Best life insurance for over 50s UK
7 min
Who offers the best life insurance for over 50s in the UK?…
Post Office is most commonly known for its postal and banking services, but it’s also one of the UK’s leading life insurance providers.
Offering products such as:
But is Post Office life insurance actually any good?
Keep reading this in-depth review as we explore the over 50s life insurance option offered by Post Office to help you establish whether they’re the right provider for you.
Reassured can’t currently help you to compare quotes from Post Office, but we can help you to compare quotes from other leading UK insurers.
So why not get in touch for your free and personalised quotes? Over 50 life insurance arranged through Reassured starts from just 20p-a-day + .
Post Office is a household name, having been around since the 1600s. The brand pioneered the use of the postage stamp and uniformed postmen in the UK.
Since then, the brand has expanded and now provides much more than just postal services and stamps.
As well as offering a range of insurance products under Post Office Money, the Post Office also provide:
When using Post Office services you can benefit from that fact they are provided by a well trusted brand, owned by government investments.
Post Office over 50s life insurance is rated 4 stars out of 5 on Fairer Finance, with their life insurance scoring an 81% customer experience rating overall.
Brand | Fairer Finance claims score | Complaints performance | Transparency rating | Customer experience rating |
---|---|---|---|---|
94% | 89% | 59% | 81% |
Post Office over 50s life insurance is also rated 4 stars out of 5 by experts on Defaqto, but their term life insurance is rated 3 stars out of 5.
At Reassured, we’re rated ‘Excellent’ by our customers on Trustpilot, based on more than 70,000 reviews.
We’re the UK’s largest life insurance broker*, allowing us to help you compare quotes for life insurance, including over 50s cover, from a panel of leading insurers.
Over 50 life insurance (or over 50s plan) is a type of policy that provides your loved ones with a cash lump sum after you pass away.
An over 50s life insurance policy could also allow you to leave a cash gift for your partner, children, or grandchildren.
The application doesn’t require any medical questions and you’re guaranteed to be accepted if you’re within the specified group.
The table below describes the key features of the Post Office over 50s life cover policy:
Key feature | Description |
---|---|
Sum assured (cover amount) | £1,000 - £10,000 depending on your age |
Increasing benefit option | Choose for your sum assured to increase each year (by a fixed amount of 3%) to protect it from inflation. This will also increase your monthly premium by 4.5% each year |
Waiting period | The first 12 months of the policy you’ll be covered for accidental death but not natural death. After 12 months you’ll be fully covered for all causes of death |
Fixed premiums | Your monthly premiums will remain fixed, unless you choose the increasing benefit option where your premium will increase each year |
Accidental death cover | If you pass away during the first 12 months, Post Office will pay out two times your sum assured |
Premium payments stop | With a Post Office over 50s plan, after the age of 95 you’ll no longer be required to pay your premiums but your cover will remain in place |
Joint cover | You can take out joint cover which covers two people (typically a couple) at the same time under one policy |
At Reassured we can secure over 50s plans from other major providers up to the age of 85, with a maximum sum assured of £20,000 (depending on your age, lifestyle and budget). Over 50s cover through Reassured starts from just £5 a month.
There are several additional benefits offered with Post Office over 50s life insurance.
Here to help services
Offers one-to-one support in cases of serious illness or bereavement with a dedicated nurse from an independent nursing service.
Comes with your policy at no additional cost.
Health and wellbeing services
Provides 24/7 online GP support as well as access to a nutrition and fitness professional and mental health check specialists.
Comes with your policy at no additional cost.
Funeral benefit + contribution
Adding this to your policy will allow the funds from the pay out to be paid directly to Co-op to help cover the cost of your funeral.
Depending on the funeral you choose you can receive up to £250 as a contribution towards your funeral.
Post office currently advertises over 50s life insurance policies from just £1.15 a week (or £5 a month).
However, the exact amount you pay each month will depend on:
As mentioned, no medical information is required when you take out over 50 life insurance. This means your health and medical history won’t affect the cost of your premiums.
While we can’t currently help you to compare Post Office life insurance quotes at Reassured, we can compare quotes from alternative leading UK providers.
The table below compares example premium prices for over 50s life insurance through us, provided by SunLife and One Family.
Quotes are based on taking out £5,000 of cover:
Age | ||
---|---|---|
50 | £17.23 | £14 |
55 | £19.46 | £17 |
60 | £21.84 | £19 |
65 | £26.25 | £24 |
70 | £34.92 | £34 |
75 | £49.22 | £49 |
80 | £64.22 | £75 |
85 | £73.00 (for £4,200 of cover) | -x |
Get in touch for your free, personalised quotes today and see if we can help you save money.
Post Office also offer the following life insurance policies:
These term-based policies could help to provide a financial safety net for your family if the worst happened to you.
Post Office also offer some additional policy options which could help protect you and your family if you became seriously ill. These include:
Term life insurance provides cover for a specified period of time (the term). If you pass away during this time, a cash lump sum will be paid out to your loved ones.
When taking out term life insurance through Post Office, you can choose between level, increasing and decreasing options[4].
