A cost saving option for people who own/work in a UK based company is to benefit from a life insurance policy called Relevant Life. This has been approved by HM Revenue & Customs and is offered by most of the major insurers. It works by permitting a limited company or limited partnership (LLP) to take out Life Insurance and Employee Significant Illness (similar to Critical Illness but offered by Aviva only) on behalf of an employee, with the employee deciding who they would like the beneficiaries to be ie. a spouse, children etc. However what makes this different from other types of life policies is that the premiums paid by the company are exempt from “benefit in kind” taxation and further the company can offset the cost of the premiums against corporation tax (19%). The maximum age for this type of policy to remain in force is to 75 years old.  In the event of a claim, as the funds are paid by a trust (Save and Insure will set this up free of charge on your behalf with the insurer) then the beneficiaries i.e. a spouse, children etc will be not be charged inheritance tax on the proceeds. In practical terms if you are a high rate tax payer, then this reduces the cost of the insurance premiums by about half if the current policy is being paid out of net income. The policy is fully transferable from the business to the employee should the employee leave, from where it can be paid by their new employer (as long as it is a limited company or LLP) or by the employee themselves from net income. 

Finally, the company can also choose to pay for the policy on behalf of the employee but offset the premiums from their gross salary i.e. a salary sacrifice. The net result of this is that the policy does not cost the company any money however the employee is able to take advantage of the significant reduction in the cost of the policy, especially when compared to a private policy.