What your employer's benefit covers
Many employers offer death in service as part of the pension or benefits package. If you die while employed, the scheme pays a lump sum to your family. The amount is normally a multiple of your salary, and your contract or benefits handbook tells you the exact figure.
It is a valuable perk and you do not usually pay for it directly. Most schemes do not cover critical illness or loss of income, though, so a serious illness that stops you working is outside its scope.
The catch: it belongs to the job
Death in service only lasts while you work for that employer. Leave for a new role, take redundancy, go self-employed or retire, and the cover stops. Your next employer may offer less, or nothing at all.
Your health matters here. If you develop a condition in your forties and then change jobs, you may find personal cover harder to get or more expensive. Buying your own policy while you are younger and healthy locks in terms that move with you.
- Ends when you leave or retire
- Amount depends on your salary, not your debts
- Usually no critical illness or income cover
- May be lower or absent with your next employer
Who receives the money
Most death in service benefits are paid through a pension scheme trust. The trustees choose who receives the lump sum, guided by an expression of wish form you fill in. If you have never completed one, or it names an ex-partner, ask your HR team for a new form today.
A personal life policy works differently. You choose the beneficiaries yourself, and writing it in trust lets you name them directly.
Working out whether you need both
Add up what your family would need: the mortgage, other debts, years of household costs and childcare. Then take away your death in service figure. If there is a gap, personal cover can fill it.
Think about the future as well. If you might change jobs, start a business or retire before the mortgage ends, a personal policy that runs to the end of the mortgage gives you cover that does not depend on your employer. Some people buy a smaller personal policy now and treat death in service as a bonus on top.
How Hi Tomorrow builds around your work benefits
We ask what your employer provides and how long you expect to stay, then recommend personal cover that fills the real gap rather than doubling up. That keeps your premiums in proportion.
We compare policies across our panel and can add critical illness or income protection if your work benefits leave you exposed there. Acceptance and terms are subject to the insurer's underwriting.