Growing your family comes with a long list of jobs to complete before you welcome your new arrival.
Between setting up baby’s room and getting your hospital bag ready, buying a life insurance policy is an important step to add to your to-do list.
Life insurance can offer financial support for your bundle of joy if anything happens to you.
Can you get life insurance when pregnant?
Yes, you can get life insurance while you’re pregnant.
Buying a life insurance policy during pregnancy is no different to buying one when you’re not expecting.
Reaching a big milestone, such as having a baby, often prompts people to think about the things they love and how they can protect them.
It’s hard to think about a world where you’re not around for your child. But having the right protection policy in place means that you can still provide for them financially.
How does getting life insurance work when pregnant?
Getting life insurance works the same whether you’re pregnant or not.
You’ll apply, decide what cover you want and answer some questions about yourself. Then your insurer can work out the price you’ll pay.
Once you have life insurance, you’ll need to make monthly payments (known as premiums). If you die during the policy term, your insurer makes a pay out to your loved ones.
What policy options are there for those who are expecting?
You want the best for your little one. So you'll want to find the best policy to protect them.
The most common life insurance options for families include:
Level term life insurance
Level term life insurance is a popular choice for protecting families due to the large pay out potential. Your cover amount remains the same throughout the policy term, helping to cover a range of expenses.
Why level term life insurance might work for you
- You'll be covered for an agreed amount of time (known as the term)
- Your pay out amount remains the same throughout the policy
- You get a pay out if you die during the policy term
Decreasing term life insurance
You might buy decreasing term life insurance to cover a mortgage, as the cover amount reduces throughout the policy term. You could use it to cover your child, as in theory, the older they get, the less they'll depend on you financially.
Why decreasing term life insurance might work for you
- You'll be covered for an agreed amount of time
- Pay out amount reduces over time
- Pay out is made if you die during the policy term
Family income benefit
If you’re a working parent, family income benefit can help to replace your income after your death. If you die while your policy is active, your loved ones will receive monthly payments for the rest of the policy term.
Why family income benefit might work for you
- You'll be covered for an agreed amount of time
- Pay outs out in monthly payments rather than a lump sum
Pay out is made if you die during the policy term
What questions will I be asked when buying life insurance while pregnant?
During a life insurance application, you’ll be asked about your health and lifestyle.
You might wonder how this works as you may have made some temporary lifestyle changes during your pregnancy.
Below is a list of information you'll need to provide:
- Medical history – you’ll need to let insurers know of any medical issues you’ve experienced before and during your pregnancy.
- Weight – Insurers will take your pre-pregnancy weight during the application.
- Smoking status – you may have kicked the habit during your pregnancy but you’ll need to let insurers know if you smoked before you were pregnant.
- Occupation – even if you’re currently on maternity leave, you’ll need to let insurers know what you do for work.
Alcohol consumption – It's likely you'll have stopped drinking while you're pregnant. But you’ll need to tell your life insurer how much you drank per week before you got pregnant.
What are the benefits of buying life insurance when pregnant?
The main benefit is your family has financial protection if something happens to you. The pay out from a life insurance policy can cover:
- Childcare – usual childcare fees plus any additional hours that your family might need after your death. Alternatively, the pay out could help to replace income so that your partner can reduce their hours at work to care for the children.
- School and education – uniforms, school trips, stationary and after school clubs. You could also leave money to cover university fees.
- Family living – from days out to making sure there’s meals on the table, life insurance can help your loved ones continue with their current standard of living.
- A roof over their head - Your pay out can pay off a mortgage. You could also leave an additional sum of money to cover household bills and utilities.
TOP TIP: It can be helpful to use a life insurance calculator to add up everything you'd like your policy to protect. You can use this to get an estimate of how much cover you'll need.
Is life insurance more expensive when pregnant?
No, pregnancy alone won’t raise the price that you pay for a life insurance policy.
If you've experienced medical complications, this could impact your application.
Common health issues experienced during pregnancy are:
- Gestational diabetes
- High blood pressure
Your application might be postponed until after your pregnancy to see if your complications have any longer-term effects.
If you’re left with lasting health issues after pregnancy, this could increase the price you pay.
Do I need to update my life insurance when I have a baby?
No, if you already have a policy in place, you don’t need to tell your insurer that you’re expecting.
However, it could be a good time to look at your existing cover to see if it still works for your family.
As of 2024, the cost of raising a child to 18 was £260,000 for a couple and £290,000 for a lone parent.
This is a key consideration with your cover. You might want to adjust your policy so there's enough money for your partner to raise your child until adulthood if you died.
If you’d like to make changes to your policy, give your insurer a call as you might be able to increase the cover amount on your policy.
Alternatively, you could search for a new policy that better meets your change of circumstances.
Start a life insurance quote
Where can I buy life insurance while pregnant?
You can buy life insurance through a range of insurers. If you're not experiencing health complications, being pregnant shouldn’t affect your life insurance options.
You could spend time getting quotes from each individual insurer, or you could use a comparison site - like Confused.com.
We can do the hard work for you. You'll also get plenty of choice, so you can choose the right policy for your needs. That way, you've got more time to prepare for your new arrival.
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