Over 50s Life Cover FAQs
OneFamily's Over 50s Life Cover is life insurance designed specifically for individuals aged between 50 and 80.
UK residents are guaranteed to be accepted and we won't ask you to have a medical examination. Cover starts from just £10 a month.
Most asked
No. Your Over 50s Life Cover policy isn’t a savings plan and has no cash in value at any time. It only pays out when you die or claim terminal illness benefit.
You can cancel within the first 30 days of opening your policy and we'll refund any premiums you've paid.
Got the answers you need? Visit the main Over 50s Life Cover page to request your free quote.
As long as you keep paying your premiums, you’ll be covered for life or until a terminal illness claim is paid.
Once you reach the age of 90, you'll stop paying premiums but your cover will carry on until you die or if you claim a terminal illness pay out.
However, if you stop paying premiums before you’re 90, your plan will stop and you won’t get back the premiums you've paid.
Got the answers you need? Visit the main Over 50s Life Cover page to request your free quote.
The pay out on death won’t attract Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax, but it may be subject to Inheritance Tax unless your policy is written in trust.
This reflects our current understanding of the law and the HMRC practice, which can be subject to change and does depend on individual circumstances.
Got the answers you need? Visit the main Over 50s Life Cover page to request your free quote.
Before you apply
As long as you keep paying your premiums, you’ll be covered for life or until a terminal illness claim is paid.
Once you reach the age of 90, you'll stop paying premiums but your cover will carry on until you die or if you claim a terminal illness pay out.
However, if you stop paying premiums before you’re 90, your plan will stop and you won’t get back the premiums you've paid.
Premiums start from as little as £10 a month and go up to £75 a month (depending on your age and sum assured limits).
Immediate cover is available in most cases if you apply for Over 50s Life Cover online or by phone.
If you apply by post, your cover will start once we’ve processed your application and you should get your policy documents within a few days.
You may also choose the future date you want your cover to start, as long as it's within four weeks of the date you apply.
If you die of natural causes within the first two years of your policy starting, the pay out will be 150% of the premiums you've paid. If you die in an accident within the first two years, the pay out will be three times the life cover (up to a maximum of £48,000).
After the first two years, we'll pay out the sum assured when you die.
Terminal Illness benefits don't apply until you've held the policy for two years.
Yes. You can take out as many plans as you like, as long as your total monthly premiums on plans taken out after 1 January 2007 aren’t more than £75 subject to a total level of cover of £20,000 (£10,000 for customers aged 59 or under).
Any new policy will be subject to a two-year qualifying period, which means that your new policy must have been active for two years before we'll pay out the full benefit amount.
You can only opt into the Funeral Funding Feature on one policy, so if you have this on an existing policy, you won't be able to select it on your new policy.
No. But you can make sure each of you is covered by each taking out an Over 50s life cover policy.
Defaqto is an independent financial information business which rates companies and services to help consumers make better informed decisions.
Defaqto's ratings are designed to help consumers quickly understand the quality of a policy.
Its experts look at between 30 and 100 features and benefits to compare every policy in the market. The comparisons allows it to give a simple rating of 1 to 5.
Our 5 star rating is the highest Defaqto awards.
You'll pay your premium by Direct Debit.
It’s easy and convenient and means you don’t need to worry about forgetting to make a payment.
It’s unlikely there will be any mistakes but, if there are, you’re covered by the Direct Debit guarantee, which means you’ll get a refund.
The amount of cover offered is affected by your age and whether or not you smoke (or use other tobacco products).
Because smoking has many health risks, we reward non-smokers with higher levels of cover than smokers.
To make sure your plan pays out when you die, you need to be honest about whether you smoke when you apply for your policy.
Tobacco products include:
- cigarettes
- cigars
- pipes
- hand roll tobacco
- snuff and chewing tobacco
For the purpose of clarity, nicotine replacement products will be classed as any product that gives a regular dose of nicotine to help stop someone from smoking.
These products include:
- nicotine gum
- nicotine inhaler
- nicotine nasal spray
- nicotine lozenges
- nicotine patches and e-cigarettes (including zero nicotine e-liquid mixtures)
This list doesn't include everything considered a tobacco product or nicotine replacement therapy. If in doubt, please contact us.
No. We guarantee to accept you without a medical, subject to premium and sum assured limits.
We don't ask any intrusive questions and we don’t need a medical report. The only health question we'll ask is whether or not you smoke or use tobacco products.
Our Over 50s Life Cover policy comes with Funeral Funding by default. That means when you die, the proceeds of your policy will go straight to the funeral director to pay for some, or all, of your funeral costs. The funeral director will also contribute £300 towards the cost of your funeral.
