Buying the first Life Insurance policy you see is like agreeing to marry someone a half-hour into your first date.
You’ll have horsed half a glass of wine into you and established that they’re probably not a serial killer, but you’ll still have no idea who they are as a person.
And maybeeee it’ll be grand, and you’ll live in relative contentment.
Or maybe you’ll soon discover that your beloved considers showering optional or thinks Trump is a genius.
In life insurance, as in life, the more you know, the better.
It’s why this blog exists!
Well, not for the relationship stuff.
I’m not here to counsel you on that.
For all I know, maybe you like the musky smell of the unwashed, or you also think that Trump is tremendous, really, really great, the best ever.
I will judge you, however, if you don’t do the right research into Life Insurance.
Why?
Well, you could potentially be wasting money on a policy that isn’t worth it.
For example, if you bought a reviewable policy, you could be facing price hikes and end up paying out the wazoo.
Likewise, if you didn’t get a conversion option with your term policy.
You could be missing out on some nifty benefits, too.
If you’ve read these last two paragraphs and all this information seems new, chances are you need some help – keep reading.
As consumers, we’re fascinated by comparisons.
We love knowing the best, the worst, and everything in between.
Having all the information in the world at our fingertips has made us even hungrier to find out all we can before we make a purchase.
But there’s a downside to this – analysis paralysis – the state of overthinking a decision to the point that you never make a choice.
It’s an easy trap to fall into and a dangerous one when it comes to life insurance. The longer you leave it, the older you’ll be and the more likely you’ll suffer a health issue.
Older age plus bad health = mucho expensive premiums.
If I had a euro for every person who wished they had put cover in place before their birthday or check-up, I’d have about €37.
So today, to save you from spending hours on the interweb trying to compare insurers, I’ll do it for you in a quick table and bullet form.
Aviva v Irish Life v New Ireland v Royal London v Zurich Benefits Comparison Table 2023
We’ll now go through each of the main providers, in no particular order, though I think points 14 and 18 are must-reads:
If you add inflation protection to your policy, the insurer will increase your life insurance amount and premium by a certain percentage each year.
Over time, these seemingly small differences can have a huge impact on the price of your cover.
I’m not a fan of inflation protection, but if you see the benefit, here’s how it works at each insurer:
Here’s our in-depth article on children’s life cover
What’s whole of life anyway?
Royal London will give you the first month free (assuming you activate your policy within 30 days of being accepted).
With Zurich, you can get up to six weeks free if you structure your policy correctly.
Royal London and Zurich will pay €10,000 upfront once a claim has been accepted.
This is known as guaranteed insurability and is available at all insurers.
Ready.
Good.
Zurich, Royal London and Irish Life.
You can use these policies to pay an inheritance tax liability for your children.
*Assuming you’re within the maximum age limits outlined in 8 above
We looked at this in detail in our value-added life insurance article.
Aviva is the market leader here, but Irish Life and Royal London offer a medical second opinion also.
You can choose either joint life that will payout out on the first death or dual life that will pay out on the first and the second death.
Should you choose joint or dual life cover?
This is really important important, especially if you have a health issue and you get a loading on your policy.
The loading is a percentage increase on your base premium, so if you choose an insurer with a high base premium, your final premium will be a lot more than if you had gone with an insurer with a lower base premium.
An example will clear things up.
Let’s say you have a high BMI, and the insurer adds 100% to your premium.
Royal London is quoting €15 as their base premium, but Zurich’s is €10.
Adding 100% means you’ll pay €30 at Royal London compared to €20 at Zurich Life for the same amount of cover.
So, over a 25-year term, you will pay € 3,000 more for the Royal London policy.
Zurich Life, Aviva and New Ireland have a base premium of €10.
Royal London and Irish Life start at €15 per month.
Yes, you can with New Ireland and Zurich Life.
A monthly income benefit is a useful way of guaranteeing that maintenance will be paid on death in separation or divorce cases.
Many people will use term cover because it gives a lump sum to the family.
But there are some difficulties using term cover
So, the monthly income option has the following benefits:
You can also add a Lump sum to a policy with a monthly income benefit.
