It's almost unheard of for any product to be substantially cheaper than it was five years ago.

Even the benchmark used to measure the basic cost of living, also known as the Retail Prices Index, has risen continuously over the last five years. Despite this, one sector of the UK financial services market has bucked the trend and is now substantially cheaper today than five years ago. That product is Term Life Insurance cover.

Term Life Insurance is the most basic and affordable type of the life cover used by millions to protect their families, mortgages and businesses. But many policyholders who took out cover more than five years ago are paying higher premium rates for exactly the same cover and could make substantial savings by shopping around.

Depending upon your age and health, rates can be as much as 40% less than five years ago as life insurers have competed with each other to the top of the premium comparison tables.

So, if you have a life insurance policy that was taken out more than five years ago you could well benefit from shopping around and replacing your cover. Although you are older than when you first bought your policy you may find that:

• You can maintain the level of cover at a lower premium
• Increase the term of your cover at no extra cost
• Increase the level of protection for the same premium level

Take advantage of tax relief on your life insurance premiums

New legislation introduced in April 2006 means that you can now buy life insurance with premiums net of basic rate tax. If you are a higher rate tax payer you can claim an additional amount back, currently 18%, on your annual tax return.

This type of life insurance policy is called Pension Term Assurance and can also now be arranged on a joint life basis with some UK insurance companies.

You should bear in mind that Pension Term Assurance is not always cheaper than standard term cover and if you have a large pension pot there are some restrictions you should be aware of but, for many people, it's definitely worth considering.
Save even more with discounted life cover

As well as lower standard premium rates, you can now benefit from a competitive marketplace of online life insurance brokers which didn't exist five years ago.

Due to the massive growth, low costs and large audiences available through the internet, many life insurance brokers have launched websites offering life icover with major insurance companies at heavily discounted premium rates.

Discounts vary between brokers but can result in savings of between 10% and as 40% when compared with the insurance companies standard life premium rates. These discounts are in addition to overall lower market prices introduced over the last five years.

So if you have a life insurance policy more than five years old, you could make real savings every month whilst improving the level of your protection.

About the author:
Title: How to save up to 40% on your existing life insurance premiums
Author: LifeSaver.co.uk
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Articles from November 2006
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