Any money remaining will be paid to your estate.
Funeral Funding is not the same as a Funeral Plan. It's not guaranteed that the policy will cover the full cost of your funeral.
Funeral Funding does not cover direct-to-cremation funerals.
You can apply for Power of Attorney or Lasting Power of Attorney either on your own or with a solicitor of your choice.
A regular Power of Attorney is temporary, while a Lasting Power of Attorney comes into effect when you lose capacity and continues until after you die.
When applying for either type, the person making the Power of Attorney needs to have full capacity.
You can find out more about Lasting Power of Attorney on our "Understanding Lasting Power of Attorney" page.
Managing your policy
We won't stop or reduce your cover if you get ill.
If you make a successful terminal illness claim, we will pay out the full sum assured and your policy will close.
Yes. You can increase your level of cover by taking out additional plans. Please note, only one policy will have Funeral Funding included.
You can pay up to £75 in total premiums subject to a total level of cover of £20,000 (£10,000 for customers aged 59 or under) on plans taken out after 1 January 2007. Plans taken out before this date don't count towards these limits.
Any new policy will be subject to its own two-year moratorium, which means you can't make a claim within the first two years of paying premiums.
You only pay your premiums until you reach the age of 90. After that, you don't have to pay any more premiums, but you are covered for life.
If you don't pay your premiums your cover will stop and the Funeral Funding feature will no longer be payable.
If you are struggling to make your payments, you may be able to reduce your premiums if you've had your policy for at least four years.
Bear in mind, this will mean the amount payable on your death will be reduced and you will still need to pay minimum premiums. Your Funeral Funding feature will still be part of your policy (£300 contribution to your funeral cost).
Please call us on 0344 8 920 920 to discuss reducing your premiums.
If a premium is missed, you'll have 60 days to make up for this payment before your policy lapses.
There are a few ways you can make up for a missed payment.
You can give our customer services team a call at 0344 8 920 920 and pay with your debit card over the phone, or arrange a special collection.
You can also pay by cheque or postal order. You'll need to address your cheque to FREEPOST ONEFAMILY (please note, this is the full address), and write your contact details and address on the back of the cheque. You'll also need to include a cover letter explaining that the cheque is for an Over 50s Life Policy, along with your policy number. You won't need to pay to post your cheque to us."
No. Even as you get older or if you become ill.
When you open an Over 50s Life Cover policy with us, we'll let you know how much your sum assured amount is during the application process. You'll also receive a letter from us confirming this amount.
If you'd like to check what your sum assured amount is, call us on 0344 8 920 920.
You can change the address and phone number we have on file for you at any time by giving our customer services team a call on 0344 8 920 920.
You can change the bank details you're using to pay for your premiums, as well as change the designated payer, at any time by giving our customer services team a call on 0344 8 920 920.
If you'd like to have your policy summary resent to you, give our customer services team a call on 0344 8 920 920 and they'll send you a copy in your preferred format.
You can change what day you want us to collect your direct debit at any time by giving our customer services a call on 0344 8 920 920.
If you've missed a payment, you'll have 60 days to make up for that payment before your policy lapses.
If your policy lapses and you'd like to reinstate it, give our customer services team a call on 0344 8 920 920 and they will be able to help you.
We're very sorry for your loss. If the person you nominated as a beneficiary for your policy has died, you can give our customer services team a call on 0344 8 920 920 and they will help you nominate a different beneficiary.
Our OneFamily Over 50s Life Cover policy always includes terminal illness. This means that, if you're diagnosed with a terminal illness after the first two years of your policy being in place, you can claim 100% of your assured sum.
Your OneFamily Over50s Life Cover policy will include serious illness if it was opened before 30 June 2020. This feature is no longer available for any policies opened on or after 30 June 2020.
You can cancel your policy within the first 30 days of opening it by giving us a call on 0344 8 920 920. We'll then refund any premiums you've paid in.
Once that 30 day period is over, you can no longer cancel your policy or cash in its value, unless you make a terminal illness claim.
When you take out an Over 50s Life Cover policy, the amount that will be paid out is a fixed sum, set at the time of sale. Because of this, you could end up paying in more than is paid out.
As our Over 50s Life Cover isn't a savings plan, the premiums collected don't build up. When you pay into your policy every month, you're paying for a month of life cover, rather than building up a pot of money over time. The longer you live for after opening your policy, the more likely you are to pay in more than is eventually paid out.
Making a claim
No. Your Over 50s Life Cover policy isn’t a savings plan and has no cash in value at any time. It only pays out when you die or claim terminal illness benefit.
You can cancel within the first 30 days of opening your policy and we'll refund any premiums you've paid.
