What Life Insurance Type Quiz
Answer 6 questions about your age, dependants, mortgage, and priorities to find the right type of life insurance — term, whole of life, critical illness, income protection, or family income benefit.
Last updated: April 2026
A what life insurance type quiz matches your age, dependants, mortgage status, income, existing cover, and primary concern to one of five protection types: term life insurance (affordable mortgage and family cover), whole of life insurance (lifetime cover and inheritance planning), critical illness cover (lump sum on diagnosis), income protection (monthly salary replacement if you cannot work), or family income benefit (regular monthly payments to loved ones). Association of British Insurers data shows around 1 in 3 UK families with children have no life insurance at all, around 40% of mortgage holders have no cover on the single largest financial commitment of their lives, and only around 6% of UK adults hold income protection despite it being the most likely policy to pay out during a working lifetime — yet a healthy 35-year-old non-smoker can typically buy £250,000 of 25-year term cover for around £10-£20 per month. Life insurance brokers, financial advisers, mortgage brokers, protection specialists, and family financial planners embed this quiz on their website. Individuals answer 6 questions and get matched to the right protection type for their life stage, revealing their age, dependants, mortgage status, income, and primary concern as a fully qualified lead for term life insurance, critical illness cover, income protection, and holistic family protection advice.
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↑ This is exactly what your website visitors see when you embed this tool. The only difference: their results are gated behind an email capture form, and every input is sent to your CRM.
What is Life Insurance Selection?
Life Insurance Selection is the process of matching the right type of life protection — term life, whole of life, critical illness, income protection, or family income benefit — to your specific life stage, dependants, and financial liabilities. The right type depends on what you are trying to protect (the mortgage, family income, inheritance, or your own recovery), not just how much cover you can afford.
The Formula
Right type of cover = Primary risk (death vs illness vs income loss) + Liability (mortgage, income, inheritance) + Time horizon (term vs lifetime) + Budget (monthly premium)
Worked Example
A 35-year-old non-smoker with a partner, two children under 5, a £250,000 mortgage, and a £55,000 salary works out which type of cover to prioritise.
- Primary risks: mortgage default if they die, family income loss, and critical illness during working years
- Term life insurance: £300,000 of 25-year level term covers the mortgage plus family income buffer for around £12-£18 per month
- Critical illness cover: £150,000 standalone policy pays on diagnosis of cancer, heart attack, or stroke for around £30-£50 per month
- Total protection cost: around £42-£68 per month — under 2% of take-home pay for cover that would prevent a forced house sale in the worst case
📌 The right combination at this life stage is term life insurance plus critical illness cover. Whole of life cover is unnecessary (not yet at inheritance tax planning age), income protection is ideal to add if affordable, and family income benefit could replace or supplement term life. The total premium is less than a streaming subscription bundle — yet removes the biggest financial risks the family faces.
Why This Matters
Family financial security
Association of British Insurers data shows around 1 in 3 UK families with children have no life insurance at all, and many of the families that do hold cover are underinsured relative to their actual needs. Without cover, the death of a main earner forces house sales, career changes, and reliance on the state — all at the worst possible emotional moment.
Mortgage protection
Around 40% of UK mortgage holders have no life cover, yet the mortgage is typically the single largest financial commitment in their lives. Decreasing term assurance priced alongside the mortgage can cost as little as £8-£15 per month for younger borrowers and removes the risk of a surviving partner losing the home during grief.
Income replacement
Even within families that hold life insurance, most cover only death — not illness or injury. Yet income loss from illness is statistically far more likely during working years than death itself. Adding income protection and critical illness cover to a term life policy creates a complete safety net rather than only covering the least likely outcome.
Common Mistakes
❌ Delaying cover because you are still young
Premiums roughly double every 10 years of age, and health events can make cover unaffordable or impossible to obtain. The cheapest time to buy life insurance is always today — waiting rarely saves money and often costs significantly more once priced in a few years later with more medical history.
❌ Only covering death, not illness
Most life insurance applications focus on death cover alone, yet around 1 in 2 people face a critical illness during their lifetime and working-age illness is far more common than working-age death. A policy that covers death but ignores illness leaves the most likely risk uncovered.
❌ Insufficient cover amount
A common rule is 10x annual income plus outstanding mortgage balance, yet most policyholders buy cover that replaces only 2-5x annual income. Undersized cover still feels like protection but leaves families to sell assets or downsize regardless. Size cover properly from the start rather than assuming "something is better than nothing".
Industry Benchmarks
| Category | Good | Average | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single adult, no dependants | Income protection + critical illness | Critical illness only | No cover |
| Couple with mortgage | Level term life + critical illness + IP | Decreasing term life only | Employer death-in-service only |
| Family with children | Term life (10x income) + critical illness + IP | Term life matched to mortgage only | No cover beyond workplace |
Source: Association of British Insurers Life Insurance Data
Benchmark data sourced from Association of British Insurers Life Insurance Data.
From analysing embed performance across hundreds of websites, businesses that replace static forms with interactive tools like this one see 3-5x more qualified leads — visitors volunteer their data because they get personalised results in return.
One of the most common mistakes we see when working with clients: delaying cover because you are still young. Premiums roughly double every 10 years of age, and health events can make cover unaffordable or impossible to obtain. The cheapest time to buy life insurance is always today — waiting rarely saves money and often costs significantly more once priced in a few years later with more medical history.
Embed This Quiz on Your Website
Every visitor who uses your embedded quiz becomes a qualified lead. Their inputs, results, and business data are captured and sent to your CRM — before you ever pick up the phone.
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