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There is no universal life-insurance amount or reliable “multiple of salary” that fits every household. The right level is the money your dependants would need after your death, minus the cover, savings and other resources already available. Start with debts and housing costs, add the support your household would need and the years it would need it, then check the result against existing workplace and personal cover.
What life insurance is meant to pay for
Life insurance pays when the insured person dies, usually as a lump sum, although some policies can provide regular payments. The purpose is to replace the financial contribution that would disappear and meet obligations that would otherwise fall on the surviving household.
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MoneyHelper identifies debts, mortgage or rent, the number of dependants, take-home pay or other income and day-to-day living costs as relevant factors. Those factors point to a planning exercise, not an insurer-prescribed formula.
- Debts: a mortgage, personal loans, credit cards or other balances the family wants cleared.
- Housing: the cost of keeping the home, renting elsewhere or meeting a major housing obligation.
- Dependants: children, a partner or other people who rely on the insured person’s money or unpaid support.
- Income replacement: the amount and period of financial help the household would need after the death.
- One-off costs: funeral expenses or another specific cost the household wants the policy to meet.
- Resources already available: savings, investments, existing life cover and employer death-in-service benefits.
The result is a household-specific shortfall. Two people with the same salary can need very different cover because their debts, dependants, assets and expected duration of support differ.
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A practical way to estimate your cover
Use a worksheet and make every assumption visible. Do not present the result as an official calculation or a guaranteed recommendation.
- List debts to be repaid. Write down the current mortgage balance and any other debt the family would want cleared. If a balance is expected to fall, note the assumed date and repayment pattern.
- Set out housing and other major obligations. Include rent or mortgage payments that would continue, school or care commitments and any other large cost the household specifically wants supported.
- Estimate support for each dependant. For every child or adult dependant, state the amount of help needed and how long it may be required. Base this on likely living costs and the income that would still enter the household.
- Add one-off costs. Include funeral costs or another clearly defined expense only if the household wants life cover to fund it.
- Subtract existing resources. Include personal policies, employer death-in-service benefits, accessible savings and other assets intended for the beneficiaries. Do not count money that is earmarked for a different purpose unless you would genuinely use it here.
- Calculate the remaining shortfall. The shortfall is the amount of cover needed. Record how long the cover must last and revisit the worksheet when debts, income or family circumstances change.
There is no standard mathematical formula in the guidance for converting these lines into one number. A calculation that uses a salary multiple without showing debts, duration, inflation assumptions and existing resources can materially overstate or understate the need.
Illustrative worksheet
The following example demonstrates the method only. It is not an official recommendation. Assume a household wants to clear a £180,000 mortgage, provide £24,000 a year for eight years while two children are dependent, and reserve £5,000 for funeral costs. The surviving partner expects £12,000 a year of continuing income that can fund part of the children’s needs. The family has £20,000 of savings and £100,000 of existing cover, including an employer benefit that remains available under its current employment terms.
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|---|---|---|
| Mortgage to clear | £180,000 | Current balance |
| Children’s support | £192,000 | £24,000 × eight years before considering other income |
| Funeral reserve | £5,000 | Household target |
| Continuing income available for support | −£96,000 | £12,000 × eight years |
| Savings allocated to the plan | −£20,000 | Accessible funds the family would use |
| Existing life cover | −£100,000 | Personal and workplace cover counted together |
| Illustrative remaining shortfall | £161,000 | Before allowing for tax, investment returns, inflation or policy-specific costs |
In real planning, the support amount might change as children age, the mortgage balance falls or earnings change. A qualified adviser can help test assumptions, particularly where the household has complex assets, a business or estate-planning concerns.
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Choose cover that matches the job
The policy shape matters as much as the headline benefit. MoneyHelper describes several common forms.
| Policy form | Broad role | Points to compare |
|---|---|---|
| Level term | Pays a fixed benefit if death occurs during a set term. | Benefit amount, term length and whether the same amount remains appropriate throughout the term. |
| Decreasing term | The benefit reduces over time and is designed to follow a declining repayment-mortgage balance. | Whether the reduction broadly matches the mortgage, the term and any remaining family shortfall. |
| Increasing term | The benefit rises over time to help preserve spending power as costs increase. | The escalation method, how premiums change and whether the projected benefit fits future needs. |
| Whole of life | Can pay whenever death occurs if premiums continue; it is often used for estate-planning purposes and usually costs more than shorter-term cover. | Premium structure, review provisions, long-term affordability, purpose and payout arrangements. |
| Single cover | One insured person has an individual policy and it pays under that person’s contract. | Whether each partner needs a separate payout and how ownership and beneficiaries are arranged. |
| Joint cover | Usually costs less than two individual policies but typically pays on the first death. | Whether one payout is enough, the survivor’s needs and the consequences of ending cover after the first claim. |
Policy wording can differ from these broad descriptions. Confirm the contract’s benefit, term, exclusions, premium review rules and claim conditions with the insurer or a qualified adviser.
