You could be paying more than you should for your life insurance

If you’ve got life insurance already – well done! It’s the protection product most of us pay little attention to, yet insuring our life is the most important thing we can do if we want to ensure that our loved ones are protected in the worst case scenario. But did you know that you could be paying more than you should for it?

An overview of life insurance

Put simply, life insurance provides your family and loved ones with a large, one-off and tax free payment (or monthly payments) should you die. In a difficult scenario, a life insurance pay out can ensure that your loved ones can focus on what they need to, not on any outstanding debts you left behind, the mortgage and sustaining the lifestyle they were used to. In that way, it’s invaluable.

The monthly cost of your life insurance premium is dependent on a number of factors. Including the amount of cover you want to take out (this is the payout amount you want your family to receive), your age, health, gender and job. The latter simply determine how much of a risk your policy is to the insurer.

You could be paying more than you should for your life insurance

While the above might not be a surprise to you, the fact that you could be saving money on your monthly premium by paying for it tax efficiently might. If you are a director of your own limited company (like most freelancers and contractors), you’re able to expense your life insurance through your company, saving you money. The policy that does this is called Relevant life insurance.

Relevant life insurance saves you money on your premium in a number of ways. Namely:

1. You immediately save tax by the business paying the life insurance premium
2. It’s not treated as a benefit-in-kind
3. Premiums are not subject to National Insurance payments for the employer or employee
4. Your business can claim Corporation Tax Relief on the premiums
5. The policy proceeds are written into trust from the outset. This ensures the benefit is ring fenced from tax, avoids probate and goes to the right person if a claim is made
6. The policy proceeds do not count towards your lifetime allowance for pension contributions

Protect your family in a tax efficient way

With that in mind, consider reviewing your life insurance policy with an expert adviser and see if you could be protecting your family tax efficiently by switching to a relevant life insurance policy.

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Disclaimer:

The information in this article has not been written by Caunce O’Hara & Co Ltd or any of Caunce O’Hara’s employees. None of the opinions or views contained within this article are Caunce O’Hara’s nor do we accept responsibility for any financial advice given within the article.

Caunce O’Hara & Co Ltd do not provide Life Insurance policies nor advice regarding Life Insurance or accounting and bookkeeping.