Chris Kisby

When I was in my twenties, I never considered getting life insurance, but as time went on I started to think about it more seriously. Five years ago, my grandad passed away from cancer. He was a fit man and always hiking, but when he became ill I watched him disappear, which made me think about my own mortality.

Later my dad had heart problems and had to have stents put in. I always thought of these people in my life as immortal and thankfully he’s okay now, but it made me realise that these things are possible.

I met my partner Jo and her son Leo about four years ago. Jo fell pregnant last year and when our daughter, Violet, was born I felt this overwhelming urge to protect her in any way I could. Violet is wonderful, she’s just six months old but she’s already a passionate young lady who knows what she wants. It felt absolutely essential that if the worst was to happen then I could offer some measure of security for my family. Having Violet was a big turning point and a massive wake-up call for me.

I probably should have thought about this a very long time ago, but I wonder if there's a lot of people like me that don't really consider it until they need protection.

When I started looking at taking out life insurance I didn’t know much about it. It was quite a daunting prospect to start with.

I went on a comparison website and looked at several companies and started exploring their websites. I went back to it and got some quotes, found Beagle Street and looked on its website a bit more. There were a lot of things I hadn’t even considered to be factors, but the website was simple to use and it was easy to speak to someone on the phone so I was happy with the process. It was a lot easier than I expected and it didn't take me anywhere near as long as I thought it would.

Like a lot of people, I have been feeling the economic effects of the cost-of-living crisis over the last couple of years. I’m in the same boat as everyone else and I had to clear some other direct debits so I could make room for this. But I’m glad I did it and I was happy with the quote I was given. I pay about £30 a month, and that includes life and critical illness cover for myself and child critical illness cover for Violet.

I just wish I had done this sooner. It was a mistake to do it so late in life but no one has ever said I should, I've never been sat in the pub and got talking about life insurance but maybe people should be.

Jo and I are looking forward to the future with Leo and Violet. I’m hoping the current economic situation will resolve itself so we can go back to some resemblance of normality. We’ve got some savings and we’re hoping to acquire some more and buy a house in a couple of years from now. It’ll be exciting when Violet goes to school too – she’ll be going to primary school just as Leo leaves and goes to secondary school, so it’ll be good to experience both at the same time.

We’d like to get married too, but with the costs it is difficult to do both at the same time. I want to make sure we’ve got a secure home that belongs to us that we can all live in as a family.