Life insurance in Poland or in the UK?

Why when living in the UK you should not chose a policy in Poland?

You live in the UK and are thinking about a life insurance policy. A good decision.

But you are not sure if you should chose a policy in here or in Poland?

They say- it’s easier in Poland, you can communicate more easily. A brother-in-law bought one and is happy.

But you live in the UK and you work here too. It’s where you fly on holiday from, where your children go to school.

Ok, I understand, that’s a dilemma. Let’s see which option will be better for you.

Ease of contact

We live in information era and contacting someone is not a problem irrespectively of the place of living.

If you change your address, you can easily contact your insurance company to update your details

 So, it seems irrelevant where you have bought the insurance policy.

The contact in case of questions or change of details should be equally simple in both countries.

Ok. Let’s check the worst case scenario.

Claim process

Imagine such a situation. Typical English weather.

It’s raining and it’s so windy that the roof tiles are being ripped off the roof and trees are falling. Everyday reality...

So it happened that the storm has damaged the roof in your house. 

Luckily you have the home insurance in place. Or do you? 

What do you think- where will it be easier to report the damage to the insurer and receive the payout?

In Poland or in the UK? In the UK of course! 

It would be easier to make a claim as their assessor is local

and can be quickly sent to your house to evaluate the damage.

Thanks to that you will receive the payout more quickly. Obviously, this is just an example

because you cannot buy a house insurance in Poland for a property in the UK

Can I buy life insurance in Poland?

I will answer with a question- how would a claim process look like in case of your personal policy?

Similarly to house insurance, the insurance policy bought in a country you currently live in, will pay out more quickly. 

Location

It is because the doctor, the insurance company and funeral director are located in the same place and it’s much easier to access them.

That also means that you won’t have to fly to Poland to deal with formalities.

Bureaucracy

Additional advantage of the British insurance system is lack of bureaucracy.

To make a claim in reraltion to life insurance policy one would usually need two documents and completing one of the following:

- official medical certificate explaining the cause of death,

- death certificate. 

Difference in the cost of living

The insurance policy you take out should protect you and your family adequately and reflect your current needs.

I suspect that you have also had this phase after you have moved out to the UK where you’ve been constantly comparing and converting the prices between Polish zlotys and vice versa.

Let’s do that but let’s focus on the amount of the life insurance amount.

Half a million

I know that the amount of 500,000zł may be sufficient in Poland.

It sounds a lot. But only in zlotys. Because yours half a million after converting to Pounds sterling is only £94.153 (GBP exchange rates for 21/03/2023).

Choosing the amount of the insurance policy you should focus on current expenses and financial liabilities

that you incur in pounds, not zlotys.

Expensive life

The cost of living in the UK are higher than in Poland.

Also, the properties are much more expensive. 

The average price of a property in UK is £290.000 (Data from January 2023).

When converted to Polish zlotys, it’s 1.540.045 zł. (GBP exchange rates for 21/03/2023).

Half a million is not enough

In that scenario your amount of life insurance of 500,000 zlotys it’s not enough to cover your mortgage. 

Don’t forget about monthly gas and electricity bills and food which are also more expensive in the UK. 

Other points

The UK is the financial leader in Europe

As reported by the Financial Times:

“The UK is the second largest financial center in the world. According to a study by think tank New Financial, it is just behind the US and ahead of China and Japan."

According to New Financial, the financial sector in the UK is almost three times bigger than the financial sector in France or Germany.

The ease of making the claim in the place you live

Death of the main breadwinner may cause a lot of problems and financial worries to the remaining members of the family.

It’s worth ensuring that the payment is done as soon as possible in such a difficult situation.

Having a policy bought in the country you live makes any procedures much easier.

A wide range of high-quality insurance products

In the UK you can insure yourself and your family from many unexpected events

starting from the most basic life insurance to income protection

and critical illness cover.

How long do you intend to stay in the UK

All cases are different and the fact that your brother-in-law bought a policy in Poland, does not mean that you have to.

If you intend to stay in the UK for good or at least a longer period of time,

it goes without saying that it’s worth buying insurance in the UK. 

And if you are worried that you won’t manage to choose the right product due to the language barrier

or lack of knowledge of the market,

write to us napisz do nas we’ll help you best we can.