While life insurance comes with a pre-agreed term, this doesn’t mean you are locked into a contract. You can leave whenever you want, and will very rarely have to pay any kind of exit fee.

However, with something as important as life insurance you might wonder what happens to your cover if you stop paying. So, what exactly does happen if you miss a life insurance payment?

The majority of life insurance policies follow a rule known as ‘pure protection’. This means that you are only covered as long as you continue to make payments. So, as soon as an insurer stops receiving your premiums, your policy lapses. From that point you will have no cover, will not receive any payout should you die and will not get any of your money back.

If you want to stop paying your premiums, then there are generally two ways you can do it. The first will be to cancel your direct debit at the bank and the second will be to get in touch with your provider to let them know you no longer require their services. If the issue you are facing is to do with money, then you might consider reducing the level of coverage that you have. This could mean bringing down the term time or overall payout.

Even if your current provider can’t offer you anything that works, you might have a look online. There are hundreds of options available and you might be able to get a better deal elsewhere.