If my husband doesn't die in the next four years, I will be destitute.

Ref getting a lodger - that's ok unless you are on benefits trying to increase your income - they will only let you keep £20 a week of that income, so for me it wouldn't be worth changing my life around to do it sadly - shame when there is a mammoth housing crisis and it would give me some company in the house ...

It is depressing, but it is reality and saying you won't return to this thread, you are obviously well off enough not to have to! Lucky you .....

I am currently in a situation where I cannot afford to live where I do purely because my eldest daughter has returned home to live with me .... so it will be a case of her replacing my lost income, or I will have to up sticks and downsize by moving back to my roots to become mortgage free - bizarrely I will actually be able to upsize as the property prices are vastly different. I have a mortgage with no insurance - it used to be law, but not now I don't think. Equity release is not for me, but if you have no children or your children do not need an inheritance (which would just be the value of my house anyway) then Equity Release is a great idea, spend it whilst you can! Think eventually it won't be allowed as essentially you are giving away what would be used for your care costs should you need them, so get in there before they stop it! Places like Age UK, Stepchange, Shelter, CAB will all be able to advise you on what to do - they will do an income and expenditure form with you and ask you about what your house is worth etc - I used Shelter and they were great! Getting life insurance now will cost you an absolute fortune, probably better doing funeral plans instead?? There are definitely options out there, you just need some advice as to how to find them - good luck! xx

Why not consider getting a lodger. You can earn £9000 p/a tax free when registering with the government's rent a room scheme.

Claudiaclaws, investigate alternatives. I like the idea of an actual lift, but have absolutely no idea of the cost, and if I need one and am still here I'd have room for a stairlift
I know when my parents needed one the stairs were very difficult, and while they did not chose the best alternative, there was one albeit a dearer one [reason they didn't go for it]. It was a false economy as it was v difficult on the corners, but ask around, go to companies that sell different sorts, not just one sort. The one I found said that they could almost guarantee that they could find one to fit

Massive sympathy for your situation. But who, in their 70s+ and with preexisiting health conditions, can obtain life insurance. No-one.

Yes, take a lodger- we have done this in the past, and I would do it again. Fortunately I'd be able here to rent a whole separate flat if we partition the back and put a shower in. I'll do B&B too- and pay someone to do all the bed changing and cleaning.

I am surprised some of the readers find this distasteful. She is only stating facts. When you get older, you have to face up to how you will manage financially if one of you died or went into care. My husband and I bought this house 12 years ago, being a bungalow with no stairs and in a very quiet street, it was ideal. This was to be our last home,unfortunately he took a stroke four years ago and after struggling to care for him myself, he has now been in a nursing home for the past year. I pay £220 each week towards the fees and my council pay the rest. This amount is his old age pension plus half his works pension. I am left with half his works pension and my own small old age pension. I still have to pay for heating and lighting, tv etc any repairs to the house, clothes for him and myself, I need my car to visit him so that's insurance and petrol but the council aren't interested in that. Your household bills don't reduce just because someone leaves the home. We are !ucky that we have savings and when they run out then my payment towards his fees will be assessed. You have to be realistic about looking to how financially you will manage when one of you passes away. No use sticking your head in the sand.

So many assumptions .

My DH at 67 is eligible for the state pension although he is trying to defer for as long as he possibly can , which given his current health may not be much longer . I will not get a state pension for at least another 10 years . No private pension to fall back on either . When my DH is unable to work I will be out of work also and will struggle to find another job due to a permanent medical condition. No job, no pension .
What then?

I think OP was possibly meaning state pension as opposed to local government pension.

You will get extra state pension from his contributions and should get his local government pension as well as your own

As for OP,yes get advice first,for everything,but certainly the move to sheltered housing sounds like a good idea,as you seem to be struggling im sure it would free up youre little cash a bit,and you could live on house sale proceeds.

Claudiaclaws- please contact the council and ask for occupational therapy they come out to assess you,so if you need a downstairs loo,etc or any adaptations they help organise that if they can,you need to visit your gp and ask him to refer you to occupational therapy first,but if you ring council& ask for them they will tell you what you need to do.

Thanks for not taking offense at my post Bobdoesit Can I just say that having been through a lot of financial uncertainty in my life the worry about what might happen is usually worse than the actual event. Hope things turn out well for you.

You talk about your husband dying first so I'm assuming he's olde than you? The housing market, generally, is slow now due to all the uncertainty over Brexit. That will change in a year or two, so don't give up on the idea of moving. Is your husband financially savvy or is he more the "head in the sand" type of person? Do you have regular finance sessions together or does just one of you do it all? If you're a typical couple (I've found) he probably won't listen to you, but he might listen to someone else - someone that he sees as a financial expert? I wonder if you could find someone via Age UK or Citizens Advice (or another trusted organisation) to advise you and if he would be willing to see them? (Make sure you pick wisely if you decide to do this - there are a lot of sharks out there). If he won't, there are lots of messageboards where you can pick up some very good advice (including here of course!) and places like Money saving expert. It sounds like you need a plan in place to reassure you that you will be okay if he dies first? (Also, worth pointing out to him that YOU may go first - not unknown - and he will be the one left to deal with it all ??) Be active; open a file; collect options; find out about benefits; tax issues, etc and make sure he sees you doing it). Once that's in place, hopefully, you will be able to face the future more hopefully.

