How much, and for how long
Mortgage balance, children's ages and household spending each move the figure. Read the cover amount and term guide to see how each one changes it.
Read the guide →You have a new mortgage or a new baby — here is how to work out the life cover that fits.
Whether a baby or a mortgage brought you here, the same three questions follow: how much cover, for how long, and how to set it up so it actually pays out properly.
Work out your cover with the calculator Read about LifeInsuranceQuotation.co.ukFive decisions, taken in order
Cover amount comes before cover shape, and the shape comes before how the policy is written. Each decision below builds on the one before it.
Level cover or decreasing cover
Level cover pays the same sum assured whenever the claim happens. Decreasing cover falls each year, usually tracking a repayment mortgage.
Read more →Joint policy or two single ones
A joint first-death policy pays once and then ends. Two single policies each pay in full, including after a separation.
Read more →Whether to write it in trust
Whether a trust changes anything for inheritance tax depends on whether you're married or in a civil partnership. The answer differs for each.
Read more →What happens at a claim
Who notifies the insurer, what they ask for, and how long payment takes all change depending on whether the policy sits in trust.
Read more →Why the calculator shows a chart
A single number for how much cover to buy hides the more useful question, which is what that cover would actually pay out in year five, or year fifteen, against what you'd owe or need at that point. The calculator sets out to answer that by drawing the payout year by year.
What the chart shows
Enter your mortgage balance, how many years are left on it, your children's ages, your household's yearly spending and any cover you already hold, and the calculator plots two lines across the term you'd be covered for. One shows what a level cover policy would pay regardless of which year a claim falls in. The other shows what a decreasing cover policy would pay, which falls roughly in step with a repayment mortgage balance. Seeing both against the same years makes it clear why the gap between them can matter more than the starting amount. If you'd like to see how each of those figures feeds into the amount and term the chart is built from, read the guide on cover amount and term for the reasoning behind them.
What it can't tell you
The calculation runs in your browser from the figures you type in, and it's a starting point for thinking about cover amount and term. It can also be wrong if the numbers you give it don't reflect your actual spending or mortgage terms, so it's worth rechecking against your mortgage statement and household budget before you act on what it shows. For a recommendation that fits your own circumstances, that's a conversation for an FCA-authorised adviser.
Where the tax statements come from
A statement about inheritance tax only means something if you can see where it came from. Tax rules are not fixed facts like a currency conversion; they depend on your own circumstances, and they change over time as the rules are updated. That is why every tax statement here is tied to a specific manual reference and the date it was read.
Why the reference and the date both matter
The reference points you to the exact piece of guidance behind a statement, usually a page from HMRC's own Inheritance Tax Manual. The date tells you when that page was read, because guidance of this kind is updated, and a statement written against an old version can go out of date without anyone noticing. Together, the two let you open the same page HM Revenue & Customs publishes and read the wording for yourself.
What to do with it
Where a page here explains a tax point, it names who it applies to, such as whether you are married or in a civil partnership, and which part of the UK the point covers, since Scotland's rules on probate and estates follow a different statutory route from England and Wales. Use the reference to check that your own situation matches the one described. Where it does not, or where a decision rests on the answer, a solicitor or an FCA-authorised adviser can confirm how the guidance applies to you.