Zurich Life Insurance: Is It Worth The Investment?

Zurich Life Insurance is part of the Zurich Insurance Group, a leading insurer that offers a wide range of insurance products and services in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. Zurich offers a variety of protection products, including personal insurance, pensions, savings/investments, and life insurance.

Zurich's life insurance policies include level term, decreasing term, increasing term, and whole-of-life cover for adults, as well as illness and injury cover for children. Zurich's life insurance plans also include terminal illness cover and can be combined with critical illness cover.

In 2022, Zurich paid out 98% of life insurance claims and 91% of critical illness claims. Zurich's critical illness cover includes 39 full payout conditions and two partial payout conditions. Zurich's life insurance plans also offer additional benefits, such as free life cover during underwriting and access to counselling and support services.

The cost of Zurich's life insurance plans varies depending on factors such as age, health, smoking status, occupation, level of cover, and policy duration. Zurich's life insurance has received mixed reviews, with an average rating on Trustpilot and a 3-star rating from Defaqto.

Overall, Zurich Life Insurance is a well-established company with a global presence and a range of life insurance options. However, it is important to carefully consider the features, benefits, exclusions, and cost of their policies to determine if they meet your specific needs and budget.

Zurich's life insurance policy types

Zurich offers a variety of life insurance policies to cater to a range of needs, including term life cover and whole-of-life insurance. The right policy type will depend on the aspects of your life that you want to protect. Here are some of the types of life insurance policies offered by Zurich:

Whole of Life Insurance

Whole of life insurance offers protection for the rest of your life, guaranteeing a payout after you're gone. You’ll make monthly payments for your entire life, with no age limit to when a claim can be made. However, this can create the risk of paying more into a policy than the overall sum assured (payout amount). Whole of life insurance is perhaps best suited to those later in life who are still in good health and require a larger sum assured. This can help with things like funeral costs, inheritance tax if your estate is liable, or an inheritance for loved ones.

Level Term Life Insurance

Provides a fixed sum assured, and premiums stay the same over the policy term. As the payout amount remains the same throughout the policy, it's ideal for helping to cover fixed costs such as an interest-only mortgage.

Decreasing Term Life Insurance

The sum assured decreases each year and will reduce to zero by the end of the term. Monthly premiums don’t change, your sum assured will simply reduce. This tends to be a good option for those with a repayment mortgage or loan.

Increasing Term Life Insurance

Cover can increase each year by a chosen rate, either by 3%, 5%, or in line with the Retail Price Index. This increase will then be reflected in the cost of your monthly premiums (premiums will go up by 1.5% for each 1% increase in cover). A useful option for those who want to provide loved ones with sufficient funds to maintain their existing lifestyle if the worst were to happen.

Critical Illness Cover

It's possible to add critical illness cover to your policy for an additional cost, available on all Zurich term life insurance policies. This means that if you were diagnosed with a serious, yet non-life-threatening illness, you could make an early claim on your policy. With Zurich, this covers you for 39 conditions, including cancer, heart attack, and stroke. The payout could then be used to help make necessary adaptations to your home, cover a lost income, or simply be enjoyed with your family. It's important to remember that if you make a claim for a critical illness, your policy will end, and no further payout will be made upon your passing.

Zurich's critical illness cover

A payout lump sum of up to £25,000 is also offered for one of two additional payment conditions (less advanced breast or prostate cancer), keeping your original policy intact. Furthermore, Zurich's critical illness cover can be extended to your children (for an additional cost) for a lump sum payout of £25,000 if they are diagnosed with a critical illness. They will be covered from birth until their 22nd birthday; alternatively, when they turn 16, they can take out a policy of their own up to £25,000 free of underwriting with Zurich directly.

Zurich's customer service

Zurich Life Insurance is part of the Zurich Insurance Group, a leading insurer that offers a wide range of insurance products and services in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. Zurich's customer service can be reached by phone or email. Their office hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 5:30 pm, excluding bank holidays.

The Zurich Support Service is available 24/7 and offers counselling and other support services to customers with any policy. This service can be used to address emotional issues, such as dealing with grief, or practical issues, such as financial worries. One-on-one counselling is also offered for up to six sessions if needed.