Unfortunately the amount of council tax you pay in England , (unable to comment about the other countries within the U.K.) rarely has much to do with the size of the house or it’s value . More to do with which LA you live in, with poorer areas having way higher council taxes than the more affluent . Kind of a lose, lose situation.

And do you know what Bobdoesit, if he does die you will be widowed, alone and facing the rest of your life without him.
Frankly, I think the wording of your thread title is perhaps misleading but sounds both mercenary and callous.
If you are now mortgage free you could downsize to a cheaper house to run, but if you live on an estate I would imagine your running costs are not huge and Council Tax will be commensurate with the size of your house.
If your own state pension is below a certain level you may be eligible for pension credit.
I imagine you have done a detailed calculation of what your outgoings are likely to be and are panicking about how you would manage but I have found living alone is cheaper in the end, food and energy bills are lower.
Is the thrust of your OP advice on finding insurance, advice on coping on one pension or do you think that those of us who have lost our life partner would really sympathise with your final sentence?
its awful to hope he dies in the next four years or better yet I do, but that’s what it is coming down to
You have and will still have a roof over your head - unlike some.

We have looked at those paddyann but figured we would be better off just trying to save a little bit every month . Most of them only pay out a tiny bit more than what you have paid in and even then not for the first year or two.

We took out a reducing fixed term insurance when we bought our first house. The cover gradually reduces (assuming your mortgage does too) until it ends . Ours ended a couple of years ago, it would have only paid out on death.

we both have fixed term life cover,taken out when we were in our 20's .Both policies will end when we get to 70.Initially they were meant to cover the mortgage but as we got older we just held onto them as they weren't costing alot to have.If the OP cant get a ne life policy maybe an over 50's type that's advertised in magazines and on TV would at least cover funeral expenses and abit more .My MIL just told us recently she has no insurance but she gave my OH the money to pay for her funeral when the time comes .

I am 57, my DH is 67 neither of us can get life insurance. It’s not a laughing matter and is a genuine worry for both of us considering we have a mortgage, debts and no savings .

Bobdoesit Like Maw I am puzzled about your life policy.

The only ones I am aware of are life policies where you pay a couple of £s a week and it pays a couple of thousand £ out when you die, and term policies for specific amounts taken out to cover a mortgage or school fees. Given that this policy is a term policy to 80, currently an age close to, if not above male life expectancy, I would have expected that no matter what age he took it out, the premium would be very high.

I am sorry but it is going to be impossible to get 'inexpensive' life cover at your ages. This is because insurance companies work by averaging the life expectancy of a large group of people taking out their life cover and averaging their ages against the probability of them dieing before they are - as in this case- 80.

Any new policy will be based on a group of people with a start age of 80, to cover them if they die before, say, they are 90. This is likely to happen to most of them, so the cost needs to be high enough to cover the probability that most will die before they are 90.

I think this very sad case, and others only makes clear how important it is that we regularly check terms and end dates on any financial products we have, so that things like this do not happen.

Have you tried talking to an Insurance Broker?

I don't know how it works in the UK, but here, they don't charge you they get paid by the insurance companies. It's the brokers job to know exactly waht's on the market and what will suit your budget.

I know your husband is reluctant to move but for very many reasons, I'd advise you to do it now while you can. Even if it means lowering the price of your home sale.

If renting your larger home would bring you a better income than paying your own rent on a small house or apartments, that might make a difference too.

Be aware of "We will Buy Your Home" scams and if you have to, run any likely ones past a legal advisor.

Could you talk to a financial advisor and plan for your future?

Just because your husband is unreasonable, it does not mean he gets to make decisions that are not suitable for the future

Claudiaclaws, re your stairlift, we tried 3 firms, the first 2 said they couldn`t install a stairlift as our stairs were too narrow, the 3rd, Acorn, said they could, and they did! So worth giving them a try.
I didn`t even have a life insurance policy to worry about, as my husband didn`t have a policy, neither have I. There was just enough in my husband`s bank account to pay for his funeral.
Bobdoesit, does your husband have a works pension? My husband had one, not very large, but when he died I was entitled to a lump sum from it.

Trisher - that reminds me ?

MawB It’s an ‘end of life’ policy but with a fixed term. If my husband is still alive when it ends (i.e. in four years), there is no lump sum payment. I had to check that with him as I had not thought about any of this until he mentioned it.
trisher Thank you for making me smile - I do hope you find the man of your dreams (and his pension) on that dating site.

Thank you to everyone for all your helpful advice. I will be looking into all your suggestions and following the links you shared. I’m so sorry that some people found this depressing. I certainly had no intentions of upsetting anyone, but it appears I’m not the only one in this situation, so perhaps it needs more discussion not less.
Arosebyanyothername I’m not assuming my husband will die first and I sincerely hope he won't I was just asking for advice.