Protection
Most of us want to ensure that our families and ourselves are financially secure if we become seriously ill or die. This is where life assurance and other protection policies come in.
There are many types of protection policies designed to protect an individual and his or her family against financial difficulty as a result of events such as early death, disablement, accident, critical illness or the loss of income due to being unable to do your job.
More than 100 companies provide life assurance and protection policies and this makes for a competitive market.
However, buying protection policies is not to be done without serious reflection. Lots of factors need to be taken into consideration such as – what type of cover should I have? And what is the right level of cover? And for how long should it last?
It’s really worthwhile to discuss these questions with an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). An IFA will consider your individual circumstances and might recommend, for instance, that instead of going for just a straightforward life assurance policy, it may be beneficial to take out a different type of protection product.
The various forms of financial protection include:-
Life Assurance - which provides a guaranteed death benefit if a claim occurs during the period of insurance. Life assurance can be set up for a specified period of time (term assurance) or for the whole of the insured’s life (whole of life assurance).
Income Protection Insurance - makes up income lost through illness, accident or disability. Rates vary according to the dangers associated with one’s job, age, state of health and gender but IPI is thought to be of particular value to the self employed who do not have an employer to continue paying their salary if they are unable to work.
Critical Illness Cover - which pays out a lump sum if you are diagnosed with one of a number of specified 'critical' illnesses during the term of the policy. Many life insurance companies offer policies that cover you for both death and critical illness and will pay out the guaranteed benefit on the first event to happen.
Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance - which can help protect your mortgage payments and associated costs for an initial period if you become unemployed or suffer an accident or sickness (disability).
Private Medical Insurance - which can cover you for private medical treatment and you can choose to add on extra cover, such as dental cover. You may select the hospitals that you would want to be treated in close to home. As always the more benefits and the more comprehensive policy you select the more it will cost.
Choosing the right mix of financial protection is not simple, particularly when there are so many providers and products.
Optimum Independent Financial Advisers are able to research the whole market to ensure the most competitive and suitable products from the most appropriate providers are recommended for your individual circumstances.
To book a private and no obligation initial financial protection review please use our online booking form or telephone
01206 366700.