Understanding if you need protection

We will give you Professional Protection Advice designed to help protect you and your family against the impact of death.

Life Protection policies can be used to pay off your outstanding mortgage debt or to help protect your family’s lifestyle and everyday living expenses.

There are also policies called Family Income Benefit insurance that pays out a regular income instead of a lump sum.

You can also use life insurance for Inheritance Tax Planning in order to pass on more to your loved ones.

Using life insurance to cover a mortgage

If you want to use life insurance to make sure your mortgage is paid off when you die we will give you advice that suits your affordability.

For mortgages and other debts, you will normally need one of these:

• Level term insurance – Pays a fixed sum if you die during the term. If you have an interest-only mortgage i.e. total debt never reduces, a level term policy can give you the cover you need.
• Decreasing term insurance – The sum assured falls each year. This is suitable if you have a repayment mortgage as the amount of cover you need falls as you pay off your mortgage.

WHY CRITICAL ILLNESS COVER?

You may know of someone who has had to battle to survive a critical illness such as cancer or heard of someone that may have died young. A family having to deal with this both financially and emotionally it can be overwhelming. Many of us think this will never happen to 'me', but sometimes the unthinkable does happen.

What this plan is designed to do

Just ask yourself a few tough questions:

• Have you any financial support in place if you had to stop work due to suffering a critical illness?
• What would happen if you could not return to work?
• Could you cope if your partner or who you depended on financially were diagnosed with a critical illness?
• Could your family continue with their lifestyle if you were to be struck down with a critical illness? Who would pay the household bills, mortgage and daily expenses?

How can Critical Illness Cover help?

Critical Illness Protection Plans will provide you with a tax free lump sum and some plans can provided a monthly benefit for an agreed period if you die or are diagnosed with one of the named critical illnesses.

You choose to how you want to spend the money, for example, towards your mortgage/rental payments, monthly expenses, private medical care or helping to maintain your standard of living. 

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOUR INCOME STOPPED DUE TO SICKNESS OR ACCIDENT?

With Income Protection you can help protect your earnings if an illness or injury prevents you from working.

The protection plan will pay you a regular monthly benefit. It’s a safety net you can use however you wish, to pay towards your bills, mortgage payments, food etc.

What this plan is designed to do

• Provide you with a regular income if you suffer a long-term illness or injury.
• Provide a business with a regular income if a Key Person is unable to work due to long term illness or injury.

You can decide

• How much income protection benefit you require
• How quickly you need the income protection benefit to start paying after you suffer the incapacity
• How long you need the income protection benefit to last

Is your company protected against the loss of a Director or Key Person?

For example if you or one of your co-directors die or are diagnosed with a critical illness, the financial security of your company, your co-directors and their families can be at stake.

Also the death or critical illness of a Key person in your company could also threaten the success and running of your business. We can give you advice and put plans in place to help to protect your company.

We can offfer advice and guidance on choosing Home insurance that suits you and your pocket:

• Buildings insurance – Rebuild your home in the event of a major incident which includes permanent fixtures and fittings, like kitchens and bathrooms
• Contents insurance – for things you keep in your home, like furniture, TVs and personal belongings

Do you need building insurance? 

If you own your own home, you’ll need to have buildings cover just in case your home is damaged and needs a repair. It’s usually a condition of your mortgage and if you are a landlord, it’s your responsibility – not your tenant's.

Do you need contents insurance? 

If you lost everything in your home due to fire, flood or burglary, buying everything again would cost a fortune. Contents insurance is vital if you’re going to protect yourself for these unexpected events.

Trusts are such an important part of an Insurance Policy. Having a Policy in Trust makes sure that the right money goes to the right people at the right time.

If your Policy is new or existing ask one of our Advisers about the benefits of this free service.