Death in service benefit or separate life insurance?

Death in service benefit

Many employers provide a death in service benefit which pays out a sum of money if you die while employed by them. Usually free and part of an overall employment package, there's a definite attraction.

However, it makes sense to consider implications from a life insurance perspective:

• If you leave your employment, the life insurance cover stops, so your family could be at risk unless you take out other life insurance cover
• Death in service is usually three or four times your annual salary, which may not be enough
• Death in service cannot usually be assigned to cover your mortgage, which means you may need to consider alternative arrangements
• Death in service cover tends to be inflexible – you can't usually adapt the cover if your lifestyle or circumstances change

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