If you’re single, you might assume you don’t need life insurance because you don’t have a partner who depends on your income.
For some people, that’s true. If nobody would be financially affected by your death, life insurance may not be a priority.
But being single doesn’t necessarily mean you have no financial responsibilities.
You might own a property with a mortgage, have children, financially support your parents or other relatives, have debts or simply want to leave money to somebody you care about.
The more useful question is therefore not “Am I single?” but “Would anybody be financially affected if I died?”
Quick Answer: Do I Need Life Insurance If I’m Single?
You don’t automatically need life insurance because you’re single, but being single doesn’t automatically mean you don’t need it either. Life insurance generally provides a financial payout if the person insured dies while covered by the policy, subject to the policy terms.
Life insurance may be worth considering if you have children or other financial dependants, financially support family members, have a mortgage you want somebody else to inherit without a large outstanding debt, or want to leave money to a particular person.
If nobody relies on you financially and your estate has sufficient assets to deal with your financial commitments, your need for life insurance may be lower.
At Oportfolio Mortgages, our protection advisers can review your financial commitments, existing cover and the people who could be affected by your death before helping you decide whether life insurance or another form of protection may be appropriate.
When Might a Single Person Need Life Insurance?
Two people can both be single but have completely different protection needs.
| Single Person A | Single Person B | |
|---|---|---|
| Home | Rents | Owns with mortgage |
| Children | None | None |
| Family Support | None | Supports a parent |
| Savings | Significant Savings | Limited savings |
| Property Inheritance | N/A | Wants sibling to inherit home |
| Potential Life Insurance Need | May be relatively limited | Potentially greater |
Both people are single. What makes their protection needs different isn’t their relationship status, it’s their financial responsibilities.
This is why we believe life insurance should be based on who or what you want to protect rather than whether you’re married, single or in a relationship.
Do I Need Life Insurance If I’m Single and Have a Mortgage?
Life insurance isn’t normally a legal requirement for taking out a residential mortgage, whether you’re single or buying with somebody else.
However, if you die with an outstanding mortgage, the debt doesn’t simply disappear.
For a single homeowner, the important question is what you would want to happen to the property.
For example, you might want a sibling, parent, child or somebody else to inherit your home. If a substantial mortgage remains outstanding, your estate will need to deal with that debt.
Life insurance could potentially provide money towards repaying the mortgage, depending on the amount and type of cover arranged.
Alternatively, if you have no dependants, don’t particularly want somebody to inherit the property and have sufficient assets elsewhere in your estate, you may reach a different conclusion about whether mortgage-related life insurance is necessary.
The decision therefore comes back to what you want to happen financially if you die, rather than simply whether you have a mortgage.
For a more detailed explanation, read our guide to life insurance for a mortgage.
Who Might Depend on You Financially If You’re Single?
Being single doesn’t necessarily mean nobody depends on you financially.
You don’t need to have a husband, wife or partner for your death to have a financial impact on somebody else. Parents, children, siblings or other relatives could all potentially rely on you for financial support.
This is one of the most important things to consider when deciding whether you need life insurance.
What If My Parents or Other Family Members Depend on Me?
Some single people regularly provide financial support to their parents or other relatives.
For example, you might:
- contribute towards a parent’s household bills;
- help with their mortgage or rent;
- contribute towards care costs;
- financially support a sibling or other relative; or
- provide regular financial help that somebody else has come to rely on.
If that support suddenly stopped because you died, consider how the person receiving it would manage financially.
Life insurance could potentially provide money to help replace some of the financial support you would otherwise have provided.
The amount of cover you might need would depend on how much support you provide, how long you expect to provide it for and the wider financial circumstances of the person who relies on you.
What If I’m Single but Have Children?
If you have children who depend on you financially, being single doesn’t reduce the importance of considering what would happen to them if you died.
In fact, the financial consequences could potentially be significant if you’re the main or sole provider for your household.
Think about costs such as:
- housing;
- food and everyday living expenses;
- childcare;
- clothing;
- education;
- hobbies and activities; and
- the financial support you would otherwise have provided as your children grew up.
You may therefore want life insurance to provide more than simply enough money to repay a mortgage.
For example, a single parent might want to consider how much money would be needed to support their children until they become financially independent, as well as who would care for them if the parent died.
The appropriate amount will depend on your individual circumstances and the support you want to provide.
What If Nobody Depends on Me Financially?
If you don’t have children, don’t financially support any relatives and nobody else relies on your income, your need for life insurance may be lower.
That doesn’t automatically mean you have no reason to consider it.
You may still have:
- a mortgage or other debts;
- funeral or other costs you don’t want your estate or family to deal with;
- somebody you want to inherit your property;
- a person you want to leave money to; or
- financial responsibilities that aren’t immediately obvious.
