Relevant life plan

Relevant Life
Insurance

Offer protection to your employees or directors and give
them peace of mind against terminal illness or death.

Relevant life insurance is a cost-effective way to set up individual death-in-service benefits for staff in companies that are too small to consider setting up a full group protection schemes.

The business takes out the plan on the life of an employee, with instances of director-level employees taking out cover for themselves. The cover can be tailored to your specific requirements.

What is relevant life insurance?

A Relevant Life Plan offers a cost-effective way for an employer to arrange term assurance on the life of an employee, including directors.

It's designed to pay a lump sum benefit payable to the employee’s family if the person covered dies or is diagnosed with a terminal illness, whilst employed during the term of the policy.

Are Relevant Life Plans cost-effective?

Our Relevant Life Plans are uniquely tailored to your specific requirements. The cost to an employer can work out much less than the cost to an employee arranging an equivalent personal life policy.

This type of plan is usually viewed as an allowable business expense by HMRC, all premiums and paid benefits qualify for full Income Tax relief, National Insurance relief and Corporation Tax relief.

This means premiums could be reduced by up to 49% compared to a typical life policy if the employee is a higher rate taxpayer. For a basic rate taxpayer this figure could be up to 40%.

Customer Contact

To discuss our Business Protection Plans, call us on 0800 197 9208.

Lines open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.

We may record and monitor calls.

Alternatively, email us on businessprotection@landg.com

Looking for the adviser centre?

If you are an adviser looking for support for your clients, our adviser and wealth management centre can provide all the information you need.

What are the benefits of relevant life insurance

Relevant life insurance offers a cost-effective way to provide life insurance with terminal illness cover benefits to employees.

Providing a relevant life policy as part of an overall benefits package can make your company more attractive to potential employees, can help to retain and reward existing employees, and sends out the signal that you are a responsible and caring employer.

Relevant life insurance can also help employers reduce their tax liability, and so it can be an affordable way for smaller companies to offer similar benefits to their larger rivals when looking to attract employees.

Premiums are usually classed as a business expense, and so are likely to be an allowable tax deduction. Keeping the plan in trust offers the potential for an employee to plan for inheritance tax if an estate is, or is likely to be, worth more than the current inheritance tax threshold.

Relevant life insurance cover explained

Who does relevant life insurance cover?

A relevant life insurance policy covers the following types of individual:

  • Employers looking to provide death-in-service benefits, but with too few employees to set up a group scheme.
  • Directors wishing to provide their own individual death-in-service’ benefits without taking out a scheme on all employees.
  • High earning individuals, such as directors, where death-in-service does not form part of their ‘lifetime allowance’ (£1.073 million 2023/24).

Relevant life insurance plans are not available where there is no employer/employee relationship.

For example, sole traders, equity partners of a partnership or equity members of a Limited Liability Partnership.

What does the Legal & General Relevant Life Plan cover?

A Relevant Life Plan is company life insurance for employees, tailored to you and your employees. It does not count towards annual or lifetime pensions, and if your business is not suited to a group life scheme, Relevant Life Plan is a cost-effective way to offer employee life cover. Key features of a Relevant Life Plan include:

  • The plan is designed to provide life cover for an employee while working for you. This may include directors.
  • Your business pays regular premiums based on the level of cover.
  • If the employee covered dies or is diagnosed with a terminal illness (with a life expectancy of less than 12 months) whilst in employment during the term, the plan pays out a cash sum.
  • The plan is designed to meet certain legislative requirements that mean your premiums, benefits and options should be treated tax efficiently.
  • The policy must be placed into a Relevant Life Plan Trust, which can be tax-efficient for both employee and employer.

How should the Relevant Life Plan be set up?

The Relevant Life Plan should be set up so that:

  • It's a single life policy
  • The employee is the person covered
  • The employer pays the premiums during employment
  • The policy is written in trust from the outset, using our Relevant Life Plan Discretionary Trust. This means that it will benefit the person covered and their family an financial dependants.
  • The plan ends by the time the employee is 75
Benefits of relevant life insurance

How is the lump sum amount calculated?

The amount of cover selected on a Relevant Life Plan would be based on the lost income of the employee. The maximum amount of cover available usually depends on the employee’s age and overall remuneration, including salary, bonuses, benefits in kind and regular dividends from the shares in the employers company or a company within the employers group of companies.

Speak to a qualified financial adviser

Our team of expert financial advisers are on-hand to offer professional advice and answer any questions you have about Relevant Life Plan. You can call us on 0800 197 9208 from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday (note - we may record and monitor calls).

You can also email us at businessprotection@landg.com to arrange a call back or book an appointment to speak to us.

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