Nfu Mutual Life Insurance Review 2023

NFU Mutual has a long history having been formed initially in 1910 with the name of Midlands Farmers Mutual Insurance Society by a group of farmers to support the National Farmers Union.

Although the Society first offered life insurance cover in the 1920s, it wasn't until the 1980s that it began to serve the wider community rather than only the farming industry. These days policies are provided by agents based in mainly rural areas and over 50% of people taking out life insurance policies are from outside the farming community.

NFU life insurance products

There are a variety of products available from NFU Mutual, you can choose between Whole of Life, Term Life Insurance, Term Life Insurance with Critical Illness and the Family Benefit policy. These options cover a range of needs, but you will need to look at your circumstances before you decide on a policy and make a choice about what will best suit your needs.

As with all insurance products, the exact terms you will be offered and the monthly premium you will pay depend on your personal circumstances. The Term policy is particularly flexible in that it is possible to choose level cover or decreasing cover depending on whether you expect your financial responsibilities to stay the same, or decrease as time passes. If you have access to a local branch, then you can go in to discuss your needs or you can get a quote from the call centre.

For instance, if you need a policy with a guaranteed payout, then you will be looking at the Whole of Life option but comes with correspondingly higher premiums. If you are only likely to need cover for a limited period, such as the life of a mortgage, then you could look at the Term policy.

Whole of Life

The whole of life policy guarantees a payout on your death, and your policy lasts as long as you pay the premiums. This cover can be arranged as level or increasing cover, and with level, cover is that the lump sum is fixed, but if you go for a policy with increasing cover, the payout will rise with the Retail Prices Index up to a maximum of 10%. This policy is available for UK residents aged 17-84 and as with other NFU Mutual Policies joint and single options are available.

Term Life Insurance

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Term life insurance covers you for a specific time and which will payout if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness or die during the life of the policy. NFU are very flexible in the length of the term, and you can opt for insurance for any time period between 3 and 70 years.

Again the specifics of the policy are easy to tailor to fit your needs. You can choose, level, increasing or decreasing cover depending on your future plans. With the level and decreasing term policies, your premiums will be the same throughout. The difference is that with the decreasing term policy, the lump sum payout reduces over time rather than remaining fixed as with the level term option.

With increasing term policies, the payout figure rises by 5% each year, and your premiums rise with it.

Key points to remember with this cover is that the policy must end before your 90th birthday. This policy will pay out if a terminal illness is diagnosed during the term and can be taken out on a joint or single basis.

Term with Critical Illness

NFU Mutual’s Term with Critical Illness policy is an expanded version of the Term cover, which bundles it with critical illness cover. The main difference is that premiums for the dual purpose policy are much higher than the stand-alone Term cover.

With the Term with Critical illness, the time frame can be anywhere between 3 and 50 years, the cover must end at the age of 86.

The critical illness component pays a lump sum in full for certain illnesses and as a percentage for others which are deemed to be less severe, depending on the terms and conditions in the policy. This policy is also available with a range of options of level, decreasing, and increasing cover.

Family Benefit

The Family Benefit policy allows you to set up a monthly income for your family for a fixed period. Again, the policy can be taken out with level, decreasing, or increasing cover.

Flexible options include the term, and you can choose any option between 3 and 70 years, it is available to anyone between 17 years and 86. This policy also has a terminal illness lump sum pay-out if you are diagnosed with an illness that gives you less than 12 months to live.

This policy is unique in that it pays out in monthly increments to your family rather than one lump sum; the idea is to provide an ‘income’ for the future.

Should You Chose NFU Mutual?

The benefits of NFU mutual is that they have a good range of flexible products on offer and are easy to organise via phone or in person. The ability to take out level, decreasing, or increasing term cover gives you a wide range of options. Do bear in mind though that with the increasing cover option, that your premiums will generally rise at a higher rate than your eventual payout.

Defaqto awarded the Term Insurance a four-star rating in 2019 and customer feedback rates the company as reliable and easy to deal with. Claims are dealt with efficiently, and policyholders felt it was easy to get in contact with NFU Mutual agents. The products available from NFU Mutual are comparable to others on the market in options and flexibility, and the Family Benefit plan is proving increasingly popular.

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