How long should the policy last?
Set the term around the obligation the policy is intended to cover. A mortgage-focused policy may run to the expected repayment date; income-support cover may need to last until the youngest child reaches financial independence or until another dependable income source is available.
Review the term if you refinance, extend a mortgage, have another child, separate, retire or experience a major change in earnings. A policy that is large enough but ends before the need does not solve the household’s problem.
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Do you need life insurance for a mortgage?
Life insurance is not generally a legal requirement for having a mortgage. However, an individual lender may make insurance a condition of a particular deal. Check the offer and mortgage conditions rather than assuming either that cover is compulsory or that it is unnecessary.
Even when a lender does not require a policy, cover can prevent dependants from having to continue paying the loan alone or help them keep the home. For a repayment mortgage, decreasing term cover may broadly track the falling balance. If the family also needs money for living costs, level or increasing cover may be more suitable than a mortgage-only policy.
Families should count unpaid care as well as pay
A non-earning parent or partner may provide childcare, transport, cooking, household administration and other work. If that person dies, the surviving household may have to buy those services or reduce working hours to provide them. The available guidance does not prescribe a monetary value for unpaid care, so treat it as a household-specific cost: estimate replacement childcare or domestic help and the effect on the survivor’s ability to work.
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New parents should revisit debts, housing costs, income and the number of children or other dependants. The amount needed can change substantially after a birth, adoption, separation or change in care arrangements.
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Check cover you already have
Read existing policies and workplace benefits before buying more. Employer death-in-service cover can be valuable, but it may stop when employment ends or when you leave that employer. Confirm the benefit amount, eligibility, beneficiary arrangements and whether the benefit is written under a trust.
Subtract only resources genuinely available to the people who need them. A pension, emergency fund or investment account may have a different owner, tax treatment or purpose. Keep a dated record of the figures so you can identify when a review is needed.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Life cover is not income protection
Life insurance responds to death. It does not normally pay simply because illness or injury prevents someone from working.
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- Income protection can replace part of earnings during an inability to work caused by illness or injury, subject to its waiting period and policy definition.
- Critical illness cover pays for specified diagnoses that meet the policy’s definitions; it is not a general payment for every illness.
A household that relies on one person’s earnings may need to assess these risks separately. Do not treat a life policy as a substitute for protection while the insured person is alive but unable to work.
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Compare policies, not just premiums
Premiums and eligibility depend on personal circumstances. MoneyHelper lists banks, specialist brokers, comparison services, direct insurers, independent financial advisers, retailers, mortgage providers and some credit-card companies as possible routes to purchase. Shopping around can reveal different prices and terms, but the cheapest quote is not automatically the most suitable.
- Answer the application accurately. Give complete information about health, smoking, occupation, hobbies and other questions. An inaccurate answer can affect a claim.
- Read exclusions and definitions. Check what is excluded, how death is defined, whether premiums are guaranteed or reviewable and what happens if a payment is missed.
- Check ownership and beneficiaries. Confirm who owns the policy, who receives the proceeds and whether the payment route reflects the household’s wishes.
- Compare like with like. Match the benefit, term, escalation, premium basis and policy type before comparing prices.
- Use the cancellation window carefully. MoneyHelper says buyers have 30 days after purchase to change their mind for a full refund, but cancellation rights and policy terms can change. Verify the current terms in the contract before relying on that period.
Trusts, probate and tax
A policy may be written in trust so proceeds can go to chosen beneficiaries outside the estate and probate process. Trusts can also have inheritance-tax implications, and the result depends on the arrangement and current tax rules. Obtain advice from a suitably qualified adviser before setting up or changing a trust; do not assume that every policy or trust receives the same treatment.
A statistic that should not set your target
An ABI-hosted A Savings and Resilience Barometer for Great Britain search extract reports that 41.2% of families had combined assets and life insurance sufficient to cover mortgage liabilities and children’s future living costs. The publication year and methodology are not confirmed in the available passage, so this is not a current population-wide benchmark and cannot tell an individual household how much to buy. Use your own shortfall worksheet instead.
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- Buying, refinancing or substantially paying down a mortgage.
- Having, adopting or becoming responsible for another child or dependant.
- Marriage, separation, divorce or a change in who owns the home.
- A large change in salary, working hours or the survivor’s expected income.
- Changing employer or losing a death-in-service benefit.
- Receiving an inheritance, selling an asset or using savings that were part of the protection plan.
- Approaching the end of a policy term or discovering that premiums are reviewable.
At each review, update debts, housing costs, support duration, existing cover and available assets. The target is the shortfall at that point, not the figure calculated years earlier.
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