Who might benefit from this page?
- Individuals seeking to protect their financial dependents from the impact of death or ill health
- Businesses looking for protection of key personnel
- Anyone with existing life or health protection insurances
Whilst death or ill health are risks we all face, the good news is that quality insurance products are available to reduce the financial impact. For many of us expenditure on adequate financial protection is an important part of our budgets. However, like all such expenditure, consideration should be given to cost of cover to ensure maximum value for money.
What benefits can be gained?
- You will be able to rest assured with the knowledge that in the event of unforeseen illness for individuals or key business personnel, essential funds are provided to meet liabilities and provide ongoing income advise and in so doing not adding financial pressure at what will invariably be a difficult time.
- If you have cover in place you can be sure that you are paying the most competitive premiums for the most comprehensive and appropriate cover.
Where you choose to buy your protection insurances can make a big difference to the price and the services you receive.
Competition in the Marketplace
Insurance is a competitive market with options to purchase directly from insurance companies, brokers and advisers or even pick up with the weekly shop. However where you buy protection cover will make a big difference to how much access you have to competitive cover and also how much help and advice you receive to make the right choice between different products.
Supermarket Sweep
Supermarket distribution of financial products has played its part in keeping premiums down in the marketplace. However to turn financial protection into a product you can place in your trolley requires some inevitable compromises:
- Generally the choice is limited to a single product with limited features.
- Insurance is generally through a single provider which has negotiated cover terms with the supermarket. If this provider cannot offer you cover or the type of plan you need then you have no options.
- You almost certainly won’t receive advice so the decision as to the level of cover and suitability of any options will be entirely down to you.
Online Options
Searching for your cover online is another method and this will give access to wider selection of products through comparison websites. Whilst the price may be right, you will on your own when deciding how much you need and whether to include various options. Insurance varies from very simple life protection to complicated critical illness and disability products. Comparisons are not always simple to make.
Don’t get tied down
One option to include advice would be an adviser tied to an insurance company or bank. This will allow consideration of the right level of cover as well as any options. However in many cases this comes at the cost of lost competitiveness in terms of premium and maybe the availability of options.
An Independent view - examples of premium savings
Given the limitations of the approaches above the answer could be the service offered by Independent Financial Advisers which combines a high level of advice which access to a range of insurers to ensure that premiums remain competitive.
It might be thought that the bespoke service offered by independent financial advisers would inevitability mean higher costs than for tied agents but that need not be the case as the comparison below shows:
25 year term assurance for 40 year old male life (non-smoker) - £100,000 of level life cover.
| Tied Products | |
| NFU Mutual | £15.79 |
| Co-Op Ins | £19.68 |
| HSBC | £18.85 |
| IFA Products | |
| Legal and General | £12.20 |
| Liverpool Victoria | £12.40 |
| AVIVA | £12.61 |
25 year term assurance for 40 year old male life (non-smoker) - £100,000 of level life and critical illness cover.
| Tied Products | |
| NFU Mutual | £65.06 |
| Co-Op Ins | £59.46 |
| HSBC | £86.05 |
| IFA Products | |
| Legal and General | £57.60 |
| Liverpool Victoria | £54.85 |
| AVIVA | £57.70 |
Reviews:
Like all aspects of financial planning your protection arrangements should be reviewed. Not only will this highlight where those arrangements no longer meet the needs they were intended to address but as is the case in any market the price may have changed to your advantage.
What actions can be taken?
- Consider how you usually buy protection insurances. Was advice available when you bought your protection?
- Would you benefit from discussing the issues with a third party to ensure you understand all the options?
- Review your protection arrangements and check you have the cover you need and not too much or too little.
- Ask for a price check on your policies and you might be surprised at the available savings.
- Consider whether the provider of your protection policies have a full range of products available.
- Check that the cover you have in place is the most comprehensive you can afford.
- Consider whether your protection provider was independent and had a choice of providers.
- Find out if your policies are written in trust.
How we can help
- Our service is based on understanding your needs and consider the package of financial protection that is appropriate.
- We work with leading independent trading platforms to ensure the best price for cover is achieved.
- Unlike most supermarkets, online brokers and tied advisers we are able to investigate your existing arrangements and advise on their suitability
- Where your existing cover is suitable our impartial service can let you know, to give you peace of mind.
- Not only do we recommend plans but we arrange them too, and give advice on appropriate trusts.