Key feature | Description |
---|---|
Sum assured (cover amount) | £10,000 to £750,000 depending on your age. You can choose between level, decreasing or increasing cover options (as above) |
Age limit | Available to applicants aged 18 - 71 |
Fixed premiums | Your monthly premiums will remain fixed throughout the policy term, unless you choose the increasing cover option where your premium will increase each year. Premiums are calculated based on your:
|
Term length | The minimum term length you can secure is 5 years and the policy term must end by your 90th birthday |
Free terminal illness cover | A Post Office term life insurance policy includes terminal illness cover at no extra cost. This allows you to make an early claim if you’re diagnosed with a life-threatening illness and predicted to pass away within 12 months |
Critical illness cover option | You can choose to add critical illness cover to your policy for an additional cost. This allows you to make an early claim if you’re diagnosed with a specified critical illness such as cancer, heart attack or stroke |
Children’s critical illness cover | Can be added to your life insurance policy for an additional cost and will allow you to receive a pay out if your child is diagnosed with a specified illness |
Joint cover | Can take out joint term life insurance to cover two people (typically a couple) at the same time under one policy |
Reassured can help you compare level term vs decreasing term quotes from some of the UK’s leading providers. Our term cover starts from 20p-a-day
†
.
Post Office allow you to add critical illness cover to a term life insurance policy for an additional monthly cost (not available with over 50s cover).
You can secure a critical illness cover amount of between £10,000 and £200,000 through Post Office.
Critical illness cover will provide you with a pay out if you’re diagnosed with a serious illness (that’s listed within the policy).
The funds received can help you to replace lost income while you’re unable to work and/or help pay for pay for private medical bills/carers.
Unlike some other critical illness policies, making a critical illness claim won’t have an effect on your life insurance cover. After a critical illness claim has been made, your life insurance policy will remain in place and your pay out sum will remain the same.
Post Office also offer children’s critical illness cover which can be added to your policy for an additional cost. This will allow you to claim if your child is diagnosed with a specified illness.
This can help to fund specialist treatment, make adaptions to your home and replace income if you need to take time off work to care for your child.
The cover amount you can secure with children’s critical illness cover is between £10,000 and £30,000.
Reassured can help you to compare life insurance with critical illness cover deals, simply get in touch for your free quotes.
Post Office don’t currently offer a whole of life insurance policy.
Instead, their over 50 life insurance could be taken out as an alternative, if you fit into the 50 - 80 age bracket.
The level of cover will be lower than a standard whole of life policy but you’ll be covered for the remainder of your life and your loved ones will be guaranteed a pay out when you pass away.
If under the age of 50, a term life insurance policy could be secured through Post Office although this will only pay out if you pass away during the term.
Alternatively, you could compare whole of life insurance policies through Reassured's advised team. Our whole of life cover starts from 27p-a-day ± .
It’s possible to take out Post Office life insurance on a joint basis. This applies to both their term life insurance and over 50s plans.
Joint life insurance covers two lives simultaneously under one policy, helping you to save money compared with two single policies.
There’s one application form (where you provide details about both parties) and only one premium to pay. However, there will only be one pay out (usually in the event of the first death).
Once the policy has paid out, cover will expire and the remaining partner will need to secure a new policy (which could be expensive if taking out cover later on in life).
If it’s within your budget it can be beneficial to secure two single policies to provide a more comprehensive solution.
Reassured can help you compare quotes for joint term life insurance to see if you can save money. Simply get in touch with a friendly member of our team.
Post Office often offer a free gift to new customers securing life insurance through them.
Currently Post Office are offering:
(This free gift offer is correct as of 15/11/24 and is subject to change)
While a free gift can be enticing, it shouldn’t be your only reason for taking out cover with a certain provider.
The main priority should always be getting the right policy to meet your unique needs, at the most affordable price.
We have written this comprehensive 2024 guide on the best life insurance with free gift offers currently available »
To make an over 50s or term life insurance claim, your loved ones will need to inform Post Office of your passing.
This can be done in the following ways:
Terminal illness and critical illness claims can also be made using the contact details listed above.
Claims will be assessed and, upon receipt of a valid claim, a life insurance pay out will be made.
Although we can’t help you to compare Post Office life insurance at Reassured, we can help you to compare multiple life insurance quotes from other leading providers.
We can help you to compare quotes for term life insurance, whole of life insurance and over 50s plans to help you find the right policy to meet your needs.
We’ll also be there to support you through the entire application process and answer any questions you may have.
So why not start your life insurance journey today with Reassured?
Our quotes are personalised, fee-free and without obligation. Plus, the best part is, the cover we arrange starts from just 20p-a-day.
[1] https://www.postoffice.co.uk/life-cover/over-50s-life-insurance
[2] https://www.defaqto.com/star-ratings/life-protection?search=post%20office https://www.fairerfinance.com/ratings/customer-experience-ratings/life-insurance
[3] https://www.sunlife.co.uk/siteassets/documents/cost-of-dying/sunlife-cost-of-dying-report-2024.pdf
[4] https://www.postoffice.co.uk/life-cover
The information used in this review is correct as of 15/11/24 and is subject to change at any time at the discretion of Post Office
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