Life Insurance

Just wondering how its worked over here?
I just got a call from Bounty offering me £180,000 over 18 years ,and paying £8 a month for it.
When i asked to see if in writing first,he said that after payment details have been taken ,the documents are sent out and then I look it over then and 10 days later my first payment will be taken.

Is that normal?

I have no clue how it works in the UK, but I personally  wouldn't give anyone my payment details for anything without seeing something on paper first. Especially over the phone...how would you know it's really who you are talking to? But maybe I'm just overly paranoid about stuff like that.

We keep our life insurance in Canada because if it ever came to that, the kids would wind up back there.  You should consider that when you apply, where would your kids wind up if you or your husband should die.

I'm not sure I'd buy insurance from someone over the phone. You were right to ask for it in writing. It all sounds a bit fishy to me.

I work in the Life Insurance Industry. Yes, it is normal for them to take your details over the phone, and it is normal to purchase life insurance over the phone.  It also seems to be a pretty normal rate, depending, of course, on your age and your health.

Did you provide them with any medical information: your height, weight, if you smoke,  etc? If you haven't, they can change the rate based on that information.

Nothing is binding until you sign the documents you get in the post.

By the way, I checked and Bounty is owned by Friends Provident, which is a very reputable company. (No, I don't work for them.)

Their website shows that they are targeting new parents.


I am not sure if you are clear on this, but this is term assurance, which means that if you don't die in 18 years, you don't get anything, and you don't get back any of the money that you've given them.

I had to add that although there is nothing wrong with giving your bank details to a legitimate insurance company, the fact that they cold-called you means that it could just be a stranger pulling a scam to get your bank number.

It's a good thing you hung up on them.

If you do want the insurance, get their number off the internet and call them back.

I'd echo sweetpeaches comments both about the life assurance aspect and also not giving details out over the phone.

Life policies have a cooling off period that you can cancel within a period of time (10-28 days is the norm) and get a refund of any premiums paid.

It's also likely that they would collect payments from your account via direct debit, you decide you don't want it anymore then you cancel the debit and they cannot collect any further payments.

I agree with the others, this doesn't sound kosher. Why would they need payment details before sending out the information for you to look at, seems like it should be the other way around - if you are interested then you would call and set up payment information.

IMO, if you have an uneasy feeling about anything it is probably for a reason.

Thanks everyone!
It did seem a bit odd to me about making a payment first.
I'm one of those people where I have to see everything in writing before I buy something

My understanding has always been that whole life (term) is cheaper in the States than the UK because the US market is much larger.  So you may want to get quotes in the States too...

If you have US or Candian policies but are residing in the UK you should check the policy wording in case there are residency requirements and disclose that you are living abroad when you apply, otherwise you may find any claim is denied because of non-disclosure of information.

Same applies if you have a UK policy and move overseas.

My understanding has always been that whole life (term) is cheaper in the States than the UK because the US market is much larger.  So you may want to get quotes in the States too...

Whole life is not term insurance. It's 'whole' life. Nor is it cheaper. Term insurance is cheaper because it only lasts for a 'term' or certain period of time, while 'whole' life lasts for your whole life.

If you're residing abroad most Life Insurers in the States won't underwrite you. Some will if you're are on a temporary assignment abroad, but it's generally hard to get. One reason is most insurance agent's are only liscensed to sell insurance in the state where they live. Very few are liscensed in more than one state.

23 years in Life Insurance.