Post Office Life Insurance and Its Term and Over 50s Life Cover

Post Office carries the following life insurance products:

Life Insurance
Over 50s Life Insurance

Aside from this, it offers New Parent Free Life Cover, which is aimed towards helping new parents get a head start on life insurance coverage and will encourage them to add more cover in the future.

Why Go with Post Office?

Here are some reasons to go with Post Office:

Simple purchasing process. Post Office’s Life insurance products are simple that one can decide for himself with regards to the cover he needs. You can buy the product online.
Additional Perks. Post Office offers New Parent Cover for free, as well as the Funeral Benefit Option.
Product offered voted as Your Money Best Direct Life Insurance Provider. Post Office’s Term Life insurance product has been consistently selected for the honor (from 2008 – 2011 by Your Money Direct Awards).

Quick Facts

	Over 50s Life Cover	Term Cover
Primary purpose of product	Provides life insurance cover for end of life costs (i.e. funeral expenses, debt payment).	Provides a lump sum to the beneficiaries upon the Person Insured’s death that they could use to provide for their needs or to pay off a mortgage.
Plan basics	Provides level cover for the entire life of the Person Insured. Offers guaranteed acceptance. If cause of death is natural cause or illness: a refund of paid premiums for death on the first year, payment of full Sum Insured after the first year. If the Person Insured dies because of an accident: the full Sum Insured for death on the first year, double the Sum Insured after the first year. Provided by Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited for Post Office.	Provides level or decreasing life insurance cover (level life cover is for an interest-only mortgage or to provide a lump sum while decreasing life cover is primarily for a repayment mortgage). Payment of Sum Insured is upon the death or terminal illness of the Person Insured. Provided by Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited for Post Office.
Cover limits	Maximum cover is based on maximum premium	Minimum: £5,000 Maximum: £500,000 This is also dependent on age at outset: 18 – 49: £500,000 50 – 54: £300,000 55 – 59: £200,000 60 – 66: £100,000
Cash-in value	None	None
Eligibility
Minimum age at entry	50	18
Maximum age at entry	80	66
Other eligibility requirements	Must be a resident of the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man are excluded	Must be a permanent resident of the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man are excluded
Length of cover
Minimum term	Not applicable	3 years
Maximum term	No maximum term, plan can continue for the whole of the Person Insured’s life	51 years
Maximum age	Not applicable	69 years old
Premiums	Premium payment terms depend on age at onset: 50 – 64: 20 years 65 – 75: 85 years 76 +: 10 years
Minimum premium	£7 monthly	£5 monthly
Maximum premium	£50 monthly, maximum of 20 years Not more than £100 monthly for all plans under the provider	No maximum premiums, it depends on the maximum cover available
Guaranteed premiums	Yes	Yes
Reviewable premium	No	No
Joint life cover	No	Yes, joint first death
Other benefits	Optional Funeral Benefit Option	None
Exclusions	For the first year, death due to natural causes and pre-existing conditions are excluded. For accidental death, the following are excluded: Self-inflicted injury Active participation in a criminal act Alcohol or drug abuse War, rebellion, hostilities, civil war or participation in a civil commotion or riot Active participation in a hazardous pursuit Any type of flying where Person Insured is not a fare-paying passenger While the person is living outside the UK, Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand	No payments if: There is a failure to provide the correct date of birth and if such misstatement, had the company known, would have resulted in the company refusing to provide the cover There is a failure to provide information on existing illnesses and if such misstatement, had the company known, would have resulted in a change in the terms the policy was approved/denied Suicide Alcohol or drug abuse

Plan Details

Payment of Benefit. The policy will pay out the Sum Insured when the Person Insured dies or is terminally illness, only diagnosis made before the last 18 months of cover will be payable.

Type of Sum Insured. The Sum Insured can either be level or decreasing. Level life cover has the same life insurance throughout the life of the policy. Decreasing Life Cover is designed to decrease in the same rate as the mortgage it covers.

Type of Cover.

Single Cover. This covers only one Person. When the Sum Insured is paid out, the cover will stop.
Joint Cover. This covers two persons under one policy. When a Person Insured dies, the Sum Insured is paid out and the cover stops. To ensure that both lives receive cover throughout the term, one option is to get two single policies so that even with the death of one Person Insured, the other Person Insured is still cover. Joint cover is only allowed for persons who can show insurable interest. This includes relationships such as husband/wife, partners by common law, partners by civil union, people who are named under the same mortgage or loan.

Additional Benefits/Options

Terminal Illness. This pays the Sum Insured before the death of the Person Insured. This is payable when the Person Insured is diagnosed with a terminal illness before the last 18 months of the policy’s end date.

Other details:

The terminal illness is one where the patient is not expected to live longer than 12 months and the illness has reached a level wherein it is no longer curable.
To evaluate the claim, Post Office’s medical adviser will also provide his opinion about the diagnosis.
The Sum Insured is paid only once. Once a claim for terminal illness is paid out, the cover stops and no further payments can be made.

New Parent Free Life Cover. This offers free life cover in the amount of £10,000 for parent effective from the time of approval to the child’s first birthday. This can be bought online and is designed to help new parents who are just starting out. This is provided by Aviva for Post Office.

Other details:

Cover is only for those whose baby is up to 12 months old.
The parent should be a permanent resident of the UK, excluding Channel Islands and Isle of Man.
The parent should be from age 18 to 66.
The parent is the one named as the legal parent in the birth certificate, Special Guardianship Order, Full Adoption Certificate or Final Residence Order.
The parent has not received treatment for cancer or a positive diagnosis of HIV within the last year.
No payments will be made for death due to suicide, HIV-related illness, alcohol or drug abuse.

Funeral Benefit Option. This free cover pays out £250 to The Co-operative Funeralcare to cover funeral bills.

Other details:

The benefit is only available if, upon the Person Insured’s death, his family avails of services from The Co-operative Funeralcare for his funeral. The £250 is paid directly to The Co-operative Funeralcare. Such funeral services include services of the funeral director, fees for the clergy, doctor or cremation fees.
If the total cost of the services exceeds £250, the family will pay the remaining balance. If the total cost of the services is less than £250, then the remaining balance of the Funeral Benefit will be refunded.
If the Person Insured dies within the first year of the policy, the £250 will be paid out to the beneficiaries, who can then opt to use it towards funeral services by The Co-operative Funeralcare.

How to make a claim

For death or terminal illness claims, the claimant (either the Person Insured or his beneficiaries) should provide the following

Death certificate or medical records of the Person Insured
Birth certificate to show the name and date of birth of the Person Insured
Proof that the claimant has a legal claim (i.e. marriage certificate, will, etc.)
The completed claim form
Police reports/doctor’s reports, where applicable
Other documents that Post Office may require to help them assess the claim

For the Terminal Illness Benefit, Post Office may also require:

Medical certificates
Medical test results

All medical tests and certificates must be given by medical practitioners that live and have a practice in the UK, as well as the European Union, the USA, Canada, Australia, Norway, Switzerland, New Zealand and Malta.

Also, the claimant may also be asked to provide access to relevant documents and certificates with regards to the Person Insured.

The content of this article is provided for informational purposes only and is not created to be a financial advice. Contact Post Office directly for details about their offerings.
Updated on: 10.06.2013

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