The pay out on death won’t attract Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax, but it may be subject to Inheritance Tax unless your policy is written in trust.
This reflects our current understanding of the law and the HMRC practice, which can be subject to change and does depend on individual circumstances.
Once we’ve received the necessary documentation, we aim to pay out your claim within 5 working days.
If you intend to use your policy to pay for a funeral and you opt in to the Funeral Funding Feature, your next of kin will be able to start making the arrangements with the allocated funeral director straight away and we will settle the bill directly with the funeral provider once we have received the necessary documentation.
It's worth bearing in mind that if your funeral costs more than your policy covers you for, your next of kin will need to settle the difference directly with the funeral provider.
You can notify us of a death by completing our online death notification form.
If you buy an Over 50s Life Cover policy from us, please make sure you keep the policy documents in a safe place and let your next of kin know where to find them.
We are very sorry to hear about your loss. To help make things easier during this time, you can notify us by completing our online form.
Once we receive notification of the death, we will send a claim form to be completed with a request for all required documents.
Once we receive all the documents required with a completed claim form, we will send a cheque for the settlement.
If you die within the first two years of taking out your Over 50s Life Cover, the full cash sum won't be payable.
We'll pay 150% of the premiums paid or the accidental death benefit (if applicable) to your estate or nominated beneficiary. Please see the Policy Document for full details.
Whoever arranged your funeral will still be able to use the Funeral Funding feature's £300 contribution towards the cost of your funeral, as long as it's arranged by the funeral director nominated by Golden Charter.
If you'd like to make a claim on your policy for serious or terminal illness, give our customer services team a call on 0344 8 920 920.
Funeral Funding feature
Funeral Funding is automatically built into our Over 50s Policy. If you'd like to remove it, you can do so by calling 0344 8 920 920.
With Funeral Funding, a payment is made from your policy directly to the funeral director when you die. This will go towards covering the costs of your funeral.
If there is money left over after your funeral is paid for, it will be returned to your estate (meaning it will be available for your family or friends to inherit). If the payment doesn't cover the full cost of the funeral, whoever is arranging your funeral will need to pay the extra.
The funeral director is selected by Golden Charter, our chosen partner. This funeral director will also contribute £300 towards the cost of your funeral.
It's worth being aware that Funeral Funding is not the same as a funeral plan, and the payout may not cover the whole cost of the funeral. Even if that is the case, it will mean your family has less to pay upfront when arranging your funeral.
If you have, or are considering, more than one life insurance policy, please be aware that you are only able to have Funeral Funding on one policy, whether that's with OneFamily or another provider.
No. You can only claim the Funeral Funding Feature on one Over 50s Life Cover policy, even if your second policy is with a different provider.
Our Funeral Funding Feature is provided by Golden Charter so if you choose to use this feature, you do need to use a Golden Charter funeral provider.
However, you can remove the Funeral Funding feature if you like by calling us on 0344 8 920 920.
Your policy will then be paid out to your estate or nominated beneficiary instead of being sent directly to the funeral director. You won't be eligible for the £300 funeral cost contribution.
If the proceeds of the policy plus the £300 funeral director contribution cover the cost of your funeral, there won't be anything to pay.
But if there isn't enough to pay for the agreed funeral arrangements, whoever is arranging your funeral will need to pay the extra costs when they're getting everything booked. They will be able to see how much money is in the policy when they're planning the funeral so they can consider any extra payments.
Of course, if there is more money paid out than is needed for the funeral, this will paid to your estate (and therefore available to be inherited or used to pay off debt for example) or nominated beneficiaries.
No. The Funeral Funding features simply means that the payout from your Over 50s Life Cover goes towards the cost of your funeral, as long as it's arranged through a Golden Charter approved funeral director.
This may not cover the full cost of the funeral. So, if the funeral costs more than the policy pays out, whoever is arranging it will need to pay the extra. But if there is more money in the payout than the funeral costs, this will be returned to your estate or nominated beneficiaries.
A funeral plan, on the other hand, is designed to cover the full cost of the funeral as the arrangements are made in advance.
If you die abroad and want your funeral to be in the UK, the Funeral Funding feature provider's Funeral Director may be able to arrange for your body to be brought back to the UK. This is known as repatriation.
If they are able to arrange repatriation, the Funeral Director will advise your representatives of the costs involved.
Provided that the Funeral Funding Feature is still in force, and your funeral is arranged with the Funeral Funding Feature provider, the £300 contribution will still apply.
If you make a terminal illness claim, the money is paid to you and the policy is closed. However, the nominated funeral director will still pay £300 towards the cost of your funeral as long as they're still providing your funeral services.