Case study
Case study
Case study
Michael and Sarah Johnson had just completed on their first house. Two children, one main income, a thirty-year mortgage, and — like most people at that point — no life cover beyond a small amount through Michael’s employer.
The question they brought us was not really about insurance. It was: if Michael died next year, could Sarah stay in the house? Without cover, the honest answer was no.
The Insurize solution
We started from the household’s own numbers rather than a product. The mortgage balance, the years until the youngest child finished school, and the difference between Sarah’s earnings and the family’s outgoings gave a sum insured and a term. Then we quoted the panel against that figure.
Term life, matched to the mortgage
A thirty-year term policy on Michael’s life, with a sum insured set to clear the mortgage outright. Term rather than permanent cover, because the need has an end date and term buys roughly eight times the sum insured for the same premium.
Income replacement
Five years of Michael’s salary added on top, so the family would not have to make decisions about school, work and housing in the same year as a bereavement.
An education allowance
A rider covering tuition costs still to come, which kept that amount separate from the money meant to run the household.
Premiums that survived contact with the budget
Level monthly premiums fixed for the full term, sized so the policy would not be the first thing canceled in a difficult year. A policy that lapses is worth nothing, and affordability is a cover decision, not an afterthought.
An accelerated benefit option
Access to part of the sum insured after a terminal diagnosis, while it can still pay for care and for time.
Results and impact
The policy was issued in June after a standard medical, at the quoted rate. Sarah was added as a second life a year later, once she returned to work, and the family now holds one schedule rather than two.
The measurable outcome is dull, which is the point. A mortgage that would have had to be sold to clear is now cleared by the policy. The children’s school fees are funded through the years they are due. Nobody has claimed, and if nobody ever does, the premiums will have bought two decades of not having to think about it.
What changed practically:
- One document that says exactly what would be paid, to whom, and when
- Beneficiary forms completed and diarised for review after any major change
- A renewal note each year confirming the sum insured still matches the mortgage
Conclusion
Sizing came first and the product came second, which is the only order that works. A new homeowner with dependants is the clearest case there is for term life cover, and the cost of getting it right was smaller than the family had assumed for years.
