Life Assurance - how much do you get back

OhnoJoJo

I thought if you paid for life assurance, and you died after the age of 60 say. whatever you have paid in to the policy - the cost of the funeral or cremation would be paid for - like a new for old policy on contents insurance..
obviously rising costs of things - if i take a policy out in 1950 and died today, would the funeral costs be covered to take in the rising costs of ecconomy??? or will the familly just get back what i have paid in towards the funeral costs and have to find the rest themselves?????????????????????????????????????????

Wutang_2

depends what type of policy you are on about.

but I think you are slightly wide of the mark

OhnoJoJo

the policy is a very old one with the royal london and it just says life assured.
but my father in law had life assurance and when he died the cremation cost were paid for in full which was 2k it was not a problem. now my grandad who is 100 yrs old and has had this policy since he was 23 yrs old and paid every week on the dot. we have been told he will only get 300 pounds - it just doesnt seem right some how.

lisyloo

I thought if you paid for life assurance, and you died after the age of 60 say. whatever you have paid in to the policy - the cost of the funeral or cremation would be paid for - like a new for old policy on contents insurance.

Doesn't sound right to me.
Usually you would insure for X amount e.g. £50K.
If you die you get £50K.
If you don't die before the set term then you get nothing.
You can vary the term but the older you are the more expensive it is.

There are lots of variations on this and a polciy as your describe might exist but it would certainly be wrong to assume all life insurance works this way.
You would have to look at the features of the policy.

Normally people use life assurance for mortgages so it's usually for a large sum as mentioned above.

dunstonh

Cost of life assurance is far higher in the past and especially the distant pass. Someone comencing one in the 30s had a life espectancy in their 60s.

You have to compare premiums paid, if it is with or without profits, if its level, increasing or decreasing and the type of policy it is plus many more things. Life assurance is not one thing. There are many different types and within those types you have variations. Without the policy details, its hard to say what is right or wrong.

OhnoJoJo

thanx for the help with this please do you know where i can get this looked into as he is in bad health and if/when something does happen to him. we would like to know that we have the money to give him a good send off, as i said he is over 100 yrs old and all he has put into this country taxes paid etc it seems so unfair. i have all his documents and his paying book, but i do not understand the wording on the policy and certificate etc.
thanx again

stephenni1971

With a policy going back that length of time, you really need to go to Royal London with the policy number and have them track down the details and explain it to you. Unlike today. where a great deal of emphasis is placed on explaining exactly how the policy works to the customer and providing clear, easily understandable paperwork, what you have is probably written up in legaleese. http://www.royal-london.co.uk/existing/index.html is the place you need to go for more information.