Family Income Benefit
Instead of a lump sum, a monthly income for your family until a date you choose. Simple, and often the cheapest cover per pound of protection.
Most life insurance pays a single lump sum, which leaves grieving families with the hard job of turning a pile of money into fifteen years of school shoes, food shops and mortgage payments. Family income benefit skips that problem. If you die during the term, it pays your family a regular, usually tax-free income from then until the end date you set.
Because the potential payout shrinks as the term runs down, it's typically the most affordable life cover you can buy. That makes it a quietly brilliant fit for young families with more years than spare cash.
What working together looks like
A term set to your real timeline
Cover is usually set to run until your youngest is through education, say 21 or 23. I help you choose an end date that matches your family's actual shape rather than a round number.
An income that keeps its value
£2,000 a month today won't buy the same in 2040. I price indexation (the benefit rising with inflation) so the protection your family might rely on doesn't quietly shrink.
Layered with lump-sum cover
A common structure has decreasing life cover clearing the mortgage while family income benefit replaces the monthly salary. Two modest policies, complete protection, and often cheaper than one oversized lump sum.
Parents of a three-year-old and a six-year-old came to me wanting the children supported to age 21 if either parent died. A lump sum big enough to generate that income reliably would have been very expensive to insure. Family income benefit paying £1,750 a month to 2044 cost a fraction of it, because the insurer's maximum exposure falls every year that passes safely. The figures are illustrative, but the logic is why I rate this underused product so highly.
Asked all the time, answered honestly
How is this different from normal life insurance?
The trigger is the same, death during the term, but the shape of the payout differs. Ordinary term cover pays one lump sum. Family income benefit pays a monthly income from claim until the policy's end date. Families often find the income far easier to plan around.
Why is it cheaper than level life cover?
Because the total the insurer might pay reduces as time passes. A claim in year two might mean twenty years of payments, while a claim in year eighteen means only two. You're buying protection matched to a shrinking need, and the price reflects it.
Is the income taxed?
Payments from a family income benefit policy are generally free of income tax. As with any life policy, writing it in trust keeps things clean for inheritance purposes, and I set that up properly from day one.
What's the catch?
The honest trade-off is that a claim late in the term pays out relatively little (few remaining payments), and there's no payout at all if you outlive the term, the same as any term insurance. It's protection, not savings. Its job is to be affordable and sufficient.
Can I have both this and mortgage life cover?
Yes, and it's a classic pairing. Decreasing cover kills the mortgage and family income benefit replaces the salary. I price combinations from a wide range of providers so the whole package fits your budget.
Let's talk about family income benefit
A free, no-obligation chat is the easiest first step. Tell me what you're hoping to do, and I'll tell you honestly how I can help.