A relevant life insurance policy enables employers to provide individual death-in-service benefits for their UK-resident employees who are aged 17 - 71 when the policy is established. The policy, which is applied for and paid for by the employer, pays out a tax-free lump sum if the insured employee dies — or is diagnosed with a terminal illness — whilst in the service of the employer.
Relevant life plans are however available only where an employer-to-employee relationship exists — i.e. employees of a limited company. For that reason, relevant life insurance is not available to sole traders, a partnership’s equity partners or equity members of a Limited Liability Partnership
Employees can use a relevant life policy to provide their own individual ‘death in service’ benefits in addition to those offered by their employer’s group life insurance scheme if such a scheme exists. The premiums paid to a relevant life policy and the benefits paid out, are not included in the employee’s annual or lifetime pension allowances. (Relevant life is a term insurance, so the policy has no surrender value.)
The policy’s sum assured is based on a multiple of the employee’s total remuneration, which includes his or her salary and any dividends and/or bonuses they may be paid. There is no statutory limit on the amount of cover. Depending on the age of the employee, and the insurance provider’s terms and conditions, the multiple could be as much as 10 to 25 times remuneration.
Employer: Providing Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs agrees that the premiums paid are wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the business, the employer is entitled to corporation tax relief on the payments. Furthermore, there are no National Insurance contributions to pay on the policy payments.
Employee: There are no National Insurance contributions to pay on the policy payments and as the payments are not treated as a benefit in kind, they are not subject to income tax. On the death of the insured person, the tax free lump sum will not form part of the deceased employee’s estate and will not be subject to inheritance tax.
TAX TREATMENT DEPENDS ON INDIVIDUAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
To ensure the proceeds go directly to the employee's family or financial dependants, we will normally recommend that the policy is written in an appropriate trust.
If the policy is portable, the employee can take it with them should they move to a new employer, although a new trust would need to be set up in that circumstance. The employee can either assume responsibility for making the policy payments, or ask their new employer to pay the premiums as part of a benefits package.
THE FINANCIAL CONDUCT AUTHORITY DOES NOT REGULATE ADVICE ON EMPLOYEE BENEFITS, TAXATION AND TRUST.
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Andrea - mid 50s
I came to see Josh not only helping me plan for my retirement but also in helping me look after a Trust fund for my Nieces. Josh is always quick to respond to queries and deals with all requests in a timely and efficient manner. I feel very comfortable in the fact that if I ask for something to be done or need some advice he ALWAYS delivers.
I have not always had this service from other financial advisors. I would happily recommend Josh to anyone needing financial support.
Trevor
Following our mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis and admission into a residential care home, my sister and I were looking for financial advice on the options available to fund her care. Our main concern before speaking with Josh was finding an adviser who would provide us with sound financial advice.
Josh provided us with various funding options relating to our mother's residential care provision. These options gave my sister and I the information we needed to determine the best way forward in respect of funding our mother's care needs. Josh provided clear, concise, and timely financial advice, and responses to all our questions were swift, friendly, and easy to understand. He also went out of his way to secure an immediate needs care annuity within the timescales required to meet my mother's urgent funding needs.
My sister and I received excellent support from Warwick Road Financial Services and believe that, without Josh's assistance, we would have struggled to achieve a successful outcome.
My sister and I have a cautious approach when it comes to making major financial decisions. We believe the approach used, and the advice offered by Warwick Road Financial Services, would be of benefit to people who, like us, have a cautious approach when it comes to financial matters.
Darren
I approached Jethro several years ago because my wife and I really hadn’t paid any attention to our pension planning. Jethro helped us by identifying various plans from previous employers, and a personal plan that I’d left to stagnate from my contracting days.
The result was that Jethro managed to consolidate all these into single managed portfolios for each of us. One thing we really liked was his clear explanation, regular communication, and friendly but professional approach. He explained things to us in language we could both understand. We found the experience very easy to navigate thanks to Jethro’s detailed and clear explanation and guidance.
We would recommend Jethro to people who need a full-service pension professional to guide them clearly and safely through their options and manage the entire process for them.
Miss Parker
I instructed Claire Adams from Warwick Road Financial services to assist me with consolidating my various pensions into one with Quilter.
Claire took care of everything on my behalf and kept me updated at all times. Clare was extremely professional, efficient and explained everything in great detail.
As I was so impressed I also took out life cover, which again Claire found the best deal and it was set up almost instantly.
I would highly recommend Claire to future clients, friends and family as I know they will receive a first-class Service.
Steve
We originally approached Lawrence because we were looking for help with our insurance/mortgage and general finances, whilst in our early 20’s.
Before we had met you, we were concerned about obtaining financial advice from somebody who we didn’t know or wasn’t recommended, due to a family members previous bad experience.
Lawrence helped us by putting us at ease, explaining everything in layman’s terms, so that we understood the advice and were always given opportunities to wait, delay or decline any plans that were offered.
As a result, almost 30 years later we still see Lawrence at least once per year to discuss our current situation and our plans. We are in an excellent position financially regarding our mortgage, savings and pensions, largely thanks to Lawrence.
One thing I really like is the trustworthy and friendly attitude he has always shown towards us.
I found the experience very comforting, knowing that our finances were being taken care of by a professional and that our long-term plans were reachable.
The sort of person that would benefit most from using them would be a young couple, starting out in their careers, as we were when we first met Lawrence.