Life insurance at 66

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vfillafan

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My wife and I currently have life insurance policies of €185k against each of our lives. This was taken out when we took out our mortgage 20 years ago. The policy pays the mortgage off is one of us dies and the remaining amount goes to the surviving partner.

Our mortgage is finished in September and therefore the policies will expire. Can I now get a new policy (or extend the existing one? I have twice been diagnosed and survived cancer during the past 5 years and worry that I will be too high a risk for cover.

Please advise.

Regards, Chris
 
Check your policy to see if it has a ‘conversion option’. Or is it a convertible policy. This will allow you to take out a new policy under the original terms.
 
If the policy is not convertible and simply stops when the mortgage is cleared, then you should really ask yourself if you actually need further cover, especially since it will probably be very expensive at your age. Are either/both of you still working? Do you have pension income? What would happen in financial terms if one of you predeceased the other? Would a lump sum life insurance/assurance payout actually be needed?
 
I checked the policies and they do have a conversion option to a level term assurance or a whole of life cover (unit linked) for the same sum assured. What exactly does this mean?
 
vfillafan said:
I checked the policies and they do have a conversion option to a level term assurance or a whole of life cover (unit linked) for the same sum assured. What exactly does this mean?
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This means that you can both take out a new policy under the same terms as the original policy. Your age nor illness will not make any difference to the new policy. There will be no loading.
 
vfillafan said:
Lconversion option to a level term assurance or a whole of life cover (unit linked)
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You can convert the policy to another fixed term or to a whole of life (until death) policy. You'd need to contact them to find out what terms and conditions and premium would apply. You should also compare it to other options elsewhere just in case it's an expensive policy.
 
Silversurfer said:
Your age nor illness will not make any difference to the new policy. There will be no loading.
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While the illness will not be taken into account, the age will. The price of a replacement policy will be based on current age. Life cover isn't cheap at age 66.

I second ClubMan's advice above. Think hard about whether or not you NEED life insurance cover. Look coldly at what financial position either person would be in, in the event that the other one died. Take into account savings, assets, pensions etc.
 
LDFerguson said:
While the illness will not be taken into account, the age will. The price of a replacement policy will be based on current age. Life cover isn't cheap at age 66.

I second ClubMan's advice above. Think hard about whether or not you NEED life insurance cover. Look coldly at what financial position either person would be in, in the event that the other one died. Take into account savings, assets, pensions etc.
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Our renewal last year was a conversion policy and age was not an issue with cost. The policy was renewed for 15 years which was the length of the previous policy. Age and illness were irrelevant. This was with Irish Life.
 
Silversurfer said:
Our renewal last year was a conversion policy and age was not an issue with cost. The policy was renewed for 15 years which was the length of the previous policy. Age and illness were irrelevant. This was with Irish Life.
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Are you saying that you got a replacement policy from Irish Life using a conversion option with the same level of cover for a further 15 years at the same premium you had been paying for the previous 15 years?
 
Apologies I did not mean to give such an abrupt answer. Our last mortgage was for 15 years and the policy was taken out to cover it should anything happen. As the years went by it was index linked and the policy was for a much larger sum than the original mortgage. We invoked the conversion option to take out a replacement policy after the 15 year term. The value of the new policy is for the final amount of the old one. The cost is static. It will run until we are 75.
 
Silversurfer said:
The cost is static. It will run until we are 75.
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The conversion looks like good value but you really need to assess whether you'll need it until 75. If you're at 66 with two pensions, no dependents, and a mortgage paid off I don't see much point.

Personally I don't plan to be paying for life insurance in my 70s. Time will be short and better to spend what I have enjoyably!
 
NoRegretsCoyote said:
The conversion looks like good value but you really need to assess whether you'll need it until 75. If you're at 66 with two pensions, no dependents, and a mortgage paid off I don't see much point.

Personally I don't plan to be paying for life insurance in my 70s. Time will be short and better to spend what I have enjoyably!
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Good point though I think we may open another topic about what we should shed as we age. Do we need VHI? Insurance policies?
 
Silversurfer said:
Good point though I think we may open another topic about what we should shed as we age. Do we need VHI? Insurance policies?
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NoRegretsCoyote said:
The conversion looks like good value but you really need to assess whether you'll need it until 75. If you're at 66 with two pensions, no dependents, and a mortgage paid off I don't see much point.

Personally I don't plan to be paying for life insurance in my 70s. Time will be short and better to spend what I have enjoyably!
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Totally agree. As I said earlier...
ClubMan said:
... you should really ask yourself if you actually need further cover, especially since it will probably be very expensive at your age. Are either/both of you still working? Do you have pension income? What would happen in financial terms if one of you predeceased the other? Would a lump sum life insurance/assurance payout actually be needed?
Click to expand...
 
Silversurfer said:
Apologies I did not mean to give such an abrupt answer. Our last mortgage was for 15 years and the policy was taken out to cover it should anything happen. As the years went by it was index linked and the policy was for a much larger sum than the original mortgage. We invoked the conversion option to take out a replacement policy after the 15 year term. The value of the new policy is for the final amount of the old one. The cost is static. It will run until we are 75.
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Thanks. That's excellent value (assuming that you really NEED the cover. ;)) Most conversion options operate on the basis that, while health issues are ignored, the price of the replacement policy is the price based on your age at the time you start the replacement. This usually results in the replacement policy being dearer because you're older.
 
Thanks for the feedback. My situation is if I pass before my wife I would like my wife to get a lump sum (maybe €60k) as we have some savings. If it were the other way around I would have 2 state pensions(Ireland and UK) so I wouldn't need such a big amount. My wife would only have her state pension and savings ( €40k).
 
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Just to update, I have been on to Aviva (Hibernian) and they say that the policies are not convertible. Apparently the broker did not tick the box on the policy. The policy terms and conditions say it is an option if selected but they say it should have been selected at the time the policy was taken out. Nowhere on the policy document does it say the policy is non-convertable.

Very unhappy tbh.
 
Just received documents showing terms and conditions from Aviva which are different to those attached to our policies in that they do not mention the conversion option and ours do. I also found the illustration that we agreed to back in 2003. See attached pics. I believe I have be mis-sold the policies.

Please advise
 

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