How long should I be covered for?

One of the factors used to calculate the standard cost of life insurance is your age. Life insurance will get more and more expensive every year the older you get, so if you can it is worth taking a policy out for as long as possible as this will vastly increase the chances of a claim being made on the policy.

Deciding how long to be covered for

Think about why you are taking out the policy; if you are covering a mortgage then you probably only need to take your policy for the term of your mortgage, but you may want to consider taking a separate policy to run alongside it which will cover your family and funeral costs.

How long can I be covered?

Most insurers will cover between 5 and 40 years, but there are policies which can cover you right up until your 90th Birthday, some people prefer to take a policy this long as there will be a lot more chance that you will claim on it and the premium will stay exactly the same for the whole term of the policy.

Covering your children

Another way of looking at the term, especially if you have children is to take a policy that takes them to an age where they are independent - such as 18 or 21 years old. This ensures that if the worst was to happen before this age, you have the peace of mind that they have some financial security to get them through University and maintain a good standard of living.

The only problem with doing this is if you outlive your policy and still need life cover, you may find that it will be a lot more expensive as you are older.