Frequently Asked Questions 

Life doesn’t wait around and neither do we. When you take out a Smart Family Life Insurance policy, you’ll have cover from day one – excluding intentional self inflicted injury within the first 12 months. As well as that, if a medical specialist diagnoses you with a terminal illness with 12 months or less to live, you’ll get a 100% advance on your benefit amount. That way, you can enjoy your precious time with family without needing to worry about money.

You have the choice of including optional Children’s Cover or Critical Illness Cover alongside your Family Life Insurance Policy. These extra cover options can give you added peace of mind that your loved ones are protected if the worst should happen. You’ll also have free access to a range of Health and Wellbeing services⁴ for you, your partner, and any children you have up to age 21.

You’re not covered for death as a result of intentional self inflicted injury until 12 months after your policy has begun. If you take out optional Children's Cover or Critical Illness Cover there are specific limitations for each. You can find the full policy terms and conditions for Children’s Cover here, and for Critical Illness Cover here.

Our Family Life Insurance is simple. We give you a personalised quote that suits your needs and budget. If you’re happy with it, you can take out cover in minutes by just answering a few health and lifestyle questions. You pay your premium each month and if you die while your policy is in place, your family will receive your benefit amount. You can choose an Age-Based or Level policy.

With an Age-Based policy, your monthly premium will start at a lower amount and is recalculated every year based on your age and any applicable benefit amount increases. An automatic 5% benefit amount increase will be applied for the first 10 years of your policy, unless you decide to opt out of the benefit amount increases. This is a whole of life policy and stays in place for life as long as you keep up with payments.

With a Level policy, the benefit amount and the monthly premium remain fixed throughout the policy term, unless you decide to make changes. You can choose a policy term that lasts between 10 and 40 years.

Family life is unpredictable and we never know what lies around the corner. If you wait until you are unwell, the cost of life insurance could increase, and it could be more difficult to take out a policy to help protect your family. Not only that, but generally the younger you are when you take out a policy, the cheaper your premiums are.

At Smart Insurance, we know how important it is for you to stay fit and healthy for your family, which is why we provide free Health and Wellbeing services⁴ to all our customers. You, your partner, and any children you have up until the age of 21, have access to a range of services to help keep your family healthy and happy, and to be ready for any curve ball that life throws at you.

If you have a policy with Smart Insurance and you were to pass away as a result of Coronavirus, you would be covered. With Smart Family life Insurance you’ll be cover from day one – excluding intentional self inflicted injury within the first 12 months.

With Smart Family Life Insurance, you have cover from day one (excluding intentional self inflicted injury within the first 12 months). Which means as soon as you take out a policy, you’re covered. If a medical specialist diagnoses you with a terminal illness with less than 12 months to live at any time during your policy, you’ll receive a 100% advance of your benefit amount.

Protecting your family doesn’t need to cost an arm and a leg. Our premiums start from as little as £14.77 a month⁵. The cost of cover will be personalised to you and will depend on how much cover you need, your answer to health and lifestyle questions, your smoker status, any optional extras you choose, and your age. If you choose a Level policy, the cost will also factor in how long your policy will be in place for. If you need help exploring your options, our award-winning UK team are available to chat for free on .

If you’re a UK resident aged 18 to 64, you can apply for Smart Family Life Insurance. There’s no need for a medical or blood tests, we just ask some health and lifestyle questions. We know you’re busy, so we guarantee a simple application process - that means no complicated forms. If you’re happy with your quote, you can take out cover over the phone in minutes.

If you are happy to pay a little extra each month, you can choose to add more cover to help you get the most from your Smart Family Life Insurance. These can be added on at any stage during the policy, subject to the terms and conditions:

Children's Cover

This can help cover extra costs such as medical expenses if your child were to suffer a specified serious injury or illness. It also provides cover if they were to pass away as result of an accident. Additional benefits amounts are available from £10,000 up to £30,000. 

Learn more

Critical Illness Cover

This cover pays a cash lump sum out of your existing Smart Life Insurance benefit amount, if you were to suffer from a specified critical illness. You can choose a benefit amount of up to 50% of your chosen Smart Life Insurance benefit amount. It could be used to help with rehabilitation costs, replacing a lost income, or other expenses and bills. If you have an age-based policy the critical illness benefit amount and what you pay each month for it will increase yearly. 

Learn more

While both life insurance and over 50s life insurance are types of cover designed to help protect your family, there are some key differences. 