In terms of customer reviews, Zurich Insurance is rated 'Excellent' on Trustpilot with over 80,000 reviews. However, this rating reflects all of Zurich's insurance products and not just life insurance. On Defaqto, Zurich Personal Protection plans are rated 5 stars, deemed "excellent products with a comprehensive range of features and benefits". On the other hand, Zurich Life Protection is rated 3 stars, deemed a "standard product providing an average level of features and benefits".

Overall, Zurich's customer service appears to be responsive and supportive, offering a range of benefits to its life insurance customers.

Zurich's policy cost

Zurich's life insurance policies are available at different price points, with the cost depending on various factors. Zurich's life protection policies start from as little as £5 a month for term life insurance. However, the actual cost of premiums will be calculated based on several considerations.

One factor influencing the cost is the applicant's smoking status and alcohol consumption. Life insurance is a risk-based product, and due to the significant health impacts of smoking and alcohol, insurers will charge higher premiums to those who smoke or consume nicotine products, including e-cigarettes. Another factor is the applicant's medical history, including any pre-existing medical conditions, and their family medical history. The likelihood of a claim being made during the policy term is also taken into account when determining the cost.

The cover amount, or sum assured, is another important consideration. For example, Zurich's whole of life insurance policies start from £8 a month for a sum assured of £50,000. The level of cover chosen will impact the premium amount, with higher cover resulting in higher premiums.

Additionally, Zurich offers different types of term life insurance, including level term, decreasing term, and increasing term. Level term life insurance provides a fixed sum assured, with premiums remaining the same over the policy term. Decreasing term life insurance offers a decreasing sum assured, while increasing term life insurance allows the cover amount to increase by a chosen rate, which is then reflected in the cost of monthly premiums.

When considering Zurich's life insurance, it's important to compare quotes from different insurers to ensure you're getting a good deal. Zurich's life insurance products are available through brokers like Reassured and Usay Compare, who can provide free, personalised quotes to help find the right policy for your needs.

Zurich's policy reviews

Zurich is one of the world's leading insurers, offering a range of protection products, including life insurance. Zurich's life insurance policies have been rated highly by customers and experts. In this review, we will explore Zurich's policy offerings, benefits, and customer ratings in detail.

Zurich's Life Insurance Policy Offerings:

Zurich offers a comprehensive Personal Protection policy with various types of cover available, including Level Cover, Decreasing Cover, and Increasing Cover. The maximum length of a policy term is 50 years, and the maximum age at the end of the term is 89. Zurich also offers Critical Illness Cover and Multi Fracture Cover as optional add-ons to their life insurance policies.

Benefits of Zurich's Life Insurance:

Zurich's life insurance policies come with several benefits. These include:

• Unlimited maximum benefit: Zurich offers an unlimited maximum life insurance benefit, allowing customers to choose the amount of cover they need.
• Multi Fracture Cover: For an extra premium, Zurich offers Multi Fracture Cover, which provides payouts of £2,000, £4,000, or £6,000 depending on the injury.
• Critical Illness Cover: Zurich offers the option to add Critical Illness Cover to their life insurance policies for an additional cost. This provides a payout if the policyholder develops one of 40 specified conditions.
• Support Services: Zurich's life insurance policyholders have access to their Support Services, which offers a 24/7 telephone helpline providing assistance in areas such as daily concerns, significant life events, emotional support, and work-related issues.
• Separation Benefit: Zurich allows couples who separate, divorce, or dissolve their civil partnership to split their joint policy into two separate policies without providing further medical evidence.
• Choice of Increasing Cover: Zurich offers the option of fixed or indexed increasing cover to ensure that the benefit amount keeps up with inflation.

Zurich's Life Insurance Customer Ratings:

Zurich's life insurance has received positive reviews from customers. On Trustpilot, Zurich insurance as a whole is rated 'Great' with 4/5 stars from over 2,000 reviews. For their life insurance specifically, they have a rating of 4.92/5 on Drewberry from 3,844 client reviews. Zurich has also won multiple awards for their outstanding service and insurance products, including consecutive awards from FT Adviser for their online customer service.

Frequently asked questions