Marks & Spencer Life Insurance Limited

...I decided to go with Marks and Spencer not because they are the cheapest but I received excellent customer care. If they needed me to hang on the line, I was asked for my number and they would ring me back. Their number is a freephone so it wouldn't have cost me money to stay on the line only time and I appreciated that they understand not everyone wants to hang on listening to some repetitive music. The call back was always prompt and courteous ...
...and capital gains tax but could be subject to inheritance tax.
The policy is under the laws of England and Wales.
I can pay by direct debit or the Marks and Spencer card.
Over the twenty years, I will have paid out approximately £1440 in monthly payments.  ... more

Life insurance can be taken out for a number of reasons. This could be due to a new family member coming along and the need to provide if you should die. It could be taken out to make sure the remaining family does not have the stress of coping with financial burdens after a death. Funerals are very expensive and a lump some of money to offset these costs is very welcome. It is generally required when you have a mortgage. This is for the mortgage companies piece of mind that should the person die, then the money owing on the house can be paid back. This is why we took out life insurance cover.

We decided to get separate cover rather than joint due to the fact if one person dies then the insurance, after pay out, is invalid. The remaining person then has to take out a new policy. This will often be more pricey to to possibly advanced age or other reason.

I needed life insurance as Miserable Misery and I had just bought our first home together. I looked around a few companies but as I didn't have the net at the time couldn't really be bothered to search. My financial advisor wanted me to take out a joint policy with Miserable Misery, but after reading all of the policy notes I felt this was not suitable for me. There is an 18 year age gap between myself and Miserable Misery and this makes a huge difference to insurers. He smokes as well so separate policies would be a lot cheaper and financially better if anything should happen to me before him. This worked out about £30 cheaper than the one advised!

I decided to go with Marks and Spencer not because they are the cheapest but I received excellent customer care. If they needed me to hang on the line, I was asked for my number and they would ring me back. Their number is a freephone so it wouldn't have cost me money to stay on the line only time and I appreciated that they understand not everyone wants to hang on listening to some repetitive music. The call back was always prompt and courteous and still is.

My only problem was that I dithered about, should I, shouldn't I? And in so doing cost myself or whoever benefits from my estate, £4000 because in the few days I dithered, my birthday came and went, so on record I was one year older! I was really annoyed when I realised what had happened, but it was purely my fault.

I pay through my store card each month. I am on the lowest rate of £6 (hey I don't want to be bumped off for my insurance!!) and this will cover the cost of the mortgage and leave a bit to survive on.

The phone lines are always answered promptly, albeit by an automated service but you get straight though to a real person and they don't push.

You have 90 days to review their policy in the privacy of your own home and to read all the small print. If you should develop certain diseases (cancer etc) and you have been given a limited period in which to live - a year or under - you get half of your premium before you die and the remainder goes into your estate.

is a good hassle free policy and the booklets they provide are in easy layman terms so can be understood by the majority of people.

Some more information about my own policy:

It is a twenty year plan.
If I die or suffer a terminal illness during that twenty years then the policy will pay out, if I do not, then the policy will not pay out.
There is no cashing in value at anytime during the lifetime of the policy.
I pay £6 for this Value Protection Plan as it is called and it would pay out £76,613. A lot better than the £21,200 that we would get if anything happened to me on our financial advisor's advice!! This was based on me being 28 years old at the time of taking out the policy.
I had 90 days in which I could have cancelled the plan and been reimbursed any money owed.
Life cover will generally be free of all UK income and capital gains tax but could be subject to inheritance tax.
The policy is under the laws of England and Wales.
I can pay by direct debit or the Marks and Spencer card.
Over the twenty years, I will have paid out approximately £1440 in monthly payments. 

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