Standard life insurance review

“Standard Life” insurance company is an international company operating in more than 50 countries worldwide and providing 6 million clients with three different types of services: pensions and annuities, savings and investment, and life insurance. The company offers its clients a regular life insurance policy and over 50s life insurance contract. The company does not create life insurance product itself but instead acts as an insurance agent for another life insurance provider “LV=” that is part of “Liverpool Victoria Group”. It is important to stress that “Standard Life” receives commissions for the insurance products from the companies that created these products. Although the customer does not pay directly to the company but the charges for the contract involves the commission fees and every time part of the premiums go to “Standard Life” insurance company. If the insurance product has an investment component, the commission fees will reduce the amount of money that is actually invested in the financial markets and as a result it is extremely important to clarify these fees before signing a contract.

Standard term life insurance

The company offers two types of covers: decreasing and level term. Decreasing term life insurance is designed to cover the outstanding balance of the debt or a mortgage. Level term life insurance cover remains the same until the termination of the contract and as a result does not offer the policyholder protection from inflation. The company requires people to be aged between 17 and 69 and be permanent residents of United Kingdom in order to apply for this life insurance. 

For both plans the premiums stay the same for all term of the contract and as a result the individual has to be comfortable with the fact that he will have to pay a certain amount of money every month for a specified period of time to the life insurance company. The plans are cancelled 60 days after the last payment was due and the person is not refunded any of the premiums paid because the plans have no cash-in value. The company also does not allow people to make changes to existing life insurance policies and as a result the person has to be very careful when reading the conditions of the life insurance contract.

The web page of the company is designed to redirect the client to the web page of “LV=” in order to find out the preliminary quote. An individual has to answer 8 simple questions both personal and about the desired characteristics of the life insurance. Personal questions include date of birth, gender, smoking status and the verification of permanent living place in United Kingdom. Both level term life insurance and decreasing term life insurance can be written on a single life or joint life basis and the maximum term of the contract is 45 years. The premiums start from £5.

Standard over 50s life insurance

Life insurance over 50s guarantees acceptance to people that are aged from 50 to 80 and are permanent residents in United Kingdom. The payments stop once a person reaches the age of 90 and the person has the cover for all his remaining life. The plan does not have a cash-in value. Insurance company will make a pay out if the person dies after at least one year has passed by from the start of the contract. Over 50s life insurance offers only level term life cover and as a result the person has to be ready that after some time the cover will be worth less than today because of inflation. The dependents will not get a cover, if the insured person dies during the first 12 months of the policy. However, this rule does not applied for death caused by accidents with exclusion to accidents caused by the insured directly or indirectly because of alcohol consumption.  What is more, for the dependents of the insured people that died in the first 12 months of the contract all the premiums paid are refunded.

The monthly premiums of this plan vary from £5 to £100. If the person has more than one plan, the maximum premium is £100 for all plans added together. The maximum possible cover for over 50s life insurance is £25,000. The cover is guaranteed never to decrease and the premiums are guaranteed never to increase. However, if after some time after signing the contract the person decides that he wants to increase his cover, he can purchase another over 50s life insurance plan. Nevertheless, it is important to know that the cover cannot surpass £25,000. For example, if Emily already has over 50s life insurance that offers life cover worth £15,000, she can purchase another over 50s life insurance with a cover worth only £10,000.

A free welcome gift

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For every new customer “Standard Life” insurance company give a free welcome gift. Customers of over 50s life insurance plan can choose between “Marcs & Spencer” vouchers worth £30, a DVD player and a digital camera and those client that have a regular term insurance will be given “Marcs & Spencer” vouchers worth £30. The gift will be presented to the customer three months after the first payment is received. The gift is not given to those people that had cancelled their policies before making at least two payments. The company does not offer any cash alternative to the vouchers.