If you’re a company director and you have life assurance in place to protect your family, you could be paying more tax than you need to.

Relevant life policies are a way of providing death in service benefits on an individual basis no matter how small your business is.

What are the benefits?

• Although the company pays the premiums, they are not normally assessable to income tax on the employee as a benefit in kind. This can be a significant Saving, particularly for a higher rate taxpayer.


• Unlike a registered group scheme, the benefit will not form part of the employee’s annual or lifetime pension allowance.


• These payments may be treated as an allowable expense for the employer in calculating their tax liability, as long as the local inspector of taxes is satisfied they qualify under the ‘wholly and exclusively’ rules.

In most cases the benefits are paid free of inheritance tax – provided the benefits are payable through a discretionary trust.

Protection insurance can’t stop the unthinkable happening, but it can make dealing with the consequences easier.
Without adequate business protection you could end up risking everything you’ve worked so hard to achieve