Over 50s Life Cover

Your cover will begin the moment your application is processed, not when your first premium is received. A policy schedule will be provided which will confirm the commencement date of your policy.

Although you can’t take out a joint 50+ Life Cover Policy, your partner can take one out as well. This way you could both benefit from providing a cash lump sum to your loved ones when you pass away.

You stop paying premiums at age 85 to reduce the risk of over-paying into the policy. When your premiums cease at age 85, your guaranteed lump sum and any bonuses added will remain in place and will continue to increase depending on future bonuses being applied. Your policy will then be paid to your dependants when you pass away.

We want to point out that the addition of bonuses is not guaranteed. They will depend on the performance of our with profits Order Insurance Fund and how we decide to distribute any profit.

For more detailed information on how we manage the fund see the 50+ Life Cover Key Information Document and Important Information.

If your circumstances change, meaning you can no longer afford your premium, as long as you’ve paid it every month for two years, we will provide a surrender value for the policy that will mean you get something back, however this is likely to be less than you have paid in. Your life cover will immediately end.

Please be aware that if you stop paying your premiums within the first two years, your life cover will stop and you won’t get any of your money back.

There is an annual management charge of 2.57% which covers the costs of running our fund and buying and selling assets. We deduct charges upfront before we declare bonuses which means there are no additional charges for you to pay

For more information about charges, read the 50+ Life Cover Key Information Document and Important Information.

Unlike most over 50s life insurance plans, our 50+ Life Cover policy provides your cover with the potential to increase. We do this by investing your monthly premiums in our with profits Order Insurance Fund which provides your policy with the potential for growth by way of bonuses.

We have paid annual bonuses on our Over 50s Life Cover policy for the past 15 years.

• In 2022 the annual bonus rate was 0.50%

When you pass away and your loved ones claim on the policy, we also aim to add a final bonus to increase the total value of the policy.

The addition of any bonuses is not guaranteed. Bonuses will depend on the future performance of our Order Insurance with profits Fund and how we decide to distribute any profit.

To find out more about the addition of bonuses and how we manage our fund please read our Principles and Practices of Financial Management (PPFM).

We may vary the design of a product to best meet the needs of our policyholders which may affect the timing and size of future bonuses. Therefore the above bonus rate is provided for information purposes only and should not be considered an indication of likely future performance.

We invest your monthly premiums in our consistently well performing with profits Order Insurance Fund. Dependent on the performance of our fund, and in addition to the guaranteed lump sum, we aim to increase the money your dependents receive with the addition of annual bonuses and a possible final bonus when the policy pays out when you pass away. The value of these bonuses is added to the guaranteed lump sum which increases your guaranteed level of cover. Provided you pay your premiums until you reach age 85 or you pass away if sooner, the value of bonuses – once added – cannot be taken away. The addition of bonuses is not guaranteed.

We never forget it’s your money, so we take extra good care of it. Within our fund, your money is spread across a number of different types of investments including property, equities, cash and UK government bonds, to help minimise risk and increase the potential returns. You won’t have to make any investment choices, our expert fund managers manage the fund on your behalf.

As a friendly society, it’s particularly important to us that our investments are managed in an ethical and responsible way. Foresters is a signatory of the Principles for Investment (PRI) which demonstrates our commitment to responsible investment, to reducing our impact on the environment and mitigating climate change risk in our investment portfolios.

When you open a plan, you can be confident that investing with us means your money will be invested in a trustworthy and environmentally conscious way. The PRI is the world’s leading supporter of responsible investment and promotes a better understanding of the investment implications of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.

Find out more about the 6 PRI principles we have signed up to here.

Many funds that invest in a variety of asset classes would have a mixture of equities and bonds.  These asset classes traditionally have a negative correlation, meaning that if equities go up in value, bonds generally go down in value.  The opposite happens when equities go down in value.  Over the past few years this correlation has moved to a positive correlation, resulting in equity and bond valuations moving in the same direction.  This can increase the risk of poor returns and increased volatility in fund values.

We use private assets to help diversify our fund and reduce its overall risk, as private assets are not so closely correlated with equity and bond (public) investments and so can help to balance investment volatility.  Private assets also offer the potential for higher returns as they are often long term investments.  The downside is that private assets offer lower flexibility than public assets. We monitor the overall exposure between private and public assets to ensure the mix meets our expected cashflows.

When you take out your policy, you choose a monthly premium that you pay for the rest of your life or until you reach the age of 85. At this age you automatically stop paying premiums – but your life cover continues.

You also have the peace of mind that your premium will never increase. Once you’ve chosen your premium, that’s the amount you have to pay each month – you cannot increase or decrease it. If you want to increase your total life cover, then you can simply take out an additional policy.

When you apply, you can name beneficiaries who will receive up to £5,000 immediately following your death, without them having to wait for your estate to be sorted out, which can often be a lengthy process. This helps to make the claims process easier and quicker for your dependants. Any excess would become part of your remaining estate and have to wait for probate.

Yes. In the first two years of cover the policy will only pay out the cash sum if you pass away as a result of an accident. There are restrictions on the payment of this accidental death benefit.

The policy will not pay out where death is caused directly or indirectly by:

• Intentional self-inflicted injury.
• The taking of drugs, alcohol or poisonous substances including the inhalation of gases or fumes.
• Active participation in any criminal act.
• Active participation in any riot, civil commotion, insurrection or war (whether war has been declared or not) or any incident thereto.
• Engaging in any form of racing (including time trials).
• Participation in any form of aviation other than as a passenger on a regular fare paying airline.
• Any accident incurred while you are resident outside the United Kingdom.
• Illness or disease of any kind.

If death results from any of the above in the first two years, your dependants will receive a refund of the premiums you have paid plus any bonuses that have been added to the policy to date.

If you’re unsure as to the suitability of this product you should seek advice from a Financial Adviser. You may have to pay for this advice.