If you are thining about life insurance you have already made the first step and decided – ‘I would like my family to be protected and benefit financially if I die’.

Here are a few things to think about before you commit to – buy some life insurance.

What do you want to protect?

1/ You may be considering life insurance because you have just bought a house and you would like to know the mortgage will be paid off if you die so your family don’t have to struggle if you’re not around anymore.

2/ You may not have a mortgage but you would like to have some life insurance so your family receives a lump sum if you die to improve their quality of life and make sure they are not left with any debts or bills.

If you are buying life insurance to protect a mortgage:

With a repayment mortgage your outstanding debt will go down over time. You can have life insurance which also goes down in line with the mortgage. This is called ‘decreasing’ life insurance.

With an interest only mortgage the debt does not go down so you need to have ‘level’ life insurance which doesn’t go down either.

It makes sense to have life insurance for the same term as the mortgage. It is possible to have life insurance for longer but once the mortgage is paid the house will be part of your ‘estate’ and your family wont lose the house if you die so you might not need as much insurance if at all. Once the mortgage is paid you might want to consider ‘whole of life’ insurance which can be used for funeral expenses or to provide a lump sum to your family.

If you are buying life insurance to protect your family (without a mortgage):

Your family is the most important thing in the world so naturally you would probably like to leave them the Earth if you get a life insurance policy to do that but unfortunately – that’s not on offer.

Life insurance will however provide a lump sum or even an income for your family if you die. The longer you have life insurance for the more expensive it becomes. The maximum age for life insurance is normally 85 and the closer you get to 85 the more likely you are to die so cover is more expensive.

To protect your family when they need it most think about the age of your children. When do you think they will be able to stand on their own two feet? You could have a larger amount of life insurance while they are young and once they have houses of their and families of their own you could reduce your cover. For example, if your youngest child is 3, think about life insurance for 18 years or until they are 21.

Naturally you have the choice to decide how long you have cover for but this may also depend on your budget. How much do you want to spend on life insurance?

Life insurance is important although it’s not as simple as some people think but with helpful advice it is possible to get cover in a matter of days if you have the time to spare to – get it sorted.