The range of expenses is always growing. At one time, there were fewer: rent/mortgage, council tax, utilities, phone line and TV licence. But now, many of us have contracted payments to TV package providers, broadband providers, mobile phone companies and other subscription services.

That’s before factoring in things like owning a car. While it’s arguable that these are choices rather than obligations, very few of us would be able to live without them.

Naturally, we commit to these purchases because we don’t imagine that we will die. But if the worst should happen, would your loved ones have the advantage of being able to maintain these payments? One of the benefits of life insurance is that it could help your loved ones with these expenses.

Recent research found that 34% of adults had either no savings, or less than £1000, in a savings account.

Almost two-thirds (65%) of people believe they wouldn’t be able to last three months without borrowing money - Source https://www.money.co.uk/savings-accounts/savings-statistics

In many situations, putting money aside can be very challenging, and what savings one has can quickly get spent on unplanned outgoings – both good and bad.

The benefit of a life insurance policy is that it can mitigate for a lack of savings after you die, even if it is something like over 50s life cover, which has lower premiums than term cover and a predictable pay-out that can help cover the cost of your funeral.

A decreasing term life policy is a good way to make sure that your mortgage repayments are met in the event of your death. Any gradually-reducing debt can be covered with a decreasing term policy. It keeps track with your repayment schedule, with pay-out levels decreasing in line with the diminishing size of your debt.

Level cover offers a cash lump sum if you die within its lifetime, which can be used to repay debts or simply as a way of helping life to carry on without your help.

With most policies you usually have to wait a minimum of four weeks after you stop work for payments to start. This is called the waiting period. Some waiting periods last up to two years. The amount of money you pay for the insurance policy (called the premiums) may be cheaper if you can wait longer before you make a claim.

If you are thinking about your old age and don’t want your family to be troubled by the cost of your funeral, over 50s life cover means that you have the advantage of being able to contribute financially to the event.

Putting your cover into trust ensures that your Life Insurance pays out quickly, to the right people and doesn't form part of your estate which can help with inheritance tax.