Learn about Scottish Widows life cover and how it works. Compare cover options and get a quote.
What is life cover?
Life cover can help give your family financial protection if you die during the term of your policy.
It can pay out a lump sum of money to help those you love to maintain their standard of living and keep paying the bills.
To be eligible for life insurance, you need to be a UK resident and be aged between 18 and 59 if you’re applying for Plan & Protect. You can apply for Scottish Widows Protect if you’re aged between 18 and 79.
There are a number of things you’ll need to consider when you’re taking out life cover. Here are some of your options.
| COVER OPTION | WHAT THIS MEANS | WHY YOU MIGHT NEED IT |
|---|---|---|
| Level cover | The amount of cover you choose and your premium will remain the same through the term of your policy. | The amount of cover won’t change over time so you and your family know how much will be received in the event of a claim. |
| Decreasing cover | The amount of cover you choose reduces each month, but your premium remains the same. | This is normally chosen to cover a repayment mortgage. |
| Increasing cover | The amount of cover you choose increases each year in line with the Retail Prices Index (RPI). Your premium will also increase for this type of cover. This means that your cover amount stays in line with inflation. | As this type of cover stays in line with inflation, it is designed to combat price rises, maintaining its real value throughout the term. |
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There are several reasons why life insurance may be important to you. If you die, it can, for example, help provide for your partner, family or dependants or pay off your mortgage or other outstanding loans.
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It depends on your personal circumstances. There are some things you may need to consider, which could include:
- how much your family would need to support themselves without your salary
- the size of your mortgage and how long it’s got to run
- any other outstanding loans or debts you have
- the amount you want to pay each month.
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Yes, you can take out life insurance with critical illness. Life insurance with critical illness and life cover can provide a cash sum on death or on diagnosis of a terminal illness or specified critical illness within the policy term.
With Scottish Widows Protect, you can include critical illness cover of up to £3 million. You also have the option to take life and critical illness cover where you only get one payout, but could pay a lower premium.
With Plan & Protect, you can include critical illness cover with life cover. You can have multiple polices of up to a total of £500,00 for life cover and £500,000 for critical illness cover.
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That depends whether you choose our Plan & Protect Policy or Scottish Widows Protect.
With Scottish Widows Protect, you can choose to each have your own individual policy or you can have a joint policy. For a joint policy when one of you is diagnosed with one of the illnesses covered by the policy the cover ends for both of you. The payout will normally go to the person who has been diagnosed.
With Plan & Protect, your policy only covers you.
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Yes. When you apply you can:
- start it as soon as possible
- choose ‘Not known yet’ (if you are unsure when you would like your policy to start)
- give a specific date.
With Scottish Widows Protect you can start your cover from aged 18 to 79 for life and 64 for critical illness.
With Plan & Protect, you can start your cover from aged 18 to 59 for both life and critical illness.
