Relevant Life cover

Let your company pay for your life cover

Relevant Life is death-in-service protection for directors and employees of UK limited companies. The premiums come out of the business, not your post-tax income — and they're usually an allowable business expense.

Paid personally

£201/mo

What the business has to earn to fund it from dividends

Relevant Life

Paid by your company

£75/mo

Net cost after corporation tax relief

Watch: is Relevant Life cover right for you?

Adviser explaining Relevant Life cover to camera
Our reviews on Google

Illustration only, for the same £100-a-month policy. Assumes a higher-rate dividend taxpayer (33.75%), 25% corporation tax, and premiums accepted as wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade. Your own figures depend on your salary, dividends and tax position.

We search the whole of the market, including

Legal & General, LV=, Zurich, Vitality, Royal London, Aviva and Scottish Widows

The same cover, for up to 63% less out of your own pocket

  • Premiums paid by the company
  • Usually an allowable business expense
  • Not a P11D benefit in kind

Pay for life cover yourself and you're buying it with money that has already been through corporation tax and dividend tax. Move the same policy onto the company as Relevant Life cover and the business picks up the premium, normally claims it against profits, and your family still receives the full sum assured — held in trust, outside your estate.

Executive Life is an insurance intermediary, not a tax adviser. Tax treatment depends on your circumstances and can change; premium deductibility is at the discretion of your local HMRC inspector.

Get your Relevant Life quote

Takes about a minute. A specialist adviser comes back to you with whole-of-market figures — no fees, no obligation.

By submitting this form you agree to be contacted about Relevant Life cover. We never sell your details. You can ask us to delete them at any time.

How it works

Cover in place in three steps

1

Tell us the basics

Your age, health, company set-up and roughly how much cover you want. One short form or a ten-minute call.

2

We search the market

We compare Relevant Life plans across the major UK insurers and explain the differences that actually matter at claim time.

3

Set up in trust

We handle the application, get the policy written into the right trust, and give your accountant what they need for the accounts.

The numbers

What a £100 policy really costs you

Both columns buy exactly the same £100-a-month life policy. The difference is whose money pays for it, and how many times that money is taxed on the way.

Paid personally

£2,415/year

Profit the company must earn to fund a personal policy

  • Annual premium£1,200
  • Gross dividend needed£1,811
  • Dividend tax at 33.75%£611
  • Corporation tax on that profit£604
  • Corporation tax reliefNone

Relevant Life, paid by the company

£900/year

Net cost to the business after relief

  • Annual premium£1,200
  • Corporation tax relief at 25%−£300
  • Dividend tax£0
  • Employer and employee NI£0
  • Benefit in kindNone

You save £1,515 a year — for identical cover.

63%

less of your own money, for the same sum assured

Why the gap is so wide

Personal cover is bought with twice-taxed money

  • Company profit is taxed at up to 25% before you can take it out.
  • Taking it as a dividend is taxed again at up to 39.35%.
  • Whatever survives both is what pays your personal premium.
  • A Relevant Life premium skips both steps — the company pays the insurer directly and normally deducts it as an expense.

Who qualifies

Built for limited company people

Relevant Life is an employer-paid arrangement, so it follows employment — which rules a few people out.

Company directors

Including one-person limited companies, contractors and owner-managers on a salary.

Salaried employees

Any employee of a UK limited company — useful for keeping key staff without a group scheme.

Small teams under a group scheme

Most group death-in-service schemes need five or more members. Relevant Life works for one person.

Cover up to age 75

Policies must end by your 75th birthday, and are single-life only.

Sole traders

No employer to pay the premium, so personal life cover is the route instead.

Equity partners and LLP members

Partners aren't employees of the partnership, so they fall outside the rules.

What you get

Four reasons directors move their cover

Corporation tax relief

Premiums are normally allowable against profits, provided they're wholly and exclusively for the trade.

No benefit in kind

HMRC doesn't treat qualifying premiums as a P11D benefit, so there's no extra income tax or NI for you.

Written in trust

The pay-out goes to your family through the trust, normally free of inheritance tax and outside your estate.

Generous cover limits

Insurers will often consider up to 25× total remuneration, including dividends, depending on your age.

25×

Remuneration considered for cover

7

Major UK insurers searched

75

Maximum age cover can run to

£0

Fees you pay for our advice

Questions

The things directors ask us first

Executive Life adviser talking to a client on a headset
What exactly is Relevant Life cover?

A single-life death-in-service policy that an employer takes out on an employee or director. The company owns and pays for it, the policy is written into trust, and the sum assured goes to the employee's family if they die during the term.

How is it different from group death in service?

Group schemes are designed for larger teams and usually need a minimum number of members. Relevant Life gives one person effectively the same benefit, with cover priced on that individual rather than the whole workforce.

Can my company really deduct the premiums?

Usually, yes. Premiums are treated like any other employee remuneration cost, so they're deductible where they're wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade. It isn't automatic — the decision sits with your local HMRC inspector, so we'd always suggest confirming it with your accountant.

Does it include critical illness cover?

No. Relevant Life pays out on death, and on terminal illness where the insurer includes it. Critical illness and income protection are separate arrangements, and we can quote for those alongside it.

What happens if I leave the company?

The policy is tied to your employment, but most insurers allow it to be transferred to a new employer or to you personally, usually without fresh medical underwriting. We check that flexibility before recommending an insurer.

How much cover can I have?

Insurers work from a multiple of your total remuneration — salary, dividends and benefits — and will often consider up to 25×, with lower multiples as you get closer to retirement. There's no surrender value and no investment element.

What does your advice cost?

Nothing to you. We're paid commission by the insurer you choose, and we'll tell you what that is before you apply.

Talk it through

Ten minutes with a specialist adviser

  • Whole-of-market comparison, not one insurer
  • Trust paperwork handled for you
  • We speak to your accountant if it helps
  • No fees, and no pressure to proceed

Prefer to talk now? Call 0808 157 0000, Monday to Friday, 9am–6pm.

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