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Joint life insurance

What is joint life insurance? 

Joint life insurance is a type of life insurance that insures two people, however, it only pays out once. In the event of one person’s death, the survivor will be paid a lump sum and the joint life insurance policy will come to an end. When the policy ends, the survivor no longer has life insurance.

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Joint life insurance for married couples

Joint life insurance is most suited to married couples. But you can even take out joint life insurance if you’re not married or simply business partners. Typically, taking out a joint life insurance policy is cheaper than taking out two separate life insurance policies but it’s worth remembering that when one policyholder dies, the other is left uninsured. Also, joint life cover insurance can be difficult to administer in the event of separation or divorce.

 
 

How does joint life insurance work? 

You and your partner will both be covered by the same policy and you can decide what pay-out you need to cover your financial commitments if one of you dies. You’ll make one monthly payment between the two of you and you can choose whether the payout stays the same no matter when you claim (level term life insurance) or if you want it to decrease over time as your debts reduce (decreasing term life insurance). 
 
If you’re trying to decide whether to take out a joint or single life insurance policy, it’s important to remember that joint life insurance policies only pay out once but when they do depends on the type of policy you have:
 
  • ‘First death’ policy - the insurance provider pays out after the first person dies. There will be no further payments when the second person dies so the survivor will no longer have life insurance.
  • ‘Second death’ policy - a payout is made only after both policyholders have passed away.
 
 

What are the pros and cons of joint life insurance?

 

Pros 

  • It’s typically cheaper than taking out two individual life insurance policies
  • It’s available to any couple, whether that’s a married couple or business partners
  • It pays out regardless of which partner dies first

Cons

  • If both policyholders die at the same time, there will still only be one payout
  • If the relationship ends, the policy can’t be split so it will have to be cancelled
  • If one of the policyholders has poor health, your monthly payments might be higher
 
 

Compare life insurance providers

Compare life insurance providers on Compare by Review today. We’re the first and only comparison site that ranks life insurance providers exclusively on customer experience and product quality rather than price. Our full table of providers will give you an impartial and unbiased overview so you can purchase life insurance from a high-quality provider that you can rely on when you need them most.
 

1st

Review Score

9.7

based on 892 reviews

Life insurance quote

£7.96

per month

With critical illness cover

£26.06

per month

Minimum cover limit

£40k

Maximum cover limit

£750k

Get a quoteRead reviews  
Beagle Street offers an early payout for terminal illness and all premiums are fixed and will not change.

2nd

Review Score

9.4

based on 16321 reviews

Life insurance quote

£8.61

per month

With critical illness cover

£25.73

per month

Minimum cover limit

N/A

Maximum cover limit

£1.5m

Get a quoteRead reviews  
All policyholders get free access to LV= Doctor Services and terminal illness cover is included at no extra cost.

3rd

Review Score

9.2

based on 1606 reviews

Life insurance quote

£8.44

per month

With critical illness cover

£21.02

per month

Minimum cover limit

N/A

Maximum cover limit

£500k

Get a quoteRead reviews  
All Royal London life insurance policies include terminal illness cover at no additional cost.