Reducing the cost of life insurance

There are a few things you can do to reduce the cost of your life insurance. First, ask an independent financial adviser (IFA) to check your current policy and see if cheaper alternatives are available. Insurance companies do often reduce the cost of their life cover policies so you may be able to save money each month by switching policies. However, always make sure your new life insurance plan is in place before cancelling the old one and liaise with your IFA before making any changes.

If you give up smoking this can have a dramatic effect on the cost of life insurance. More people than ever before are giving up smoking and it is estimated that 400,000 people gave up smoking in the last 12 months alone.

Smokers pay a lot more than non-smokers for their life insurance and critical illness cover. Once you have given up for more than 12 months many insurance companies class you as a non-smoker making you eligible for cheaper premiums. However, you do need to have given up completely as modern tests can detect even the smallest amount of tobacco in your system

Ask an independent financial adviser (IFA) to search for an alternative life insurance policy for you. It will be important for your IFA to look at your existing cover to ensure a like for like comparison is made before making a decision on a new policy. And because life cover premiums are generally fixed the monthly savings will be for the whole term of the policy, adding up to a tidy sum.