There's nothing more significant in life than your loved ones. But if a little happens to you, what happens to them?
Or, if you're single and have worked hard for the way of life you have, isn't it value protecting financially? What if a mishap or illness meant you could no longer work or you required time to get well? How would you meet up monthly commitments such as mortgage payments, food and utility bills?
It's not a little any of us like to think about. In fact, a lot of people decide not to think about the worst case situation at all – up to 8.5 million* adults in the UK are consideration to have no life, critical illness cover or income protection in place for such a happening.
But can you have enough money to take the risk? Could you or your family wait for the same standard of living without your income?
If you want to be ready for the surprising, that's where we can help. Our qualified advisers are pleased to chat through what you can do to put protection in place for you and your loved ones.
Source: Scottish Widows Protection Report Research, Nov 2013, show that only 17% of UK adults have financial protection. 2011 Census data shows 50.2m adults in the UK.
Even though it’s significant, a lot of of us don’t have protection cover in place. Today we don’t think two times about insuring our house contents, pets or mobile phones, but we regularly don't consider about protecting ourselves.
Protection for Life is a plan which aims to help you protect yourself next to the unforeseen. You can take out Life, dangerous Illness and Income Protection cover within one plan. The plan is easy to set up and easy to pay for with only one monthly Direct Debit payment. What’s more you can apply to alter the type and level of cover as your wants change - for example when you buy a home or have children.
You can discuss your protection requirements with a protection adviser who will help you create a plan to suit your individual requirements and budget.
Life Cover
Pays out a lump sum if you are diagnosed with a fatal illness or die throughout the term of the cover. This can help supply financial security for your family, or help them pay off a mortgage or other amount overdue. There are different levels of cover accessible depending on your needs.- Level Term: Providing a exact lump sum in the event of death during a specific term;
- Decreasing Term: Providing enough capital to repay a capital repayment mortgage in the event of death, during a specific term;
- Family Income Benefit: Provides a regular income from the date of death until the plan ceases -normally when your children have grown up or have reached a sure age which you make a decision at the beginning.
- Whole of Life: A policy that continues for the entire of your life and pays a lump sum on death irrespective of when that occurs.
Some of the above can be put in Trust, to minimise Inheritance Tax on your estate.
Critical Illness Cover
Pays out a lump sum if you are diagnosed with one of a range of specified serious illnesses during the term of the cover. In some cases, Children's Critical Illness cover is also built-in at no extra cost.Usually, the core conditions are as follows: Cancer, Coronary artery bypass surgery, heart attack, kidney failure, major organ transplant, multiple sclerosis.
The extra conditions that most insurers cover are: aorta graft surgery, benign brain tumour, blindness, coma, deafness, heart valve replacement or repair, loss of limbs, loss of speech, motor neurone disease, paralysis/paraplegia, Parkinson's disease, terminal illness, third degree burns.
There are a variety of versions, such as dropping, or fixed amounts. Orstand alone or combined with Life Insurance. What is right for you will depend on your individual circumstances and exact advise will be needed.
Income Protection
One of the main doubts for many people is not being able to pay the mortgage - or meet other financial commitments - if they are made redundant or not capable to work due to illness or accident. This is mostly worrying in the current unsure climate, but one of the simplest ways to cover loss of earnings is by taking out income protection.Income protection pays out a regular tax-free replacement income if you are unable to work because of ill health or an accident; it enables you to pay the mortgage, as well as the daily costs of living.
How does income protection work?
Income protection policies pay out a set amount of income after a specified period of time, and you can elect a coming up period of between one and 12 months; the longer you defer, the cheaper the policy. It typically then pays out until you either return to work, retire, the policy expires - or death.
Payment Protection
Payment protection insurance (PPI), a similar policy to MPPI, but covers other debts, such as repayments on loans or credit cards. It is also disreputably untrustworthy when it comes to paying out in the event of a claim, and can often be over-priced and miss-sold as happened lately.However, if you do meet the criteria for a payment, the short-term lifeline it offers can help you to survive a financial disaster, so it should not be dismissed out of hand - but a cheaper alternative may be to buy PPI from a standalone provider, rather than the Credit provider.
When should you take out income protection?
Before taking out income protection, check what cover you already have through your job, as many companies offer life assurance and sickness benefits.
The level of cover necessary from income protection varies from person to person, so after finding out what is offered by your employer, calculate your current expenditure and take out cover to meet the deficit - but bear in mind that your outgoings may be cheaper if you're not at work.
If you do make a decision to take out the insurance, it's a case of the earlier the better, as younger and better individuals will be offered cheaper premiums, plus it's beneficial to take out a policy before there's any sign of trouble - to ensure you have the necessary cover in place should anything go wrong.