Family Insurances
Children's Cover
Children’s cover can protect your kid(s) if they were to get a critical illness. If your child was to be diagnosed with a critical illness, they are covered under you and your partner’s critical illness insurance. A lump sum will be paid out of up to 50% of the parents’ value (e.g. parents cover = £50,000 – children each get £25,000 cover), to help with unexpected costs such as time off work, child care or even to help with alterations to the home that may need to be made.
Critical illnesses like cancer, organ failure or permanent disabilities can be covered under a children’s critical illness policy when a parent takes out a critical illness cover. Over 40 conditions are covered by providers. A full list of potential illnesses and disabilities are listed below. These will vary depending on the insurance company you go for.
ChildShield
ChildShield, from MetLife, is here to protect your children from birth, right up to the age of 22. It’s a standalone product that can complement existing policies or be taken out on its own. And because it’s unique, it can provide protection no other policy can.
Whether it’s in the home or garden, in the park, whilst out and about, or playing sport - it’s just part of life. And while we hate the thought of illnesses affecting our children, the truth is these can occur at any time, too.
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Right, you can see the accidents and illnesses that ChildShield can protect your children for. What’s more, there’s no limit on the number of children covered or claims you can make under the same, single policy.
Choose from two levels of cover:
ChildShield Standard - £6 per month
ChildShield Plus - £11 per month
The coverage is the same, except ChildShield Plus pays double the benefit, at less than twice the cost.
Plan for the unexpected
None of us like to think about our children being ill, needing emotional support or having accidents at any age. But it’s important we plan for those unexpected moments.
Boost your family’s wellbeing
ChildShield doesn’t just provide 24/7 protection for those unexpected moments, but also gives you and your children access to MetLife's Wellbeing Support Centre provided by Health Assured, the UK and Ireland’s largest wellbeing support provider. Benefit from counsellors with ‘in the moment’ support, legal advisers, and nurses – all of whom can help navigate and support with life’s challenges. This too is available all year round, 24 hours a day.
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Enjoy virtual GP access
You and your family will also get access to MetLife's virtual GP appointment service, GP24, provided by HealthHero. GP24 allows you to book an appointment with registered GPs 24 hours a day, every day of the year, anywhere in the world, for no extra cost.
Critical Illness Cover
During your life you are extremely likely to suffer from a critical illness. After all, 1 in 2 people in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime*.
Cancer is the most common critical illness, but there’s over 30 other critical illness conditions, for example, heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's etc. You can understand why we are passionate about encouraging people to look at getting some critical illness cover to protect themselves, should any of these affect them in the future.
Critical illness cover, or critical illness insurance, is a form of protection which pays out a tax-free lump sum if you are diagnosed with a specified illness or medical condition, during the term and listed on your policy.
Not all conditions are covered on your policy and it will also state how serious any particular condition must be to get a payout. If you feel you need a particular condition covered, we’ll advise you on the insurance providers that will include it in your policy.
Imagine you or your partner is diagnosed with cancer or another critical illness. It’s going to impact your life straight away. The worry, anxiety, stress etc. of you health and finances.
Health - How bad will the illness be? Will you be able to recover? Will you need private medical care?
Money - How much time off work will you need? How will you keep up with rent or mortgage payments? Will you still be able to pay the household bills on a lower income?
Critical illness cover not only covers adults, some policies also include children in the same policy, for free. This generally means that if you have protection for say £20,000, all your children and ‘bump’ (after 24 weeks gestation) will be covered for children's critical illnesses upto £10,000. Plus children’s funeral cover of between £5-10,000.
You should look at getting critical illness cover if:
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You don’t have enough savings to tide you over if you become seriously ill or disabled
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You don’t have an employee benefits package to cover a longer time off work due to sickness.
Life Insurance
Life insurance is a policy that will payout money, if a person dies during the term of the policy. It most commonly covers the value of a mortgage, so if one partner dies, the payout goes to the remaining partner to settle the balance on the house.
A life insurance lump sum can also be set up for any amount of money and can then be used to cover lost income, rent, household bills, and debt etc. for many years into the future. Allowing you to grieve and not miss your partner's income, preventing you suffering financially too. Ideally you will have your life insurance paid to each other, if one of you dies, or to another close relative depending on your own situation. For example, an older child (over 18) or designated future guardian.
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When should you take out Life Insurance?
ASAP! No, honestly, as soon as you can and when you can afford it. When you start renting or get a mortgage on your home, are the most common times to take out life insurance.
Other important life events that we would recommend you consider taking out a life insurance policy are; Getting married, moving in permanently with your partner, expecting or recently had a baby.
For some people, it can take a life event to happen, close to you, to trigger a thought, to look into life insurance. Maybe a relative or friend has been diagnosed or passed away from cancer, for example. Or some friends have got married and mentioned it in conversation.
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Life insurance isn’t a necessary insurance like car insurance is, if you own a car. And it isn’t even required any longer, to take out a mortgage, like it once used to be.
However, we would advise that you need life insurance if you have a partner, children, a mortgage or other financial agreements.
