When should you get life insurance?

Life insurance can help to give your family some financial support after you’re gone. It pays out a cash lump sum they can use towards the mortgage or their living expenses if you’re no longer around to provide for them.

If you’re wondering when to get life insurance, there’s a few things you might want to think about. The best time to get life insurance might not be the same for everyone. But there are some life events where it could help to have some cover in place.

If you’re buying a house with a mortgage, you might want to think about getting life insurance. It could help to cover the repayments if you die or become terminally ill. Or it could help to pay off a repayment mortgage.

Your lender might also need you to have life insurance when you take out a mortgage with them.

With Tesco Life Insurance, you can choose Mortgage Protection or Family Protection to help cover your mortgage. We’ll talk about these in more detail below.

You can find out more about life insurance and mortgages in our guide - Do you need life insurance for a mortgage?

If you’re getting married, it might be a good time to get joint life insurance. You don’t have to be legally married to apply for a joint policy. But it might make sense to do it at this time.

Joint life insurance covers you and your partner on one single policy. This can sometimes be cheaper than buying two policies. There’s also only one premium to pay each month.

It’s worth remembering, joint policies only pay out once - usually to your partner if you die. After that, the policy will end, and your partner will no longer have cover. They can, however, take out a new single policy in their own name if they still need cover.

Many people take out life insurance when they decide to start a family. It can help you to plan for the future and make sure your children have some financial support if you die.

It’s not just children who might rely on you financially. If you have other dependents, like extended family, life insurance could also help them if you’re no longer around. You can name someone as a beneficiary, so it’s clear you’d like them to get the lump sum payout after a successful claim.

You can learn what a beneficiary is, along with some of the other key terms, in our life insurance glossary.

The average funeral can cost thousands of pounds. If you’re wondering how your family will pay for yours, you can plan ahead with life insurance. The cash lump sum could help to cover funeral costs and support them at this difficult time.

The type of life insurance you need depends on your personal circumstances. With Tesco Life Insurance, you can choose:

Family Protection is a level term life insurance policy. That means your cover won’t change throughout the term of the policy. The amount you pay each month, known as your premium, also won’t change. You can choose how long you want the policy to last.

This might be suitable if you want to support a partner, children or dependants after you’re gone. If their claim is successful, they’ll receive a cash lump sum. And it can go towards things like living expenses and university fees.

Mortgage Protection is a decreasing term life insurance policy. That means the amount you’re covered for goes down in line with your mortgage. The policy usually lasts as long as your mortgage. And your premiums also stay the same each month.

If you die during the policy term, the payout could help to pay off a repayment mortgage. It could also be used to help cover another loan that you pay off over time.

With Family Protection and Mortgage Protection, you can take out a single or joint policy. You can choose a cover amount of up to £5million and a policy term of 5 to 50 years.

You can learn more about different types of life insurance policy in our guide - Types of life insurance explained.

How much life insurance you’ll need also depends on your personal circumstances. For example, what stage in life you’re at, whether you have a mortgage and if you’ve got a family to support.

To get an idea of how much cover you might need, and how long you might need cover for, see our guide - How much life insurance do I need?

Generally, the older you are, the more expensive your life insurance could be. That’s because, as you age, you’re more likely to develop a medical condition that could affect how long you live. You’re also more likely to die during the length of the policy. This makes a payout more likely, if your family makes a successful claim.

Younger people can expect to pay less, as they’re less likely to make an early claim. But that might not always be the case. For example:

So, while age is a factor in deciding the cost of life insurance, it’s not the only thing that’s taken into account.

Remember, you have to be at least 18 years old to apply for Tesco Life Insurance.

Yes, there’s usually a maximum age you can take out a life insurance policy. And it can vary between insurers.

The maximum age you can apply for Tesco Life Insurance is 77 years old.

At Tesco Insurance, we want to help you with the things that matter most. That’s why Tesco Life Insurance comes with a Big Win and lots of Little Helps.

As well as your Tesco benefits, you’ll also get access to health and wellbeing services with the Aviva DigiCare+ app, provided by Square Health and other selected partners.

Tesco Life Insurance is provided and administered by Aviva, who have a 5-star rating from Defaqto for life insurance and pay out on 98.8% of claims.

*Aviva 2025 Claims report, covering claims made across all life insurance policies in 2024.