You should also consider what assets and protection you already have.
Savings, investments, pensions, property and death-in-service benefits through your employer may all form part of your wider financial position.
If there would be no significant financial shortfall following your death, you may decide that a large life insurance policy isn’t a priority.
However, this raises another important question for somebody who is financially independent:
What would happen if you were still alive but couldn’t work?
If you live alone and rely entirely on your own income to pay your mortgage or rent, household bills and everyday expenses, illness or injury that prevents you from working could potentially represent a more immediate financial risk.
We’ll look at this later in the guide when we consider whether income protection may be particularly important for single people.
What Happens to My Home If I Die and I’m Single?
If you own a property and die, the home doesn’t simply disappear and an outstanding mortgage isn’t automatically written off.
What happens next will depend on factors including how the property is owned, whether there is a mortgage outstanding, whether you have a valid will and whether you have life insurance or other assets available.
If you own the property in your sole name, it will generally form part of your estate. Your executor or administrator will be responsible for dealing with your assets and outstanding debts before the remaining estate can be distributed to your beneficiaries.
What Happens If There Is Still a Mortgage?
If you die while there is still a mortgage secured against your property, the outstanding debt will need to be dealt with.
Depending on the circumstances, this could involve:
- repaying the mortgage using money or other assets from your estate;
- using the proceeds of an appropriate life insurance policy;
- the person inheriting the property potentially arranging to take responsibility for the mortgage, subject to the lender’s requirements and affordability; or
- selling the property and using the proceeds to repay the outstanding mortgage.
This can be particularly relevant for a single homeowner who wants somebody else to inherit their property.
For example, imagine you own a £500,000 property with a £250,000 mortgage and want your sibling to inherit the home.
Leaving them the property doesn’t automatically remove the £250,000 mortgage. The outstanding borrowing would still need to be dealt with.
Appropriate life insurance could potentially provide money towards repaying that mortgage, which may make it easier for the person you want to benefit from the property to keep it rather than having to find another way to deal with the outstanding debt.
What If I Don’t Have a Will?
If you die without a valid will, your estate will normally be distributed according to the rules of intestacy rather than simply according to who you would have personally chosen to inherit your assets.
This is particularly important for single people because you shouldn’t assume that a particular relative, partner or other person will automatically inherit your property.
Life insurance and estate planning are separate issues, so arranging life insurance doesn’t remove the importance of considering what you want to happen to your property and other assets after your death.
If you’re unsure about your will or how your estate would be distributed, you should consider taking appropriate legal advice.
Does Owning a Home Mean I Need Life Insurance?
Not necessarily.
Owning a property doesn’t automatically mean you need life insurance.
Instead, think about what you want to happen to the home if you die.
If you want somebody to inherit the property but there is a substantial mortgage outstanding, life insurance could potentially help provide money towards dealing with that debt.
If you have no dependants, don’t have a particular person you want to retain the property and have sufficient assets elsewhere in your estate, you may reach a different conclusion.
The important question is therefore not simply “Do I own a home?”
It’s “What do I want to happen to my home and mortgage if I die, and is there enough money available to make that possible?”
What Type of Life Insurance Can a Single Person Get?
There isn’t a special type of policy called “single person life insurance”.
If you’re single, you can generally consider the same types of life insurance as anybody else. The appropriate option depends on what you want the cover to achieve, how much protection you need and how long you need it for.
Level Term Life Insurance
Level term life insurance provides a fixed amount of cover for an agreed period.
For example, if you arrange £300,000 of cover for 25 years, the amount of cover remains £300,000 throughout that term, provided the policy remains in force.
This could be considered if you want to leave a fixed amount to children, family members or another beneficiary, or provide money towards a mortgage and other financial commitments.
Decreasing Term Life Insurance
With decreasing term life insurance, the amount of cover reduces over the policy term.
It is commonly considered alongside a capital repayment mortgage because the outstanding mortgage balance would also normally reduce over time.
However, the rate at which the insurance reduces won’t necessarily exactly match your mortgage balance, so you should check how the policy works.
Increasing Term Life Insurance
Increasing life insurance is designed so that the amount of cover can rise over time, usually in line with a measure specified by the policy.
This can help reduce the impact of inflation on the value of the cover, although premiums can also increase.
It may be worth considering if you want the value of the protection to have greater potential to keep pace with rising costs over a longer period.
Whole-of-Life Insurance
Whole-of-life insurance is designed to provide cover for the rest of your life rather than for a fixed term, provided the policy remains in force and its conditions are met.
It works differently from term life insurance and may be considered for longer-term financial or estate-planning objectives rather than simply protecting a mortgage for a set number of years.
