Life Insurance

Life Insurance

Life insurance with Insurance Cover Spain

Life insurance is a simple and inexpensive way to insure yourself and your family for a lump sum to be paid out in the event of your death. That´s all there is to it in the legal definition of the term. That being said, our life insurance offers much more than that and includes many other benefits that you can take advantage of throughout your life.

Our expat life insurance policies, supplied by our provider here in Spain, Caser Seguros, include a myriad of different guarantees for situations aside from death, such as permanent disability and death or disability due to a traffic accident.  We also include services such as repatriation, medical consultations & loan / credit card clearing in the event of your demise.

The principle concept of life insurance to leave a significant sum of money to your loved ones in the event of your death. Understandably, this sounds similar to inheritance, but in this instance, the payment comes from the insurance and not the relative directly. One also has to consider that nowadays, not everyone has savings. We live in times of financial uncertainty due to factors such as inflation, pandemics and global crises, meaning that most  have less disposable income, which in combination with increased cost of living, means we may not have as much in the bank to leave behind. Years ago, an inheritance was almost guaranteed from your grandparents and parents, but as we move into the newer generations whom have lived through more global financial crises, with little sign of an end in sight, this is becoming less of a given and more of a rarity.

Another considerable factor is leaving behind debt. Nowadays, almost everyone has a personal loan, finance or even just a credit card. It’s important to know that as part of the next of kin process or inheritance. In Spain, the inheritor also inherits debts, not just the assets and funding. This means that loans and credit card debts will likely fall to your family to come up for, which can be particularly detrimental at such a difficult time that is the demise of a family member.

Debts are not the only expense you may be leaving behind; funeral costs and other administrative matters are also important aspects to consider. This is why having life insurance is an effective way to ensure that both yourself in the event of permanent disability as well as your family in the event of your death, are not left in financial hardship.

Our expat policies are tailor made, allowing us to suit the insured amounts and extra covers to your needs. We have exclusive offers and discounts all the time, with prices starting at just €7 per month, which is less than our beloved ‘Menu del Día’ at our favourite local restaurant.

In short, while we cannot predict the future and what it may bring, you can take steps to ensure that regardless of what life may through our way, you can rest easy knowing that you, your family and children are protected and are financially stable in a tragic event such as your demise. Because finances should be the last concern your family are left with during such a difficult time.

What makes our life insurance so special?

We’re very aware that life insurance is not a new concept, and that we haven’t reinvented the wheel here… or have we?

What makes our life insurance policies different are the features that come with it, which you can benefit from immediately after taking out the policy. Our policies do not increment, by which we mean that, from day one you will have your minimum capital available in the event of need. With other insurance policies, you will often find that the capital increments annually, effectively requiring you to hold the policy for a certain time before the capitals become substantial enough to see a benefit.

We’ve also touched upon the extra services that we offer. There are 22 in total, that you can chose from when taking your policy with us. Here are some of the most popular:

Autónomo Compensation

Autónomo Compensation

If you are self-employed and find yourself hospitalized and unable to work as a result, you may not see this as viable due to the economic problems that may occur as a result of your downtime. You can choose to opt for our autónomo compensation service where you will be paid money for each day that you are hospitalized.

 

Serious Illness cover for children

Serious Illness cover for childrenWe can’t even ponder the possibility of our children becoming ill, there is nothing worse than your little ones being unwell, and we hope that you will never need to experience it. If something were to occur however, our policies can include financial support, to help you give your child the best care possible.

 

 

Disability cover

Disability cover

In the unfortunate event of you becoming incapacitated or disabled while living alone. We offer financial relief to help with your day-to-day. Not only that, but we can also send someone to help out at home for a couple hours a day.

 

Medical Consultations

Medical Consultations

With our covers you have access to unlimited video-consultations with doctors and specialists to give general advice and assistance. This service is accessible via the dedicated Starbien App and online and includes specialists such as Traumatology & Gynaecology as well as COVID-19 advice.

The best part of it all is that you chose the pay-out amount that your family will receive in the event of the unexpected.

What is the difference between life & funeral insurance? 

The primary difference between life insurance and funeral insurance is that, with funeral insurance, you are effectively only insuring the costs associated with your funeral, the transport and the burial or cremation. With life insurance, you are essentially ensuring an amount of money to be paid out to your relatives, which could cover your funeral costs and also leave some funding behind to deal with your personal affairs and give your family a nest egg while they adjust to the changes occurring in their life as a result of your passing.  

Many chose to have both of these insurances, so that not only your funeral is organised & prepaid, but you are also leaving a substantially bigger amount of money behind to be dedicated to your personal affairs and obviously as financial support for your loved ones. So, while it sounds like one is similar to the other, it’s fair to say that life insurance is more comprehensive given its disability element as well as the many extra features on offer as part of holding this type of policy.

You can by all means chose one or the other if you are confident that your finances and debts are manageable in the event of your demise, but our personal affairs are constantly changing, so who knows what position we might be in in 5 years, 10 years or even next year in the current climate. We naturally recommend taking advantage of both policies where possible, and our team will always find the best combinations of covers in both kinds of policies, with the higher cover amounts stemming from the life insurance while finding a perfect balance in terms of annual premiums for these policies.

What if I pass away while abroad?

That’s no problem without expat policies, as these include repatriation in the event of your demise occurring while abroad, a feature that you won’t find in many of our competitor’s policies.

Repatriation is the process of returning your human remains to your home country should you pass away while away from home. We touched on this subject in our funeral insurance article, but essentially the nitty gritty of this problem related to the exorbitant costs and paperwork relating to the transport of a body, because this is not a service provided by your conventional commercial airlines. The costs for such a service can be upwards of €4000 and is not included in most death / funeral insurances. While it is included in most of ours, should you have opted against funeral insurance, our life insurance includes this in the conditions of the policy meaning that even when the unexpected happens, your family do not need to worry about the additional stress that derives from the repatriation process, allowing them to focus on the more important things.

Is it wise to have life insurance when you are younger?

It absolutely is! While we are young, we rarely even consider the certainty of death. While death is statistically far less likely in younger individuals, it’s not a given. Accidental death is as likely in younger individuals as it is in the older generations. Disability or permanent disability is also something to consider, as finding yourself in a position of permanent disability either caused by your own negligence or indeed as a result of an accident that isn’t your fault can leave you effectively unemployed, and potentially in financial troubles, and these things can happen to anyone at any time.

It’s also noteworthy that premiums for such insurances are lower for those who are younger and in good health. This means that you can benefit from the same covers, while paying surprisingly little for it. As mentioned previously, our policies with baseline covers start from as little as €84 per year, with varying cover limits based on your preferences at the time of taking out the policy with us. When you consider the additional services included in our policies such as medical consultations and fixed rates for the first five years, you are getting so many assistance options from life insurance, even when you are not actually making a claim due to death.