Over 50s Life Cover explained

Your Post Office Over 50s Life Cover policy continues for the rest of your life.

You just need to keep making monthly payments until whichever of these happens soonest:

• The policy anniversary date on or after your 90th birthday
• You pass away

You can apply for a maximum cash sum of £10,000 or pay a maximum of £100 per month, whichever is lower.

You can have more than one Post Office Over 50s Life Cover policy but the total amount of cover across all of these policies can't be more than the maximum cash sum and maximum payment amount limits. 

If an application takes you above these limits, we'll reduce the cash sum of your most recent policy, or cancel it, to ensure the maximum limits aren't exceeded. We'll write to you to confirm we've done this.

Your monthly payment amount, plus your age, will affect the life cover amount. The amount you pay each month will always stay the same.

The total amount you pay overall will depend on your monthly payment and how long you live.

For example, if you choose a monthly payment of £15:

These figures are an illustration only, as monthly payments made under your policy may be made for a longer or shorter period than these examples.

You may pay more in premiums than the cash sum will pay out.

With Post Office Over 50s Life Cover it's a fixed payment term. You pay until the policy anniversary date on or after you turn 90, or until you pass away - whichever comes first.

Yes. You can reduce your monthly payments in £1 decrements as long as it doesn't fall below the minimum £7 a month as a result. The pay-out amount will reduce in line with the reduction. You won’t be able to increase your payments after reducing them. 

No, but if you want to leave more money behind you can apply for an additional or top up policy from as little as £7 a month, as long as it doesn't take you over the maximum limits.
 

If you stop paying regular monthly payments before the end of the policy term, your plan and cover will end 60 days after the date the last payment was due. You won’t get back any payments you’ve already made.

You can change your mind and cancel your policy at any time.

If you cancel within 30 days of the date you receive your policy documentation, we'll refund any monthly payments made.

If you wish to cancel your policy you can find all of the information you need here.

If monthly payments due under the policy stop at any other time, your cover will stop and you won’t get anything back. 

If the policy is assigned, it will pay out to the Assignee. If it's under Trust, it will pay out to the Trustees.

If Funeral Benefit Option has been applied to your policy, we will pay the cash sum to the funeral provider. In all other circumstances we'll pay out the amount to the Life Assureds Personal Representatives.

Yes, if you die as a result of an accident (that meets our definition) in the first 12 months we'll pay the full cash sum. If you die from natural causes in that time we'll pay one and a half times the payments you've made.

If you die as a result of suicide in the first 12 months, we'll pay an amount equivalent to the total payments you've made.

No. The plan has no cash-in value at any time.

The cash sum paid on death is currently free from personal liability to income tax and capital gains tax.

However, it could form part of your estate so may affect the inheritance tax your family pays. By writing your policy in trust the insurance could be paid to them directly and never become part of your estate. That means no inheritance tax to pay.

We can supply trust forms but we'd suggest seeking advice before you complete them. Get unbiased help contacting professionals such as IFAs and solicitors. 

First year of the policy

If you die from natural causes (i.e. not as a result of accident or suicide) in the first 12 months of your policy, your estate will receive an amount equal to one and a half times the payments made.

An accidental death (as explained in the Post office Over 50s Life Cover Terms and Conditions) does not include any of the following causes:

• suicide, attempted suicide or intentional self-inflicted injury; or
• death linked to being under the influence of, or being affected (temporarily or otherwise) by alcohol or drugs.
   

If you die as a result of suicide, attempted suicide or intentional self-inflicted injury in the first 12 months of your policy, your estate will receive an amount equal to the total payments made.

Second year of the policy

If you die other than as a result of an accident (as explained in the Post Office Over 50s Life Cover Terms and Conditions) during the second year of your policy - i.e. from the first policy anniversary to the day before the second policy anniversary - your estate will receive the lower of:

• £5,000; or
• the full cash sum.

If you’re planning to use the cash sum from your Over 50s Life Cover policy to help pay for your funeral, the Funeral Benefit Option can help.

When the time comes, the cash sum from your policy will be paid to Dignity Funerals Limited – one of the zhptddz.com's leading providers of funeral services.

