Who Are Santander?

Most people are aware of Santander as one of the largest financial institutions in the world. Under the Aviva umbrella, they offer various insurance policies to its clients, such as home insurance, travel, and car insurance policies. Their life insurance policies cover three main plans:

• Life insurance.
• Life & critical insurance.
• Guaranteed over 50s policies.

Each policy offers three key options: level cover, mortgage decreasing cover and family decreasing cover. In addition, it is possible to pick additional benefits, but these are only offered to Santander customers.

Life Insurance

Offered as a term policy to UK residents aged 18-89, this can be anywhere between 1 and 50 years. To set your benefit rates you have the choice of decreasing cover and increasing cover.

Decreasing cover means that your premiums will stay the same throughout the time of the policy but the benefit will reduce over time. While this doesn’t sound suitable for many if you’re using life policies in order to cover a debt that gets smaller over time, like a mortgage, it is a good option.

Increasing cover means both your benefit and your premiums will rise throughout the life of the policy, but this is only up to a maximum of 10%.

The main stipulations of the policy are:

• They are open to UK residents aged 18-89.
• The term can run from between 1 and 50 years.
• Available with either decreasing or increasing cover.
• The policy must end before the holder’s 91st birthday.
• During the term of the policy, you cannot make any changes.
• You get 2% cashback if you pay through direct debit (but this can only be via a Santander 123 current account)
• It can be taken out as a joint policy, but in the event of a separation, it can be split into two single policies.

Critical Illness Insurance

Santander Critical Illness Insurance covers UK residents between the ages of 16-64 for falling victim to the illnesses featured in their terms and conditions, which covers illnesses like Parkinson’s and stroke. However, it will not pay out in the event of death. This policy also covers your children if they are between 30 days and 18 years old (or 21 if in full-time education).

The Critical Illness policy is also available for a term of 1 to 50 years and can be taken out with either with decreasing or increasing cover.

The criteria are notably different from the life insurance policy in a handful of ways:

• It is open to UK residents between 16 and 64.
• The policy must end before the holder’s 76th birthday.
• The policy only covers critical illness, not death.

The policy only covers critical illness, not death.

Should I Take Out Life Insurance And Critical Illness?

For those new to both types of policy, life and critical illness insurance pays out if:

The insured person dies or diagnosed with one of the critical illnesses listed in the policy contract, and manages to survive for at least 14 days.

As this policy covers children’s critical illness insurance, so:

If one of the children is diagnosed with an illness featured in the contract, the policy will also pay out the sum.

The payout is usually equal to 50% of the normal sum assured, with a maximum limit of £25,000. Santander will pay out the amount of cover agreed in the contract if the person is diagnosed with a terminal illness when there are more than 12 months left until the end of the policy and the person is expected to die within the 12 month period.

If people want life and critical insurance policy at the same time they must meet the following criteria:

• They must be between 18 and 59.
• The term of the insurance must end when the person is 76 years old. So, if the person is taking a policy out at 60 years, the maximum term of the policy cannot be longer than 16 years.
• The maximum amount of cover is £2,000,000.

Over 50s Life Assurance

This policy offers whole of life cover. You either pay premiums for a maximum of 30 years or up until your 90th birthday. The benefits of this policy are that there are no health checks required and the policy is fixed, so your premiums and the benefit amount remain the same throughout the life of the policy.

The key points are:

• It is a whole of life policy.
• As the name suggests, it is only for over 50s.
• You get accidental death cover from the start of the Santander Life Insurance policy, and after you’ve had the policy for more than 1 year double the benefit pays out in the event of accidental death.
• If you die from something other than accidental death in the first year, your premiums are paid back in full.
• After the first year, the full benefit is paid for all causes of death.
• Changes cannot be made to the policy once it has been taken out.

If between 50 and 85 years old, the plan offers a guaranteed acceptance with no medical questions asked. The person pays fixed premiums during the term of the life insurance policy and the cost varies on your affordability, from £6 a month to £74 a month (the first month of the insurance is contract-free).

Is The Policy Worth It?

Despite being a popular brand, Santander less flexibility than other cover providers, but their insurance options are managed by Aviva, who has a 5-star Defaqto rating. The Trustpilot reviews state an average of 1.6 out of 5, classed as “bad” out of 2,297 reviews. It can be difficult to get accurate estimates of their premiums and benefit amounts without getting a quote directly from them, but if you’re looking for Critical Illness Insurance as a joint policy, Santander’s policy is a good option because some other insurers offer this only as an add-on to their life cover policies.