Saga Life Insurance Review 2023

Saga is well known for catering to the older generation, and offers a range of products exclusively to the over 50’s. This includes holiday packages, money
services, and even a monthly magazine.

In addition to this they also provide life insurance. Please note: at this moment in time they have currently paused their offerings on Life Insurance.

What types of life insurance does Saga offer?

Saga offers two types of life insurance with various options to create a tailor-made policy for you.

Level Term Cover

Your lump sum payout is protected over the course of the policy period, and remains the same throughout. If the policy-holder has purchased a £30,000 life insurance policy, it will payout that £30,000 even at the end. This is in contrast to Decreasing Term Cover.

Decreasing Term Cover

This option means that the lump-sum awarded to your beneficiaries or estate will lessen across the policy period. When the policy holder has some kind of repayment loan that also reduces in time, this is a useful option since it will tend to provide cheaper monthly premiums. If you have bought £300,000 of protection, this will come to be zero on policy expiry.

Additional Cover Options

There might be a time when you are diagnosed with an illness that does not
result in your death, but can still affect you and your family in a difficult
way. That stress will only be compounded if you find yourself unable to work or
earn a living. This is where the option of adding Critical Illness Cover could
come in useful. For an additional premium you can add this coverage to your life
insurance policy so that you are covered in death, upon diagnosis of a terminal
illness, and also upon diagnosis of a critical illness. The definition of
“Critical Illness” will be determined by your policy wording, but will include
at least heart attacks, stroke or cancer.

Waiver of Premium Cover: if you find yourself in a position where you are
unable to work, this cover will subsidise any premium owed if you become too ill
or incapacitated due to sickness or injury to carry out your normal occupation.
This is available for an additional premium.

Life Insurance Features

• Pays out a lump sum on death
• Option to choose between single or joint policyholders
• Several policy types available:
• Level term or decreasing term cover to suit your circumstances
• Additional policy coverages can be added to your life policy, such as critical illness cover and waiver of premium cover.

Additional Benefits

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• Terminal Illness Cover: if your policy term is over two years and you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness that leaves you with a life expectancy of 12 months or less, Saga may pay out a lump sum
• Accidental Death Benefit while your application is being processed, either for up to 90 days or until Saga accept, postpone or decline your application. That means if you die in this period the company will pay out the amount you’d asked to be insured for, up to a maximum of £300,000.
• Policy premiums are payable until the policy anniversary after your 90th birthday, after which no more premium is payable, and cover will continue.
• You have the option to pay premiums monthly or annually, and if the latter you will receive a discount for one yearly payment.
• Saga Life Insurance can offer an additional funding amount for your funeral. This benefit can be up to £300 in contribution from Saga’s appointed funeral director towards the cost of your funeral. This is automatically included within your policy.

Why Might Saga Life Insurance Not Payout?

• Failure to provide accurate policyholder details given at time of application
• Self inflicted injury or suicide
• Terminal illness cover if your policy period is less than two years
• If you have chosen to add on Critical Illness Cover, a diagnosis for valid payout must be for an illness listed on the policy document
• Missing scheduled premium payments

N.B. Policyholders must reside in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland
(not including the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands)

Advantages

• As long as you are a UK resident aged 50-75 you can get Guaranteed Life insurance with Saga: the maximum sum assured is £19,000 and will only pay 12 months after the beginning of your policy.
• Guaranteed Life Insurance does not require a medical or extensive individual history in application
• Whole life cover: some other insurance policies will only cover up until a certain age, for example to 80 years old. Saga looks to cover its policyholders for the entirety of their lives
• Policy can be put into a trust. This way your payout will not be subject to inheritance tax, and the value to your beneficiaries will be greater.
• Saga charges fixed premiums meaning you’ll always know what your premiums will be as they will stay the same throughout the policy
• Saga has very competitive monthly premiums starting at less than £6 a month
• Fully covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which, in the event One Family is unable to fulfil policy obligations out of insolvency or credit default, will pay customers compensation so that they do not lose any money

Disadvantages

• Saga’s fixed premiums are set for your policy with no increasing cover option; this means that the value of your policy payout will reduce over time with inflation. This could result in the value of your payout being less than the values of your premiums paid in.
• The policy has no cash-in value at any time, so if you cancel it you will get nothing back; some life policies offer a 50% cash-in value upon reaching a certain age or amount of time passed on the policy.
• Age restrictions with minimum age being 50 years old
• Maximum limits in Guaranteed Life Insurance product of £19,000 which for some is not enough to keep their family financially secure in the event of their death