More times than you care to remember I am sure – is this type of insurance cover value for money? In the vast majority of cases no, it is not. You can successfully argue that this money can be better utilised on a further and much more important life changing cover, Life Assurance.
A large proportion of the UK population is grossly under insured without even the bare minimum of protection. Some of the more fortunate employees of large multi national companies may benefit from a degree of salary related cover, but even this benefit for the most part will be insufficient in isolation.
The consequences of avoiding the ‘Life Assurance Issue’ cannot be underestimated particularly in view of the high proportion of the public whom have little to no cover. The prospect of leaving your loved ones prematurely with no financial safety net has to be higher up on the family budget agenda than it currently is.
With a huge variety of products now available within the UK Market including life cover, critical illness cover, income protection cover, mortgage payment protection to name but a few with each insurer vying for your business, the cost of this valuable cover need not be prohibitive for the mainstream customer.
The moral of the story is this, the next time you are presented with an all encompassing, fully protecting insurance cover plan for your new £34.99 toaster stop and think, is my toaster of more importance to me than ensuring my family are adequately taken care of if I should not be around? I think not, you know what you should do….
Life assurance is a policy that is provided by an insurance company and will pay out to your family either a lump sum or a series of smaller sums in the event of your death. Some offer a guaranteed payout whilst some will expire after a given time. Some have a set payout, whilst others offer more flexibility. The best way to cut the cost of your insurance is to compare life assurance and make sure that you do not settle for the first quote you are offered, but that you look around thoroughly first in order to get the best deal that is available for you. By simply accepting the cheapest quote you find you could be compromising on the level of cover you are receiving.
A Term life assurance policy offers you with basic cover over a set number of years. This type of policy requires that you make a regular payment and will pay a lump sum. If the policy does expire and the policyholder is still alive then there will not be any payment. Premiums will vary depending on various factors such as age, health and occupation.
Critical illness cover can cover debilitating conditions such as heart attack or stroke, cancer and the cover will then pay out a lump amount upon diagnosis of illness but will not contribute in anyway towards treatment. Always make sure that you are fully aware of the exact which conditions the policy covers so that you do not get a nasty shock.
Level Term assurance will help your family as it will pay a lump sum in the event of the holder's death during the term of the policy. The payout amount is assured and will remain unchanged throughout. No payout will be given should you outlive the term of your policy.
Decreasing Term assurance means that the amount that will be paid steadily decreases during the term of the policy. This type of policy is very often used to cover mortgages.
Whole-of-life assurance guarantees a lump sum should the policyholder die, whenever this is. As a payout is in effect guaranteed, this type of policy is more expensive than a basic term would be.
An Endowment life assurance policy is fundamentally life assurance attached to a savings scheme. They will pay out any accumulated returns at the end of the term, or before should the holder die during the term.
Family income benefit provides your family with a series of regular payments instead of all in one go. This type of policy is used to replace a lost salary.
The cost of policies that are offered by a life assurance company can vary considerably, and will depend on the type of policy, the length of the term, the flexibility that the policy has and how many people will be covered by the policy, and so make sure you compare life assurance policies thoroughly. An insurance company will use a mortality table to decide upon the cost of a policy for a particular individual, using criteria such as age, gender, occupation and smoker/non-smoker status as these are important factors. A loading will then be added which relates to your medical history and current lifestyle. Reports from your GP or in some cases a medical examination are often requested.
Both The Devil & David Thomson are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
The Devil has sinced written about articles on various topics from Insurance, Finances and Insurance. Jonathan Grigson has been involved in the Insurance industry for over 15 years and is a respected industry commentator. He is a regular contributor of Insurance related articles and is a regular publisher at. The Devil's top article generates over 2900 views. to your Favourites.
David Thomson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Finances, Motorola Cell Phone and Mortgage Insurance. David Thomson is Chief Executive of BestDealInsurance an independent specialist broker dedicated to providing their clients with the best deal on their