Make the replacement-income assumptions visible before discussing cover.
Use the Life Cover Estimator alongside this illustrative example.
A practical example
In a fictional worksheet, 40,000 annual income replaced for five years gives 200,000. Adding 80,000 debts and 10,000 final costs, then subtracting 30,000 available savings and existing cover, produces a model gap of 260,000. Each entry should correspond to a need or resource you can explain.
Check the result
Repeat with a shorter replacement period and a lower spending requirement to see how sensitive the result is. Do not count inaccessible assets as immediately available household cash.
Try a comparison
Increase existing available savings and cover by 20,000 in the fictional worksheet. The estimated gap falls by the same 20,000. Check whether that resource would really be available to the household, rather than counting an asset twice or assuming an excluded payout.
What this does not establish
The method does not model inflation, investment returns, underwriting or policy exclusions. Its result is a discussion estimate, not a coverage recommendation.
Try the tools from this guide
Keep reading
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