How Much Life Insurance Do I Need, and Other Popular Life Insurance Questions

Most popular life insurance questions for 2021 revealed

• Data from international insurance provider William Russell reveals the most popular life insurance dilemmas for the period 2020-2021
• Eye-watering numbers confirm UK citizens are most confused by how much life insurance they need.
• Overall, ‘life insurance for parents’ comes in second with over 44,000 searches globally.
  

Research study: UK citizens are most confused by how much life insurance they need.

With nearly 10,000 annual searches, UK citizens are most confused by how much life insurance they need.

Life insurance is a contract between you and an insurance company. Basically, you pay your premium payments and in exchange, the insurance company will pay a lump sum known as a death benefit to your beneficiaries after your death. But many people all over the world have no idea what life insurance is and why they need it.

The study analysed Google searches in the UK and globally for life insurance related queries.

How much life insurance do I need?

How much life insurance you should carry is an individual choice and depends on a few factors. If you have financial dependents, you should consider how their lifestyles may change without your income. If you are unsure, the main things most people want to cover are:

• mortgages
• loans and debts
• critical illnesses
• family expenses
• income replacement
• any funeral costs.

Do I need life insurance for a mortgage?

This year, new research revealed that almost half of Brits don’t know what a mortgage is, so it’s no surprise that the second biggest life insurance dilemma is ‘do I need life insurance for a mortgage.’

Legally, you are not obliged to have life insurance for a mortgage, but some lenders consider it a precondition for letting you borrow money to buy a home. It may be a good idea to check whether this is a condition of your lender and then think about your options. When buying a home, having financial protection in place does make sense so it’s important to investigate the choices you have to make to safeguard yourself and the ones you love.

How much life insurance do I need in the UK?

With over 100,000 global searches, ‘how much life insurance do I need’ is the biggest dilemma the world finds itself in when it comes to life insurance.

Life insurance for parents

Interestingly, overall, ‘life insurance for parents’ comes in second with over 44,000 searches globally.

In its last report, the UN reported that “There were 703 million persons aged 65 years or over in the world in 2019. The number of older persons is projected to double to 1.5 billion in 2050. Globally, the share of the population aged 65 years or over increased from 6 per cent in 1990 to 9 per cent in 2019.” Has this aging population left us wanting to get our parents’ finances covered? Another suggestion is the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the older population. This articles cover what you need to know about life insurance and Covid: we explore all questions related to Covid vaccine and life insurance policy.

You can in fact buy life insurance for your parents as long as their financial loss would be passed to you if they were to die, however you will need their permission to take out a policy on their behalf.

Make sure you talk this decision through with your parents to ensure you get them the right and best policy for both of your needs.

Furthermore, those who are becoming new parents can often start to be concerned about whether they need life insurance. It goes without saying that raising children is expensive, and having life insurance in place protects them from losing the support of your income.

Taking out a mortgage in the UK? Don’t forget life insurance

As part of your expat mortgage application, you’ll be asked to take out a comprehensive life insurance policy. As an expat, your best option may be to choose an international life insurance policy. Better still, you can add international health insurance to take advantage of benefits such as medical evacuation, in case you need to return to your country of origin for treatment. William Russell has 30 years’ experience in providing international life and health insurance for expats like you. Speak to us to find out how we can protect you and your family in the UK.

At William Russell, we provide all sorts of content through our website to help people learn about their healthcare options before or after relocating. We urge anyone living or working abroad to familiarise themselves with this content before making a decision regarding global health insurance.