With a single call, they’ll put your funeral plan in motion, take care of all arrangements, and even put an extra £250 towards the final cost.

With over 800 Funeral Directors around the zhptddz.com^, there’s help and support for your family when they need it most.

No. There’s no set up charge, no application fee and no hidden costs. Plus, you or the person arranging your funeral can cancel the Funeral Benefit Option at any time if you decide that it isn’t right for you. If you cancel the £250 will not be paid.

You can add the Funeral Benefit Option to your policy at any time if you purchased your policy from 31^st January 2017 and you haven’t already added the Funeral Benefit Option to any other Post Office Over 50s Life Cover policy, or any similar policy you hold with another provider.

If you already have a pre-paid funeral plan you would not be able to add the Funeral Benefit Option to your policy. Also, if you decided to take out a funeral plan in the future, the Funeral Benefit Option would be cancelled. Once you remove the Funeral Benefit Option you cannot add it back on.

You can remove the Funeral Benefit Option at any time before your death, or your representatives can choose to remove it upon your death as long as they do so before Dignity has been instructed to provide your funeral service. If the Funeral Benefit Option is removed at any time, the cash sum from your Post Office Over 50s Life Cover policy would be paid to your estate, and Dignity will not make the £250 contribution to your funeral costs.

If you die of natural causes within the first year of taking out your Post Office Over 50s Life Cover policy, the full cash sum would not be payable. Instead, all of the monthly payments you have already made, plus half as much again would be paid to your estate rather than to Dignity. However, if your representatives decide to use Dignity for your funeral, they would still be entitled to the £250 contribution towards the final cost of your funeral.

If you die as a result of an accident (see the Post Office Over 50s Life Cover Terms and Conditions for an explanation of accidental death) within the first year of taking out your Post Office Over 50s Life Cover policy, the full cash sum would be paid to your estate rather than Dignity. However, if your representatives decide to use Dignity for your funeral, they would still be entitled to the £250 contribution towards the final cost of your funeral.

You can find the nearest site on the Dignity website. Remember, this is the nearest Dignity funeral director today, but won't necessarily be the nearest when the funeral is to be arranged.

Using Dignity is the only way to qualify for the extra £250 contribution they provide. But it's possible to remove this option at any point before Dignity have actually been instructed to provide the funeral.

You will need to cancel the Funeral Benefit Option before your policy can be placed in Trust. 

Losing a loved one is a difficult time. The last thing those you leave behind need is a drawn out claims process.

When the time comes, we'll make it easy for your personal representatives to claim the cash sum from your policy.

If you've recently lost someone and need to claim, you can find all of the information you need here.

We'll need to know the policy number and details of the claim.

The person making the claim must send all original documentation to us, showing they are entitled to receive the cash sum, before we will pay any cash sum to them.

This documentation must include any deed of assignment, trust deed, or deed altering the trust.

Full details of the claims procedure can be found in the Terms and Conditions, which will be sent to you when your policy starts.

It's a service offered with Post Office Over 50s Life Cover at no extra cost, that provides one-to-one, long term support from a dedicated personal nurse adviser during bereavement and serious illness.

In these most difficult of times, an advisor from independent nursing service RedArc will provide support if you lose someone, and to your immediate family if you pass away.

They'll also be there for you if you're diagnosed with a serious illness such as cancer, cardiac condition, stroke or multiple sclerosis.

If it’s beneficial, a course of assessed therapy or counselling can also be provided. And you can use the service without ever having to claim on your policy.

This service, provided by RedArc is not part of the Post Office Over 50s Life Cover contract and can be withdrawn at any time.

Yes. Cover is available to anyone who's a permanent zhptddz.com resident aged 50 - 80 and hasn't already exceeded the maximum payment amount or maximum cash sum limits.

Please note, it's not possible to have more than one person on each policy, so your partner’s application will create a separate policy.

It is possible to write the policy under trust and we can supply a template trust deed.

We only offer one template deed; a discretionary trust, which may not always be suitable. We'd suggest seeking advice before you complete it to ensure it is suitable for your circumstances.

Get unbiased help contacting professionals such as IFAs and solicitors.