A client took out a standard UK life policy the year he bought his first flat, arranged elsewhere and long before he came to us. Eighteen months later he moved to Dubai for work. When he asked us to review his protection alongside a new mortgage, two things came out of the file: the policy carried a residency condition he had never read, and he had never told the insurer he had gone.
The second of those was the bigger problem.
Why a standard UK policy does not always travel
There is a lot of loose writing on this subject, so it is worth being precise. Most UK life policies do not switch off the moment you board a plane. Where the policy is in force, the premiums are being paid, and you were accurate about your residency and travel plans when you applied, a UK insurer will generally pay a claim wherever in the world the policyholder dies.
The risks are narrower than “your cover is void”, and more avoidable:
- Disclosure. Telling your insurer you are moving is a condition of the cover, not a courtesy. An undeclared move can be treated as material non-disclosure, and a claim can then be reduced or refused even where every premium has been paid.
- Residency clauses. Some policies require you to remain UK resident. Others permit a move but reprice or restrict cover once you notify them.
- Administration. Most UK insurers expect premiums from a UK bank account and a UK correspondence address. Both are harder to maintain than they sound after a few years abroad, and a lapsed policy is a lost policy.
- New cover. This is the one that bites hardest. Once you are non-resident, most mainstream UK insurers will not write you a new policy at all. So the old policy stops being something you can simply replace if it turns out not to fit.
What “global” cover actually means
International or global life insurance is built for this situation. Cover stays in force regardless of where you are living, and it can often be priced and paid in the currency that matches your income or your mortgage, which matters if you are earning in dirhams and servicing a sterling loan. It is typically arranged through international insurers or private banking channels used to underwriting income earned overseas, rather than a standard high-street provider.
Terms vary considerably between providers and by country of residence, so the specific policy wording is what counts rather than the label on the front.
Who it is for
- Expats and foreign nationals buying or holding property in London while living, or expecting to live, elsewhere for part of the mortgage term.
- Clients with income in more than one currency, where a policy priced and paid in sterling does not line up with how they are actually paid.
- HNW clients with a home, or homes, in more than one jurisdiction, who want one coherent protection strategy rather than a patchwork of local policies.
How this fits alongside the mortgage
This comes up in the same conversation as the mortgage more often than people expect. Many lenders want to see protection in place alongside a large or interest-only loan, and some make it a condition of the offer. If that cover does not travel with the client, a family can be left exposed at precisely the moment it matters.
London FS coordinates the protection alongside the mortgage from the outset, rather than treating it as something to tidy up once the loan has completed. If you hold UK property and expect to spend time overseas, it is worth a conversation before the move rather than after it.
Sources: insurer policy documentation and published guidance on residency, disclosure and cover while living abroad (Legal & General; Vitality); London FS client case reviews.
