Family protection or mortgage protection comes down to what you want the payout to be for: clearing the mortgage, which is often done with decreasing cover, or also replacing the money your household lives on, which is where level cover and family income benefit come in. Which one fits turns on who depends on your earnings, and for how many years.
Both options can be set out for your own home by an FCA-authorised broker, and the form on this page begins a callback that costs nothing.
What does cover aimed at the mortgage pay?
The usual product is decreasing term cover. Beagle Street's policy terms (April 2025) define it this way: "The sum assured of the benefits will reduce throughout the policy term until it reaches zero on the policy expiry date." The same definition says the policy is designed so that "if a claim is paid, it will pay off a debt which reduces over time, such as a repayment mortgage with an interest rate of up to 6%." So the amount paid is tied to the loan, not to what the household spends each month.
Two limits follow from that wording. Beagle Street models its decreasing policy on a 6% interest rate, and says that where the debt's rate is higher the payout might not be large enough to clear what is still owed. Check the rate any policy you are offered assumes before you rely on its figure. And the money does not go to the lender by default: it goes to whoever the policy names, as does life insurance cover my mortgage explains.
The type of cover and the purpose are separate choices. VitalityLife's client brochure (May 2026) describes its decreasing option as reducing each month in step with the amount owed on a repayment mortgage, and also says term cover can be used to pay "any fixed financial commitments you, or your family, may have – like mortgage repayments or household bills." How the two shapes of payout compare is covered in decreasing vs level term insurance.
What does cover for family living costs pay?
Two products do this job. Level term cover is the first. Beagle Street's policy summary (April 2026) frames the choice as whether you want the sum assured to stay the same until the policy expires or to fall with a reducing debt. VitalityLife says its level cover stays the same unless you claim or change it. One sum is paid on a valid claim, and it can go towards the mortgage, household bills or both.
Family income benefit is the second, and it pays in a different shape. Aviva's key features for its family income benefit plan (EDCO0871-0126) say it "is designed to support your family financially by paying a monthly benefit if you die or have a terminal illness", and that "it can help them pay any outstanding debts or contribute towards your mortgage." The term is chosen to match what is left to pay: the document describes the insurance as designed "to cover you while there’s still things to pay, like childcare, bills or a mortgage." The benefit runs for as long as the policy has left: "We’ll pay the monthly benefit for the remaining term of the cover." Lump sums, tax and the rest are on what family income benefit means.
Whether a single sum, a monthly income or a mix suits a household is something a broker can work through with you. Hearing how that would look for your ages, children and mortgage is what the call-back from this form is for.
What does each type leave uncovered?
| Cover | What it pays | What it leaves uncovered |
|---|---|---|
| Decreasing term | A sum that falls to zero by the end of the term, designed to match a reducing debt (Beagle Street terms) | Less for anything but the debt as the years pass; possibly not the whole debt if the loan's rate is above the rate the policy assumes (6% at Beagle Street) |
| Level term | The same sum throughout the term (Beagle Street summary; VitalityLife brochure) | A single amount, not a monthly income; its buying power can fall with inflation |
| Family income benefit | A monthly benefit for the remaining term (Aviva key features) | Fewer payments the later a claim comes; nothing once the term has ended |
All three share one limit. Aviva's key features say family income benefit "only protects you against events that happen during the term of your policy." Beagle Street's summary says its life cover stops "when a claim is paid, or your policy reaches the policy expiry date." If you die after a term ends, those policies pay nothing.
Inflation affects the fixed sums. Beagle Street's summary notes that inflation and other factors keep changing the real value of the sum assured. Aviva offers an increasing version of family income benefit where "the amount of your insurance increases by 5% each year to take inflation into account", with a premium that also rises each year, and tells customers to review cover against their earnings and lifestyle.
Each policy described here pays on death or on a terminal illness diagnosis. Beagle Street sells cover for other serious illness as a separate option, Life Insurance with Critical Illness; how that works with a mortgage is covered in mortgage protection and critical illness cover.
Which questions in your household decide between them?
The answer differs between households, so these are questions to weigh rather than a ruling.
- Who depends on your income, and for how many years? The length of that time is what a family income term is set against.
- Does the mortgage balance fall at the pace of the cover, or is it interest only? Do I need life insurance for a mortgage covers what lenders ask.
- Would one lump sum or a monthly income suit whoever would receive it? How much life cover do I need and how much family income benefit you need cover how a figure is built.
- What is already in place, for example cover through an employer? Death in service benefit and life insurance sets that out.
- Is the cover for one person or two? Joint vs individual life insurance compares them.
Whether one policy could do both jobs, or two would sit better together, depends on your circumstances. Pricing each option for your household is a job for an FCA-authorised broker, who calls back without charge once your details arrive via the form on this page.
Frequently asked questions
Is life insurance just for the mortgage, or for the family too?
It can be for either, or both. VitalityLife says term cover can be used for "mortgage repayments or household bills". Whether the sum is enough to clear a mortgage depends on the amount chosen.
Who receives the money, the family or the lender?
Aviva's family income benefit key features say it pays the person legally entitled to the benefit. That is confirmed when a claim is made, and it depends on the circumstances of the claim and on any assignment of the policy or trust it sits in. Writing a mortgage protection policy in trust looks at that question.
Can one policy cover both the mortgage and family living costs?
Aviva says the monthly benefit from its family income benefit plan can help a family pay outstanding debts or contribute towards the mortgage. If that would not reach the whole balance, ask the broker on the call whether a second policy should sit beside it.
Sources
- Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited, YourLife Plan Family Income Benefit key features (EDCO0871-0126, January 2026), read 20 October 2026. protection.aviva.com
- Family Assurance Friendly Society Limited, trading as Beagle Street, Life Insurance and Critical Illness Cover Policy Summary (31589 003 04.2026), read 20 October 2026. beaglestreet.com
- Family Assurance Friendly Society Limited, trading as Beagle Street, Policy Terms & Conditions, Life Cover & Critical Illness Cover (31590 002 04.2025), read 20 October 2026. beaglestreet.com
- VitalityLife, Personal Protection client brochure (VL B 0110 05/26, hosted on Vitality's adviser website), read 20 October 2026. adviser.vitality.co.uk