Different types of cover

  • Term assurance (level or decreasing)
    Provides a lump sum payment in the event of your death during your specified policy term.
    • Level term assurance – The sum assured remains constant throughout your specified policy term.
    • Decreasing term assurance – The sum assured decreases throughout your specified policy term.
    • Family income benefit
      Provides a regular payment in the event of your death for the remainder of your specified policy term.
    • Critical illness
      Can be added to term assurance or family income benefit or taken as a stand-alone policy. A critical illness policy pays out on diagnosis of a defined critical illness during your specified policy term.
    • Income protection
      Pays out a monthly income, after a defined deferment period, if you are unable to work due to accident, sickness or injury. The policy continues until you return to work, the end of the policy term or the event of your death.

    Life insurance vs. life assurance

    The terms 'life insurance' and 'life assurance' are often used interchangeably. Here, we refer to life insurance as a general term covering both 'life insurance' and 'life assurance' products. What's the difference?

    • Life insurance products are providing cover for an event that might happen; here we mean critical illness cover, income protection cover and unemployment cover.
    • Life assurance products refer to an event that is certain to happen. This refers to products that provide a payment or income in the event of the policy holder’s death. Life assurance generally tends to be used in the UK, whereas elsewhere the term life insurance covers both types of products.