Life insurance for single parents
If you’re a single parent, you might be wondering if you need life insurance to protect your family.
As a single parent, you may have the sole responsibility of keeping a roof over your children’s heads.
Life insurance for single mums and dads can help give you peace of mind that your children are protected should the worst happen.
Do single parents need life insurance?
If you have financial responsibilities, and your children depend on you to cover the mortgage or other living expenses, a life insurance payout could cover these costs if anything happens to you.
Best life insurance for single parents
The type of life insurance that’s best for you as a single parent depends on what you want to cover, how much cover you need and what you can afford.
We offer two different types of life insurance at Beagle Street – level and decreasing life insurance.
Both policy types are term products, meaning they only last a set amount of time. However, they vary when it comes to how much is paid out if you die within the policy term.
Level term life insurance
Level term life insurance will pay out an agreed sum if you die during the policy’s term. This is generally best for paying off fixed costs such as household bills or funeral costs, or if you want to leave your family a cash lump sum when you die.
Your payout and your premiums won’t change throughout the length of your policy (unless you make changes to your policy). This means you’ll know how much your loved ones would get if you passed away.
Decreasing term life insurance
Decreasing term life insurance is typically cheaper than level term insurance. This is because the value of the policy decreases over time, but your premiums stay the same throughout the policy term (unless you make changes to your policy).
It’s often used to pay off debts like a repayment mortgage - so as the amount you owe decreases, the payout if you die within the policy term does too.
Critical illness cover
You can also take out critical illness cover when you get a life insurance policy with Beagle Street.
Critical illness cover pays out a lump sum if you’re diagnosed with any of the specified illnesses covered by your policy. This usually includes certain types of cancer, heart attack or stroke.
Beagle Street’s critical illness cover pays out if you’re diagnosed with any of the conditions listed in our policy terms and conditions.
Critical illness cover payouts are often used to cover mortgage or rent payments, towards medical or care costs, making changes to your home and any unexpected expenses. This could reduce the financial strain on your family during an already tough time.
Children’s critical illness cover
You can add children’s critical illness cover to your own critical illness cover with Beagle Street.
The cover pays out if any of your current or future children are diagnosed with a serious illness such as cancer, heart attack or stroke.
You can see the full list of conditions covered in our policy terms and conditions.
What else should single parents think about?
Writing a will
When you’re considering life insurance, it’s also a good time to write a will and name who you’d like to be your child’s legal guardian if you die.
In the UK, unless there is a good reason for the child not to be living with their natural parent, the courts generally favour the child being with the parent that is still alive. But you can make your own wishes known in your will.
There are some circumstances in which the courts may find another guardian preferable to the natural parent:
- If it can be shown that the child’s welfare would suffer if they’d be living with their natural parent.
- If the child has already spent a long time living with someone else, grandparents for example, and has an established attachment with them that would be harmful to disrupt.
- If the child does not want to live with the surviving parent, but wants to stay with their current carers and is old enough to understand that decision.
Beagle Street offer a free will writing service worth £150 with every life insurance policy. (Terms and Conditions apply).
Putting a life insurance policy in trust
You can name a beneficiary in a trust for your insurance policy, so they can help support your children if anything were to happen to you before your child turns 18.
While this isn’t the same thing as granting custody, it helps ensure your insurance policy is paid out to someone you trust to look after the financial needs of your child.
Find out how much life insurance could cost with Beagle Street
Our simple, online quick quote tool will let you know how much cover you can get and how much it’s likely to cost you. There’s no commitment to take out a policy.
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