that requires 2 salaries you should have it.

Read the fine print. Make sure your policy actually covers you for what you need