In fact, I recommend doing so to obtain the conversion option.
Yes, all of the insurers offer this benefit.
Only New Ireland offers this benefit. Click here to read all about life insurance that can pay for itself.
Yes, yes, there is – here’s more on these little-known benefits of life insurance
Honestly, I don’t know, and I’m not even going to check because many of the illnesses covered are simply window-dressing that you’ve little chance of ever claiming on.
Adding rare illnesses allows the insurer to boast that “we cover the most illnesses” in the market.
But in reality, how many people do you know have succumbed to Necrotizing fasciitis (flesh-eating disease, in case you were wondering)?
Here’s the truth:
Eleven illnesses make up around 98% of all claims, and these eleven are:
All insurers cover these illnesses, but some have better definitions, and when I say better, I mean it’s easier to claim for them.
Aviva’s definitions for heart attack, cancer and stroke are quite strict, so I would avoid them.
That leaves just 2% of claims that are caused by the other 80 or so illnesses that some insurers cover – as I said, window dressing, no real substance, all fur cost and no knickers.
Meet Steve.
Steve, come talk to the lovely people.
Steeeve.
STEVEN WILL YOU FECKIN COME HERE?
Sorry, Steve is a bit shy.
Steve is 40 and in reasonably good health.
He doesn’t smoke and is looking for €250,000 cover over 30 years.
Steve also wants a conversion option so that when he hits 70, he can get more coverage without having to answer a lot of pesky medical questions.
We can see Steve’s future and it’s not pretty. (Fast women, slow horses, and lots of booze = lousy health).
Without the conversion option, no insurer will offer him cover when he reaches his 70th birthday.
Steve can navigate to our life insurance calculator and fill in his details, and our magic quote machine will spit out his numbers.
His quote looks like this:
Now, you and Steve would be forgiven for looking at that and seeing that New Ireland is the cheapest and just picking them.
I get the impulse.
Cheapest = less cost for you in the long run.
But cheapest doesn’t necessarily mean best.
So, Steve will next find out what each policy includes.
Here’s the thing: each plan gives you life coverage for the next 30 years and a conversion option, but every policy differs slightly in what it offers.
Now, because only about two of you will actually read the policy documents, I will summarise each one briefly for you.
With all the insurers, the basic product is the same.
You can also bundle Serious Illness Cover as an additional extra, but that’s not what this blog is about, so let’s focus on the extra bits.
As with all the below, terms and conditions apply.
⚠ DRY WARNING: the following is drier than a spoonful of cinnamon. Unfortunately, there’s no real spicing it up, though I’ve explained it all as simply and clearly as possible.
All the benefits below may not be included in a basic policy; there may be optional extras that you will pay more for.
This cover is great if you have a pre-existing condition and aren’t sure about your treatment options.
Aviva offers free access to a second medical opinion from the world’s leading practitioners through its Best Doctors and its family care is class, too.
In Ireland, an average GP consultation costs €60, and the wait time is two weeks.
With Aviva, you have unlimited, immediate digital GP consultations included in your policy.
If you don’t have access to a digital GP on your private health insurance, then Aviva is a very attractive proposition.
New Ireland have recently added access to Better Health to their policies:
Irish Life is the most expensive insurer, and while the benefits are excellent, they’re pretty much in line with everyone else, so I wouldn’t be in a rush to recommend them to you.
As you can see above, there’s much more to choosing a life insurance provider than meets the eye.
And that’s before we look at how each insurer can take a differing view of your health.
If your head is spinning and you want me to help you find the best provider for you, I’d be delighted to help.
Simply complete our questionnaire, and I’ll be back in a jiffy with a personalised recommendation.
Thanks for reading
Nick
Editor’s note : We first published this blog in 2020 and have regularly updated it
As Ireland's leading life insurance broker, we specialise in comparing the rates and policies from the top five Irish life insurance providers and offering the very best value quotes to suit the individual needs of our clients. Our expertise lies in finding a suitable insurance plan for those with specific needs, be it a particular illness, occupation or claim history, we've got you covered in every sense!
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