We hope you will never need to use it, but if the worst should happen to you or your partner, you will have the reassurance that you have cover. A payout resulting from a life insurance claim, will help your close relatives or dependants have the security of having the mortgage or debts paid off, and possibly still have money left over for their future.
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If your husband or wife (or life partner) was to pass away, all the financial commitments you made together, would then fall solely to you. Grieving is hard enough without having to worry about paying bills and wondering where the money is going to come from to pay off the mortgage or other loans and bills etc.
You don’t just lose your partner, you lose their income into the family. Two salaries now become one and life will probably be quite a bit harder to manage if you have children. A life insurance payout can also cover money needed for increased childcare, hired help or time off work for yourself to do housework etc, a respite holiday, or to put aside for the kids education and future plans.
Having a life insurance policy in place will give them the opportunity to continue living the standard of life you’d like for them.
Quick Summary:
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Your monthly premiums depend on the policy type, your age, health and lifestyle
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You can choose the best sum assured and term to match your affordability
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By having insurance it can help prevent any financial burden
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A lump sum is paid out if you pass away
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Money can be used to pay off your mortgage, replace your income, pay for childcare or education costs and maintain your families standard of living
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You can choose who the policy pays directly to after you have passed away
Income Protection
If you're unable to work due to sickness or accident, Income Protection Insurance will pay you a regular tax-free income, whether you're employed or self-employed. You can claim as many times as you need to, during the term of your policy depending on conditions.
These policies pay an on-going, regular payment of up to 65% of your monthly earnings throughout the term of the policy, so you can be reassured to cover your main outgoings, until you are well enough to go back to work.
Income protection will pay out until you can work again. Depending on the type of policy, if you could never work again (due to accident or sickness) you could be paid out until your pre-determined retirement age.
There are a variety of cover types, for everyone's budget and circumstances,
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Level cover - The amount of cover you choose is fixed during the life of the policy. This means it won't keep up with inflation and may get you less in the future.
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Inflation linked - The amount you are covered for will increase in line with inflation. The premium you pay will go up each year decided by the insurer and using the Retail Prices Index.
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Guaranteed premiums - Basically, your premium is guaranteed (will not change), unless you have chosen inflation-linked cover.
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Reviewable premiums - Don’t change within the first 5 or so years of your policy, depending on the provider. After that they could change every year.
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Short-term or budget cover - Generally a more affordable option. You can only claim for a pay-out in the first 12 or 24 months (depending on what you choose) You can still make multiple claims but it is more restrictive and may be only available with guaranteed premiums.
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Comprehensive cover - This will cover you if you are unable to work because of accident and sickness for your chosen term, or you retire or you are well enough to go back to work.
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​Income Protection has many benefits such as giving you some reassurance that you and your family don’t need to suffer any financial burden of you being unable to work.
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No matter whether you are self-employed or work for a company, if you depend on your income to pay for everyday bills and other finances, you should seriously consider Income Protection. Generally, if you get very little to no sick pay from your employer, an income protection claim payout will fill the gap left between your regular income and any sick pay.
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If you are the sole breadwinner at home, or you actually couldn't afford to pay the bills without a full wage, then we'd advise you get Income Protection.
Your policy will pay a proportion of your lost earnings, so you can concentrate on looking after your health. You can choose when your payments start and how long they last. It can give you that peace of mind if you're unable to work because of an accident, sickness or ill-health.
This money can minimise the impact that ill-health or injury affects your family. It can be used to support your lifestyle and financial commitments. Meaning you don’t have to miss out on the things you and your family enjoy.
Cover for your Parents
If you are over 50 years old or have parents over this age, Parent's Cover is the life insurance protection for you.
Generally speaking, over 50's will no longer have dependants living with them and possibly have paid their mortgages off. Therefore, the financial amount they need to protect is usually less in value. This gives more flexibility on deciding on the term and monthly costs associated with the policy.
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As with this generation, health and medical conditions are more likely to have affected them, so having the option of not having to complete a medical questionnaire can be seen as a bonus to getting protected easily and quickly.
However, Over 50's Cover isn't always the best option and an underwritten life insurance policy could be far better suited to your needs.
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An Over 50's life insurance plan provides your loved ones with a fixed, tax-free cash lump sum when you die, providing help with the cost of funerals and any other expenses that may be incurred.
You can take out a plan as long as you are aged between 50 and 80, and accepted straight away, with no medical questions to answer, regardless of your health. It’s affordable and your premiums will be fixed, meaning they will never increase in cost.
When the time comes for your family to make a claim, the money will be paid directly to the estate and then your family, or if you choose a funeral benefits option, the money will be paid directly to the relevant funeral services, who will handle your funeral arrangements.
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Some people think that they may need an over 50’s policy instead of an underwritten life insurance policy. This is often due to the assumption that Over 50's is the best option for older people and that life insurance is going to be too expensive.
If you are relatively healthy and only have a few medical conditions, then a standard life insurance can give you far better value with a bigger payout for your partner or children.
On the other hand, if you think you have had too many health issues and just want to leave a lump sum to you family, then Over 50's cover may be the one you need. It can also pay for your funeral so you don't have to leave it for the family to sort out and pay for.
Business Life Insurance
Coming soon...
