When it comes to life insurance for women, there are a number of product and policy features worth considering, depending on your needs and priorities. This article will help identify the types of life insurance, whether it’s more expensive and what can affect your premiums.
So what does the phrase ‘life insurance for women’ really mean?
Whilst some life insurance companies will market policies as ‘Women's Life Insurance’, these are normally the same as the cover that you would get from a typical life insurance policy, that's available to men too. However, with being said, there may be certain life insurance products or policy features, that appeal more to some women's priorities and reasons for needing cover.
One of the most common reasons for women looking for life insurance is because they wish to help financially protect their loved ones if the worst was to happen to them. Whether this is helping to cover their children’s education fees and lifestyle or help their partner cover the cost of a mortgage, there are many ways in which life insurance can provide protection.
Why do women need life insurance?
There many different reasons why women take out life insurance. Most commonly, it’s to protect dependents financially if they were to pass away, receiving a lumpsum pay-out that can help cover the costs of the living expenses for those they leave behind.
If you work, then your partner or children may depend on your income and if that was no longer there, their current lifestyle would be impacted. Life insurance for women could help relieve this financial burden.
For those women who do not work, life insurance is still worth considering. For example, if you are a mother and were to suddenly pass, what if your partner had to continue to work? The pay-out from your policy could go towards childcare costs.
Or maybe you’ve just purchased a new home, then life insurance can be a way to help protect your mortgage if something was to happen to you.
What’s important for women to know, is that your life insurance policy can be personalised to your circumstances.
There are 3 key types of life insurance:
- Term Life Insurance (Level, Decreasing or Increasing)
- Whole of life Insurance
- Over 50 Life Insurance
These can all be suitable for women, depending on the person's exact needs and situation.
Our article What is Over 50s Life Insurance? explores the protection options available if you're over the age of 50.
Does being a woman make life insurance more expensive?
The simple answer is no. From December 2012, gender-neutral pricing was introduced to life insurance policies after a European Court ruling. This means that a woman and a man should pay the same premium for their cover when the only difference is their gender.
There are still ways for all genders to lower their life insurance premiums. Living a healthy lifestyle, getting cover at a younger age and comparing quotes, can all influence the price that you pay.
Does being pregnant affect your life insurance?
Applying for life insurance when you are pregnant is no different to applying at any other time in your life. Just as if you were applying without being pregnant, the life insurance provider will consider amongst other things, your age, height, weight, smoker status, pre-existing conditions, and family medical history to determine if they can offer cover and at what price.
You'll need to disclose that you're pregnant and because of this, you may get asked some slightly different questions. For example, you may be asked for your pre-pregnancy weight, as opposed to your current weight. Medical complications in pregnancy however can mean that sometimes, the cover is postponed until after the birth.
It is common for women to start arranging their life insurance when they find out they are expecting. Having children means you'll soon have financial dependents that you'll want to protect if you were to pass away.
So what next?
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