Life insurance taken out 2017, want to check it's reasonable!

jmb1

We used an ifa when buying our house in 2017 who alongside sorting our mortgage, brokered life insurance with LV.

A few questions:

1. We're paying £67 pm for 80k life cover, and income protection at 1k pm for me if I were to be unable to work, and £450 for my partner. I realise these amounts are not very much especially with change in costs of living since 2017 and wouldn't cover essential bills, but does this monthly amount seem reasonable for this cover? My thinking is, if it's expensive we should look at getting a new quote potentially with better cover, and possibly at a better monthly cost.

2. We have both either changed jobs (in my case), or will be changing jobs (partners) in the next few months. I've searched and can't find an answer to whether we need to inform LV of such changes and whether not doing so might void our cover in the event of a claim. This recent policy summary letter I have says it is based on our salaries at the time cover was taken out and should income, job, circumstances, etc, change, "we may wish to make sure the amount of cover still meets your needs" (i.e it doesn't say specifically we have to inform them). So unsure.

3. I know the argument for insurance in general is could either of us get by should something happen between now and 2037 when the policy ends? If not, insurance is peace of mind. Is there any other consideration or advice we've not considered regards to whether we have a policy or not? Broad question, and possibly naiive I know, but still.

We do not have a lot of money currently otherwise I would pay an ifa, hence I thought I'd ask here. Grateful for advice from any ifa's and experts on what we best do. 

Aretnap

You don't say how old you are, whether you have any known health issues, whether the income protection is a premium or budget plan etc, but £60/month for life and income protection for two people doesn't sound wildly unreasonable on the face of it. 

Generally these policies are based on a snapshot of your health and lifestyle at the time they start, and once they've started there is no need to inform the insurer of changes unless you want to make a claim. The income protection policy will probably say that you need to be working and earning at least £X at the time you get ill in order to make a claim; it is unlikely to say that you need to be working in exactly the same job as you were in 2015.

The amounts of cover you mention do sound rather low, both for life and income protection, and it would be that rather than the price which would make me think about getting some additional cover. You should probably not expect to get cheaper cover - if nothing else both you're of policy get more expensive as you get older and you are now 8 years older than in 2015, but it is still worth thinking about whether the policies meet your needs. If you would be unable to pay essential bills in the event of one or the other of you losing your incomes, they probably didn't.

HampshireH

You can probably get a better deal depending on any medical conditions etc and length of policy by that I don't necessarily mean cheaper but better cover 

As an example

Mine is a single person policy but currently have a decreasing life insurance policy covering approx 160k and is roughly

£7 per month

Increasing income protection set to pay £1900

£26 per month.

Weighty1

HampshireH said:

You can probably get a better deal depending on any medical conditions etc and length of policy by that I don't necessarily mean cheaper but better cover 

It's absolutely impossible to say that, especially since we don't know the OP's age, occupation, smoker status, deferred period or medical details  The cost of your cover gives almost zero indication of what any else should be paying.

OP, the cost of life insurance, when considered on a like for like basis, typically and roughly doubles about every 10-years so it'd be surprising if you could save money on that, unless your premiums were previously increased due to factors that are no longer relevant.  In regards to the income protection, the premiums can change significantly if you are now in a more office-based occupation than manual one OR if you get far more sick pay entitlement than what you used to OR, again, if the premiums were previously increased due to considerations which are no longer relevant.

That said, I'd be surprised if there was money to save when looking at a plan which has been in place for nearly 8-years and the amount you pay does not sound unreasonable.