Which Type of Life Insurance Is Right for Me?
Being single doesn’t determine which type of life insurance you should choose.
Instead, consider what you want the money to achieve if you die.
That might be repaying a mortgage, supporting your children or other family members, leaving an inheritance or providing a particular amount of financial security to somebody you care about.
Once the purpose of the cover is clear, you can consider which type, amount and term of life insurance best reflects that need.
Should I Buy Life Insurance While I’m Young And Single?
This requires a little nuance. Life insurance premiums are influenced by factors that can include your age, health, smoking status, occupation, lifestyle, amount of cover and policy term. Buying cover while younger can therefore sometimes mean lower premiums than arranging equivalent cover later.
However, a cheaper policy isn’t automatically a policy you need. If you’re 25, single and have no financial dependants or relevant liabilities, buying a large amount of life cover purely because it might cost more when you’re older may not be the best reason to take out insurance. On the other hand, if you already have a clear protection need, arranging cover while you’re younger may be worth considering.
What If My Circumstances Change?
Your protection needs today may look very different in five, ten or twenty years.
If you arrange life insurance while you’re single, getting married or entering a relationship doesn’t automatically mean your existing policy becomes unsuitable. However, significant changes to your personal or financial circumstances are sensible opportunities to review your protection.
What If I Get Married or Enter a Relationship?
If you start sharing your finances with a partner, somebody else may become more financially dependent on you.
You might start contributing towards shared household costs, take out a joint mortgage or reach a point where losing either person’s income would significantly affect the other.
This could mean the amount or type of protection you originally arranged as a single person no longer reflects what you want to protect.
What If I Buy a Property or Increase My Mortgage?
Buying your first home, moving to a more expensive property or increasing your mortgage can substantially change your financial commitments.
For example, a life insurance policy originally arranged to provide £100,000 to your family may not meet your objectives several years later if you have subsequently taken out a £400,000 mortgage with a partner.
That doesn’t automatically mean your life insurance should exactly match your mortgage, but it is a reason to review whether the amount and term of your existing cover are still appropriate.
What If I Have Children?
Having children can significantly change the financial consequences of your death.
You may now want to consider not only a mortgage or other debts, but also the income you would otherwise have provided towards childcare, everyday living costs, education and your family’s longer-term financial security.
Your protection requirements could therefore extend beyond simply repaying the mortgage.
What If My Job or Income Changes?
A new job, promotion, career change or move into self-employment could also affect your financial position.
You may earn more and take on greater financial commitments, or your workplace benefits could change.
For example, if your previous employer provided death-in-service benefits and your new employer doesn’t, you could have less existing protection than you realised.
Equally, improved workplace benefits or increased savings could form part of your overall protection position.
Do I Need to Replace My Life Insurance When My Life Changes?
Not necessarily.
A protection review doesn’t automatically mean replacing an existing policy.
Your existing life insurance may still provide suitable cover, or you may be able to retain it while considering whether additional protection is needed.
This is particularly important because your age, health and other circumstances may have changed since your original policy was arranged. Replacing an existing policy could result in different terms or premiums.
Don’t cancel existing life insurance until any replacement cover has been fully accepted and is in force.
Life insurance shouldn’t necessarily be something you arrange once and then ignore for the next 20 or 30 years.
Getting married, entering a relationship, having children, buying a property, increasing your mortgage or experiencing a significant change in your income are all sensible points to review whether your existing protection still reflects the people and financial commitments you want to protect.
Who Gets My Life Insurance If I’m Single?
Who receives money from your life insurance will depend on how the policy is arranged.
Being single doesn’t prevent you from arranging protection intended to benefit somebody else. Depending on the policy and how it is set up, you might want the proceeds to benefit children, parents, siblings or another person you care about.
Some life insurance policies can also be placed in trust, which can affect how the proceeds are paid and who can benefit.
Trusts and estate planning can have legal and tax implications, so don’t assume one arrangement is appropriate for everybody. A protection adviser can explain the options available for the policy, and appropriate legal advice may also be needed where estate planning is involved.
Is Income Protection More Important Than Life Insurance If I’m Single?
For some single people, protecting their income may be just as important as considering what happens financially if they die.
If you live alone and pay your mortgage or rent, household bills and everyday expenses from your own income, there may be nobody else’s salary to fall back on if illness or injury prevents you from working.
This creates a different protection question:
What would happen financially if you were still alive, but couldn’t earn an income for several months or longer?
How Does Income Protection Work?
Income protection is designed to provide a regular income if illness or injury prevents you from working and you meet the policy’s definition of incapacity.
Rather than paying a lump sum following your death, as life insurance generally does, income protection can replace a proportion of your earnings after an agreed waiting period.
