Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988

General rules applicable to whole life and term assurances

1 (1) Subject to the following provisions of this Part of this Schedule, if a policy secures a capital sum which is payable only on death, or one payable either on death or on earlier disability, it is a qualifying policy if—

(a) it satisfies the conditions appropriate to it under sub-paragraphs (2) to (5) below, and

(b) except to the extent permitted by sub-paragraph (7) below, it does not secure any other benefits.

(2) If the capital sum referred to in sub-paragraph (1) above is payable whenever the event in question happens, or if it happens at any time during the life of a specified person—

(a) the premiums under the policy must be payable at yearly or shorter intervals, and either—

(i) until the happening of the event or, as the case may require, until the happening of the event or the earlier death of the specified person, or

(ii) until the time referred to in sub-paragraph (i) above or the earlier expiry of a specified period ending not earlier than ten years after the making of the insurance; and

(b) the total premiums payable in any period of 12 months must not exceed—

(i) twice the amount of the total premiums payable in any other such period, or

(ii) one-eighth of the total premiums which would be payable if the policy were to continue in force for a period of ten years from the making of the insurance, or, in a case falling within sub-paragraph (ii) of paragraph (a) above, until the end of the period referred to in that sub-paragraph.

(3) If the capital sum referred to in sub-paragraph (1) above is payable only if the event in question happens before the expiry of a specified term ending more than ten years after the making of the insurance, or only if it happens both before the expiry of such a term and during the life of a specified person—

(a) the premiums under the policy must be payable at yearly or shorter intervals, and either—

(i) until the happening of the event or the earlier expiry of that term or, as the case may require, until the happening of the event or, if earlier, the expiry of the term or the death of the specified person, or

(ii) as in sub-paragraph (i) above, but with the substitution for references to the term of references to a specified shorter period being one ending not earlier than ten years after the making of the insurance or, if sooner, the expiry of three-quarters of that term; and

(b) the total premiums payable in any period of 12 months must not exceed—

(i) twice the amount of the total premiums payable in any other such period, or

(ii) one-eighth of the total premiums which would be payable if the policy were to continue in force for the term referred to in sub-paragraph (i) of paragraph (a) above, or, as the case may require, for the shorter period referred to in sub-paragraph (ii) of that paragraph.

(4) If the capital sum referred to in sub-paragraph (1) above is payable only if the event in question happens before the expiry of a specified term ending not more than ten years after the making of the insurance, or only if it happens both before the expiry of such a term and during the life of a specified person, the policy must provide that any payment made by reason of its surrender during the period is not to exceed the total premiums previously paid under the policy.

(5) Except where—

(a) the capital sum referred to in sub-paragraph (1) above is payable only in the circumstances mentioned in sub-paragraph (3) or (4) above; and

(b) the policy does not provide for any payment on the surrender in whole or in part of the rights conferred by it; and

(c) the specified term mentioned in sub-paragraph (3) or, as the case may be, (4) above ends at or before the time when the person whose life is insured attains the age of 75 years;

the capital sum, so far as payable on death, must not be less than 75 per cent. of the total premiums that would be payable if the death occurred at the age of 75 years, the age being, if the sum is payable on the death of the first to die of two persons, that of the older of them, if on the death of the survivor of them, that of the younger of them, and in any other case, that of the person on whose death it is payable; and if the policy does not secure a capital sum in the event of death occurring before the age of 16 or some lower age, it must not provide for the payment in that event of an amount exceeding the total premiums previously paid under it.

(6) In determining for the purposes of sub-paragraph (5) above whether a capital sum is less than 75 per cent. of the total premiums, any amount included in the premiums by reason of their being payable otherwise than annually shall be disregarded, and if the policy is issued in the course of an industrial assurance business, 10 per cent. of the premiums payable under the policy shall be treated as so included.

(7) Notwithstanding sub-paragraph (1)(b) above, if a policy secures a capital sum payable only on death, it may also secure benefits (including benefits of a capital nature) to be provided in the event of a person’s disability; and no policy is to be regarded for the purposes of that provision as securing other benefits by reason only of the fact that—

(a) it confers a right to participate in profits, or

(b) it provides for a payment on the surrender in whole or in part of the rights conferred by the policy, or

(c) it gives an option to receive payments by way of annuity, or

(d) it makes provision for the waiver of premiums by reason of a person’s disability, or for the effecting of a further insurance or insurances without the production of evidence of insurability.

(8) In applying sub-paragraph (2) or (3) above to any policy—

(a) no account shall be taken of any provision for the waiver of premiums by reason of a person’s disability, and

(b) if the term of the policy runs from a date earlier, but not more than three months earlier, than the making of the insurance, the insurance shall be treated as having been made on that date, and any premium paid in respect of the period before the making of the insurance, or in respect of that period and a subsequent period, as having been payable on that date.

(9) References in this paragraph to a capital sum payable on any event include references to any capital sum, or series of capital sums, payable by reason of that event but where what is so payable is either an amount consisting of one sum or an amount made up of two or more sums, the 75 per cent. mentioned in sub-paragraph (5) above shall be compared with the smaller or smallest amount so payable; and a policy secures a capital sum payable either on death or on disability notwithstanding that the amount payable may vary with the event.

(10) In relation to any policy issued in respect of an insurance made before 1st April 1976 this paragraph shall have effect—

(a) with the omission of sub-paragraphs (5) and (6) and in sub-paragraph (9) the words “but where what is so payable is either an amount consisting of one sum or an amount made up of two or more sums, the 75 per cent. mentioned in sub-paragraph (5) above shall be compared with the smaller or smallest amount so payable”; and

(b) with the substitution, for sub-paragraph (7)(b), of—

“(b) it carries a guaranteed surrender value;”.