Why people hold more than one policy
Your needs rarely arrive all at once. You might buy decreasing cover with your first mortgage, then add level cover when children arrive. Later you could take a small whole of life policy for funeral costs. Each one does a job, and together they fit your life better than a single large policy would.
Splitting cover also lets each policy end when its job is done, so you stop paying for protection you no longer need.
- Mortgage cover that ends with the mortgage
- Family cover that runs until the children are grown
- Business cover held through your company
- Whole of life cover for funeral or tax costs
Every policy pays
Life insurance is not like car insurance, where insurers split a claim between them. If you hold three life policies and die while they are all in force, each insurer pays its full sum assured, provided the claim meets its terms.
Employer death in service is separate again and pays on top of any personal cover you hold.
What you need to tell a new insurer
Application forms ask about existing cover, including policies you hold and any you have applied for. Answer accurately. Leaving out existing policies could cause problems at claim time.
Insurers carry out financial underwriting when the total gets large. They want the amount to make sense next to your income, debts and family needs. For very high totals, they may ask for evidence of earnings or a short explanation of what the cover is for.
Income protection works differently
Income protection replaces lost earnings, so insurers limit the total benefit you can receive from all policies combined. If two policies together would pay more than the limit, one or both may pay less at claim. Holding extra income protection rarely adds value and can mean paying for benefit you cannot use.
Critical illness cover follows the life insurance approach, so each valid policy usually pays its full amount.
How Hi Tomorrow helps you layer cover
We start with what you already hold, including work benefits, then look for the gaps. Sometimes a second policy is the neatest answer. Other times one well-designed policy does the job at a better price.
We complete the existing cover questions with you so each application is accurate, and compare new cover across our panel. Acceptance and terms are subject to the insurer's underwriting.