Cover after 50
Over 50s life insurance: the age you pay in more than it pays out
An over 50s plan pays a fixed sum on death for a fixed monthly premium. Type the figures from your quote; the calculator uses only those and the ONS life tables.
Independent site, not an insurer, broker or government service: benefit claims are made only on GOV.UK.
Over 50s plan: when premiums pass the payout
Example, not your result yet· change a figure to see yours
You have paid in the payout by
age 76
| Chance of living past that age | 74% |
| Paid if you reach life expectancy | £6,828 |
| Most you can pay in | £9,000 |
ONS 2022-2024 rates for the whole population of your age and sex. Uses only the premium you type.
An over 50s plan is a whole of life policy sold from age 50 up to an upper age each insurer sets, usually with guaranteed acceptance and no health questions. In return, the payout is small and fixed, and plans commonly pay back only the premiums if death from natural causes happens during a qualifying period at the start, set out in the policy. The question that decides its value is simple: how long until the premiums you pay add up to the sum your family receives. At £25 a month for a fixed £5,000, a person who starts at 60 has paid in the full payout by age 76.7. On the ONS National life tables for 2022 to 2024, the chance of living past that age is 74% for a man of 60 and 82% for a woman of the same age. Past that point every further premium is money the family would have had anyway. A plan whose premiums stop at 90 limits the total to £9,000.
Rates read and sums checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the figures are worked out
Break-even by starting age, same premium and payout
The table keeps £25 a month and a fixed £5,000 and changes only the starting age. Real plans charge more the older you start, so for an older applicant, type the premium you were actually quoted. The life expectancy columns are the average age at death for someone already that age, from the ONS tables.
| Starting age | Premiums reach the payout at | Man alive then | Woman alive then | Average age at death, man | Average age at death, woman |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 66.7 | 89% | 92% | 81.4 | 84.5 |
| 55 | 71.7 | 83% | 88% | 82.0 | 84.9 |
| 60 | 76.7 | 74% | 82% | 82.8 | 85.5 |
| 65 | 81.7 | 62% | 72% | 83.7 | 86.2 |
| 70 | 86.7 | 43% | 55% | 85.0 | 87.1 |
| 75 | not reached by 90 | n/a | n/a | 86.5 | 88.3 |
| 80 | not reached by 90 | n/a | n/a | 88.4 | 89.8 |
The premium you were quoted changes everything
Break-even is the payout divided by the monthly premium, so a higher premium brings it closer. The last column is what a man starting at 60 would have paid in by the average age at death for his age.
| Premium a month | Premiums reach the payout at | Chance of living past it | Paid in by the average age at death |
|---|---|---|---|
| £15 | 87.8 | 33% | £4,097 |
| £20 | 80.8 | 62% | £5,462 |
| £30 | 73.9 | 81% | £8,194 |
| £40 | 70.4 | 88% | £10,925 |
| £60 | 66.9 | 93% | £16,387 |
What these plans are for
Over 50s plans are often sold as a way to pay for a funeral. They are not funeral plans: the payout is cash to the estate or a named person, and nothing fixes what a funeral will cost when it happens. A prepaid funeral plan buys the service itself from an FCA-authorised provider. For people on certain benefits, the Funeral Expenses Payment from the state can cover part of the costs, though the estate pays it back first if it can.
Before signing
Check the length of the qualifying period and what is paid if death happens during it; whether premiums stop at an age or run for life; whether the payout is fixed or rising; and whether a free gift or a voucher is tied to the first premiums. The insurer should appear on the FCA register. If you already hold a term or whole of life policy, the whole of life calculator runs the same break-even on a larger sum.
An alternative test: saving the premium
One way to judge an over 50s plan is to compare it with putting the same monthly sum into a savings account. Saved, the money builds up at the same pace as the premiums and remains available, and at the break-even age the savings equal the plan’s payout before any interest. Before that age, the plan pays more than the savings would hold; after it, the savings hold more. The plan’s advantage is the early years and the certainty of a fixed sum for the family; the saver’s advantage is that the money stays theirs to use. The first table shows how long the early years last at each starting age.