Life insurance is for people aged 18+. It’s typically bought to help families ensure there’s money to help with the mortgage, education costs, and other debts in the face of the loss of the life insured. To take out life insurance you often have to answer health and lifestyle questions to determine your eligibility. There are often different types of cover options, for example, with Smart Insurance you can choose an Age-Based or Level policy type. If you opt for Age-Based your policy will be in place for the rest of your life as long as you keep up with your payments. If you choose a Level policy, your cover will be in place for a set number of years, or term. Life insurance can often be cheaper the younger you are and can often apply for a higher benefit amount than an over 50s life insurance product. 

Over 50s life insurance is aimed at people over the age of 50 and is generally guaranteed acceptance. It is typically bought as a way to help pay for a funeral when the policyholder dies. Usually, over 50s cover is a whole of life policy. Often the benefit amount you can apply for is lower than regular life insurance. 

You can have more than one plan. If you do take out more than one policy with Smart Insurance, please note that together both policies must not exceed the maximum benefit amount for your age. Read our full terms and conditions for more information.

Having life insurance through your employer can be a handy thing, however if you leave your job for any reason in the future, your cover might end and you and your loved ones will no longer have that protection. This is why you might want to explore taking out your own policy even if you do have cover through your employer. 

At the moment there is no specific tax on life insurance in the UK. However, your payout could be subject to inheritance tax (IHT). The payout is part of what’s known as your estate and if your estate is over a certain threshold, it could be included in the IHT calculation.

You might be able to avoid inheritance tax requirements by using an appropriate trust. Our trust form can be found here. If you need any more information, you should contact a financial advisor or solicitor for guidance and advice. The Government may change some of the details around IHT, so make sure to check their website for the most up to date regulations.

It depends on your mortgage provider. Some providers make it a requirement that you have Life Insurance in place, while others don’t. Regardless of whether or not it’s a requirement, life insurance could make all the difference to your family should you pass away unexpectedly. If you think that your family would struggle with mortgage repayments in the wake of your death, it could be a good idea to get cover in place.

We know that everyone has different needs, so we have two policy types to choose from; Age-Based premium or Level premium. Both policy types are flexible, which allow you to apply for changes if your circumstances change. For example, you will be able to apply to increase your benefit amount if you move to a larger home, or decrease it when the children leave home, and you decide it’s time to downsize. Or maybe your financial situation changes, and you decide you would like even more peace of mind by adding Critical Illness Cover or Children’s Cover.

With an Age-Based policy, the monthly premium is recalculated each year at your policy anniversary; gradually increasing in line with your age and benefit amount increases.  

At the beginning of an Age-Based Smart Family Life Insurance policy, your monthly premium will start at a lower price than a Level Smart Family Life Insurance policy, so this may appeal to those on a tight budget during the early years of the policy. Plus, an Age-Based policy is a whole of life policy. So rather than deciding on a fixed term, you can keep the policy for the rest of your life as long as you keep up with your premiums. Also included with an Age-Based policy is the 5% automatic benefit increase, which means your benefit amount will increase for the first 10 years of your policy unless you decide to opt out of the benefit amount increases. 

If you choose an Age-Based policy, there will be a 5% automatic annual increase to your chosen benefit amount. You don’t have to do anything; it will be applied automatically to your cover on your policy anniversary each year. This will happen for 10 consecutive years from the policy start date.

For example, a benefit amount of £100,000 will increase by 5% to £105,000 after the first policy anniversary, £110,000 after the second policy anniversary, and will reach a maximum of £150,000 after 10 years. As your benefit amount increases, so too will your monthly premium. 

You will be sent a new policy schedule each year, which will show your new monthly premium recalculated based on your age, and the new benefit amount. Of course, if you don’t want to accept the benefit and premium increase, you don’t have to. Simply opt out of the automatic benefit amount increases, and your premium will only increase in line with your age. If you change your mind down the line, you can still opt back in.

With a Level Smart Family Life Insurance policy, your policy benefit amount and premium will stay the same each year unless you ask Smart Insurance to make changes to your policy. You have the choice of a fixed term from 10 to 40 years. Once you have been covered for the length of the term you choose, your policy will end.

It should be noted that the 5% automatic benefit amount increase is not available on a Level Smart Family Life Insurance policy, so your chosen benefit amount will stay the same. This is important because the value of the benefit amount you choose at the start of the policy will not increase and it may not keep up with inflation.

Which policy type is better will depend on your own individual needs. There are potential advantages to both options.

With an Age-Based policy you will have lower initial monthly premiums than the Level Smart Family Life Insurance policy. So, if you have a tight budget, an Age-Based policy may be right for you. However, you will need to consider that as you grow older, you will pay a higher premium each year. It also features an automatic 5% benefit amount increase for the first 10 years of holding the policy, which can be a great way of increasing your cover gradually over the years with no further health or lifestyle questions to answer. This could be useful to help offset the impact of inflation or increasing family expenses as your family grows. This type of policy is a whole of life policy.

