What actually decides what you'll pay for family income benefit
I can't put a figure on this page — family income benefit is priced around who you are and what you choose to insure, and I don't know either of those things yet. This page sets out what an underwriter actually looks at, which parts are down to you, and why the same person can be quoted differently by different insurers.
It helps to remember what you're pricing: not a lump sum, but a monthly income that would carry on for however long is left of your chosen term if a claim happened.
What actually drives your price
The factors an insurer actually looks at
Every insurer weighs the same broad set of factors. What you can’t change sets your starting point; what you can change is where you have real control over the outcome.
Your age
FixedAge is one of the first things any underwriter considers, reflecting the length of time the policy — and the potential monthly income — would be running for. It's fixed at the point you apply.
Smoker status
FixedSmokers and non-smokers are underwritten on different terms across the industry. It reflects where you stand today, and most insurers will reassess you after a sustained period free of nicotine.
Health and medical history
FixedYour health and medical history, and sometimes your family's, feed into the underwriting decision. This is usually the biggest source of difference between two people who otherwise look similar.
Monthly income insured
Your choiceHow much monthly income you want your family to receive if you died — for example, £1,200 a month — is a decision you make based on what your household would actually need replaced.
Term length
Your choiceHow long the policy runs is your choice, usually set to run until your youngest child would reasonably be financially independent. Because the total the insurer could ever pay out is shaped by how the term is set, this is a genuinely meaningful decision, not a formality.
Want an actual figure?
I can't quote you here — but with a few details about your situation, I can usually get you real family income benefit figures from real insurers within a day.
Same person, different quotes
Why two insurers won't quote you the same
Each insurer builds its own underwriting model and reaches its own conclusions from the same information about you, particularly around health disclosures. One insurer might view a condition in your history more favourably than another, or simply weigh age and term differently in how they price a policy that could, in theory, run for many years of monthly payments. None of that is arbitrary — it reflects each insurer's own claims experience — but it does mean the only way to know where a specific insurer lands is to ask, which is why comparing more than one matters here as much as anywhere else in protection.
I compare cover from leading UK insurers.
- Vitality
- Scottish Widows
- Zurich
- Legal & General
- Aviva
- Guardian
- MetLife
- The Exeter
- LV=
- Royal London
Price isn’t the whole story
Why the lowest quote isn't automatically the right policy
It's easy to default to whichever quote comes back lowest, but family income benefit is a promise to keep paying an income for potentially many years — how straightforward that promise is to rely on matters as much as what it costs to set up. Check how the insurer handles a claim, whether the policy allows the remaining payments to be taken as a lump sum if your family ever needed that flexibility, and how clearly the terms are written, rather than assuming the cheapest option today is the best one to be relying on years from now.
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Questions people ask
Straight answers, no jargon.
Can you give me even a rough figure before we speak?
Honestly, no — family income benefit is priced on your age, health, and how much monthly income and term you choose, none of which I know without talking to you. What I can do is get you real figures from real insurers, usually within a day of a short conversation.
How is family income benefit different from ordinary life insurance for pricing purposes?
The underwriting factors are broadly the same — age, health, smoker status — but what you're insuring is different: a monthly income for whatever's left of the term, rather than a single lump sum. That structural difference is why the two aren't quoted on quite the same basis, even for the same person.
Does choosing a longer term always mean a bigger commitment?
It means the policy runs for longer and, if a claim happened early, potentially more years of monthly payments to your family — so it's worth choosing deliberately, usually around when your children would be financially independent, rather than picking a term that sounds reassuring.
If I already have life insurance, is family income benefit worth adding?
Possibly — some people use life insurance for the mortgage and a lump sum, then family income benefit on top for ongoing living costs. Whether that combination makes sense depends on your specific situation, so it's worth talking through rather than assuming you need one or the other exclusively.
Can my family take the money as a lump sum instead of monthly payments?
It depends on the specific policy and insurer — some allow the remaining income to be converted into a lump sum at the point of claim, others pay monthly only. If that flexibility matters to you, tell me and I'll make sure it's a feature of whichever policy we look at.
How do you get paid, and are you tied to one insurer?
My advice costs you nothing. My commission is funded by the insurer if you decide to go ahead with a policy, and it doesn't change what you pay. I compare cover from leading UK insurers.
Tell me your situation.
Two minutes now. I'll come back to you within one working day with real figures from real insurers, based on you — not a guess.