Depending on the policy, this could help you continue paying expenses such as:
- your mortgage or rent;
- household bills;
- food and everyday living costs;
- loan or credit commitments; and
- other regular expenses.
The amount paid, how long benefits can continue and when payments begin will depend on the policy you arrange.
Why Can Income Protection Be Particularly Relevant If You’re Single?
Imagine you live alone, earn £50,000 a year and have a mortgage that you comfortably afford from your salary.
If you have no children or other financial dependants, you may decide that providing a large lump sum following your death isn’t your biggest protection priority.
But if illness or injury prevented you from working, your mortgage and household bills would continue even though your income could reduce significantly.
You might have savings or employer sick pay to rely on initially, but how long would these support you if you were unable to return to work?
For somebody who is financially reliant on themselves, their ability to earn an income can be one of their most important financial assets.
What About Critical Illness Cover?
Critical illness cover addresses another type of risk.
It can provide a lump-sum payment if you’re diagnosed with a serious illness covered by the policy and meet the insurer’s definition.
That money could potentially be used to reduce your mortgage, pay household expenses or provide additional financial flexibility while you’re undergoing treatment or recovering.
However, critical illness cover and income protection work differently.
A critical illness policy generally requires you to be diagnosed with one of the conditions covered by the policy and meet its definition. Income protection is instead designed around your ability to work because of illness or injury, subject to the policy terms.
Life Insurance vs Income Protection vs Critical Illness Cover
These types of protection are designed to address different financial risks.
Life insurance primarily asks:
What happens financially to the people I leave behind if I die?
Income protection asks:
How would I continue supporting myself financially if illness or injury prevented me from working?
Critical illness cover asks:
Would a lump sum help me financially if I were diagnosed with a serious illness covered by my policy?
For a single person with children, family members who depend on them or somebody they specifically want to provide for, life insurance could be very important.
For a single person with no financial dependants but significant monthly commitments, protecting their own income may sometimes address a more immediate financial vulnerability.
That doesn’t mean income protection is automatically more important than life insurance for every single person. The appropriate protection depends on your income, mortgage or rent, savings, employer benefits, family responsibilities and how long you could manage financially if you were unable to work.
The starting point should therefore be to identify which financial risks would have the greatest impact on you or the people who rely on you, and then consider which type of protection addresses those risks.
Oportfolio Insight
When we discuss protection with single clients, the conversation can be quite different from the one we have with a couple or a family.
The starting point shouldn’t be the assumption that everybody with a mortgage needs a particular amount of life insurance.
Instead, we look at what would actually create a financial problem.
For somebody supporting a parent or raising a child alone, their death could have significant financial consequences for the people who rely on them.
For somebody with no dependants, the more immediate concern might instead be what happens if illness or injury prevents them from earning an income while their mortgage, rent and household bills continue.
That’s why we believe protection should be considered around the individual rather than their relationship status.
We look at your housing costs, income, savings, existing workplace benefits, debts, family responsibilities and wider financial commitments before considering where there may be a genuine protection gap.
Not Sure Whether You Need Life Insurance?
Being single doesn’t automatically mean you need life insurance, and it doesn’t automatically mean you don’t.
The important question is what would happen financially if you died, became seriously ill or were unable to work.
At Oportfolio Mortgages, our protection advisers can review your mortgage or rent, income, savings, existing insurance, workplace benefits and family responsibilities before helping you identify where there may be a protection gap.
We can then help you consider whether life insurance, income protection, critical illness cover or a combination of protection may be appropriate for your circumstances.
FAQ: Does a Single Person Need Life Insurance?
Is life insurance worth it if I have no dependants?
It depends on what financial need the policy would address. If you're single with no dependants and nobody would experience financial difficulty following your death, there may be less need for life insurance. Other forms of protection, such as income protection, could potentially be more relevant depending on your circumstances.
Do I need life insurance if I'm single and have a mortgage?
Life insurance isn't generally compulsory for taking out a residential mortgage, but you should consider what would happen to the property and outstanding mortgage if you died. If you want someone to inherit the property, life insurance could potentially provide funds towards the outstanding mortgage.
Can single people get life insurance?
Yes. Your relationship status doesn't prevent you from taking out life insurance. A single life insurance policy covers one individual, and the appropriate cover will depend on your needs and circumstances.
What is the best life insurance for a single person?
There isn't one type of life insurance that's best for every single person. Options can include level term, decreasing term, increasing and whole of life insurance. The appropriate policy depends on what you want to protect, how much cover you need and for how long.
Should I get life insurance if I don't have children?
Not having children doesn't necessarily mean you have no need for life insurance. You might have a mortgage, financially support parents or other relatives, or want to leave money to somebody. If nobody would be financially affected by your death, however, your need for life cover may be lower.