In contrast, a Level policy may appeal if you prefer the certainty of a fixed monthly premium. With fixed premiums, you will know how much you are going to pay in the future, and you won’t need to worry about it increasing. It’s important to bear in mind that the Level policy option does not include a 5% automatic increase to your benefit amount. Over time, the value of the cover may decrease due to inflation. This type of policy is a term policy.

When you select the Age-Based premium option, your premium will increase each year on your policy anniversary. It will be recalculated based on your age and any applicable benefit amount increases. This means that any applicable benefit amount increases will also be added at that time.

If you select the level premium option, your premiums won't increase unless you decide to make changes to your policy.

With an Age-Based policy, as long as you pay your premiums, the cover is for the rest of your life – even if your health and circumstances change.

If you decide to go for a Level policy, you can choose a term between 10 and 40 years (depending on your age) for your cover to be in place. If you keep up with your premiums, you will be covered for the duration of your chosen term.

With both policies, as long as you are a UK resident when you take out your policy, you'll be covered anywhere in the world 24/7.

Smart Family Life Insurance and all optional covers have exclusions and limitations as per our Key Facts and Policy Terms & Conditions document.

One of the main exclusions will be if you pass away directly or indirectly because of intentional self-inflicted injury that occurs within 12 months from the start date of the policy. If this happens, the benefit amount for your Smart Family Life Insurance policy will not be paid.

We may apply specific exclusions before your policy is issued. These will be shown in your schedule under the ‘Additional exclusions and limitations’ section.

There are 3 ways for your family to make a claim in the event of your death: 

• Give us a call on 0800 458 6901 Monday – Friday from 9am to 7pm (excluding bank holidays) 
• Email us at service@smartinsurance.co.uk 
• Write to us at Smart Insurance, PO Box 6063, Windsor, SL4 9GL

We will send out a claim form to be completed, signed, and returned to us.

Note: If the claim is accepted, the insurer will pay the benefit amount to the person who is legally entitled to it and they will refund any premiums paid between the date of death and the date the claim is paid.

You can put your Smart Life Insurance policy into trust after you take out the policy. If you are thinking about putting your policy into trust you can find out more information here, or you can seek independent legal advice. We are unable to give you any advice or recommendation on the suitability of Trusts.

If you decide to cancel your policy within 30 days of taking out cover you will get a full refund. You can still cancel your Policy after 30 days, but you will not get anything back as the policy holds no cash value.

As a Smart Family Life Insurance policyholder, once you have made 12 full monthly premium payments, we will pay back 10% of the premiums you have paid. The 10% Smart Cashback is paid to you within 14 working days of us successfully receiving your 12th monthly premium. It's simply our way of saying thank you for choosing Smart Insurance.

Learn more on Smart Cashback here.

If your Level policy is coming to an end, you can (depending on your age) extend your policy term subject to answering health and lifestyle questions again. You’ll receive a new premium based on your age at the time you extend your policy.

If you are accepted for an Age-Based policy and you keep up with your monthly payments, your policy will remain in place for the rest of your life.

This depends – there’s no need to update us if your health circumstances have changed but if you want to increase or decrease your cover, or add or remove optional covers then you should contact us as soon as you’re ready. You should also contact us if your address or contact details have changed.

You might want to consider updating your policy if there are any major changes to your financial situation or if your family has grown. If you would like to apply to make some changes or talk through your options, our team of UK based insurance specialists are here to help. Simply call us on 0800 458 6901. We're open Monday to Friday from 9am to 7pm (excluding bank holidays).

Yes, it is possible to get Smart Family Life Insurance with a pre-existing medical condition. However, your acceptance for a policy will depend on your own unique circumstances. A member of our UK based team will help you to explore all of your options over the phone.

Although it is a very common reason for getting life insurance, a mortgage isn’t the only thing you can help protect with a policy. There are a range of things that a policy could help with if you were no longer around to support your family. Things like your children’s education, car and loan repayments, bills, or even the weekly food shop can be paid for using a life insurance pay out. Taking out life insurance is a way of helping to protecting your family and the life that you’ve built for them.

Smart Insurance products are provided by Scottish Friendly. Scottish Friendly paid 99.5% of all life insurance claims they received in 2023. Scottish Friendly have over 160 years of experience in protecting people across the UK, and have been awarded the Best Mutual Insurer Award by Capital Finance International, for five years in a row.