New Year’s resolutions are made in all good faith.

All too often they get broken even before we’ve seen out January! I for one have already managed to break at least one resolution made this year, sad I know, but true.

However, if you have been able to keep up resolutions from past years, read on…

Firstly, as this is the first blog since the beginning of 2010 this is the first opportunity I have to wish you a belated Happy New Year. I am really optimistic about this year as I think we have all had enough of feeling fed up with all the bad news of 2009.

As we all know a country-wide smoking ban was imposed back in the summer of 2007 and since then thousands of people have been giving up smoking as part of their New Year’s resolutions.

If you were good enough to have toughed it out and given up the dreaded weed for more than a year, then you could be in-line to save up to 40% on your life

insurance premiums, for any policies you had taken out whilst a smoker! As long as you’ve not smoked for over one year then these huge savings can be realised, affording a significant saving for anyone in this situation.

I know that it’s all too easy to turn a blind eye to this type of thing but the process of reviewing your circumstances couldn’t be simpler and won’t cost you anything, so what have you got to lose, other than your hard earned cash!

In fact, if you’ve had life cover in place for more than a few years, irrespective of becoming a non-smoker, it’s likely you could save too, as premiums have come down over recent years as a consequence of insurer’s data on life expectancy.

Additionally, it’s quite common that individual’s circumstances change over time and consequently their existing life protection can now have become unsuitable for their needs.

Now is a really good time to see if you can save money on your existing protection policies and reward yourself for keeping up with at least one of your New Year’s resolutions from previous years!

Family Income Protection

I thought that might get your attention! Well what do I mean by that statement?

 

I know I want to be as sure as I can, that my family are looked after if I were to suffer a critical illness or worse, to die. Usually, people take out life and critical illness insurance to cover their mortgage liability, but how many think about adding real peace of mind, in the form of a Family Income Protection policy?

 It’s great to cover your mortgage liability with a suitable life and critical illness protection policy, which will repay the mortgage should something happen. This will make sure the house won’t be taken away, but the bills still have to be paid, like the weekly shop, birthdays, the leaky roof, car servicing, etc, etc.

 Are you looking for additional peace of mind for your family?

A Family Income Protection policy can provide income to meet those bills, after all the kids can’t eat bricks, if there isn’t food in the cupboard!

 A Family Income Protection policy pays an income on diagnosis of a critical illness or death, rather than a single lump sum. It is used to replace income the life assured would have produced for their family, if they had lived or not suffered a critical illness. This income is typically paid annually and payments are paid tax free for the remaining term of the policy.

 For many of us, if we were unable to continue working due to suffering from a critical illness, or were to die, this would cause major disruption in our lives. Obviously, other than the distress of it all, the financial loss is likely to cause the most problems.

 It’s possible to choose an income figure to suit your personal requirements, such as £24,000 a year which is the equivalent of £2,000 per month. Something to be aware of is level sums assured decrease in real terms due to inflation. To off-set this, the income benefit can automatically increase during the term at an agreed rate (e.g. three, five or 10%).

 If you want to avoid the prospect of your family having to eat bricks, a Family Income Protection policy is well worth considering, for the extra peace of mind afforded by this type of policy.

I don’t know about you, but it seems to me we are heading for a bit of a bumpy autumn with all these predictions of how many Swine Flu outbreaks are expected!

This is ‘great’ news, don’t you think, especially as we have had such a fantastic summer (not!), it’s the last thing we want to turn our attention to.

Personally, I just think what will be, will be! But there are many people quite genuinely concerned about this pandemic and how it could affect them.

If I were to put my adviser hat on in this situation, I would suggest people could consider the added piece of mind a Private Medical Insurance can bring.  If you are concerned about the length of NHS waiting lists and are looking for a higher level of personal medical care, this type of additional protection could be for you.

Irrespective of the flu situation, I would always recommend people consider providing their family with the assurance of knowing first class hospital care is available for them.

In fact, the number of people covered under Private Medical

Insurance policies has reached 7.5m lives covered in the UK, which is 12.3% of the entire population*.

Apparently, these figures continue to rise as people have become concerned about the risk of infection by the MRSA virus.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting Private Medical Insurance is the answer to the Swine flu pandemic, but it will give people additional peace of mind now and in the future, should you be in any way concerned.

Below is an overview of the typical benefits a policy of this type provides:

• Broad range of healthcare needs covered

• Added-value benefits include:

• 24-hour GP helpline

• 24-hour stress counselling helpline

• Online personal health management service

• Family option, including free child cover

• Access to an extensive list of hospitals

• Private ambulance

• Parent accommodation when staying with a child under nine

• Cover continues regardless of the number of eligible claims made

• Option to include additional benefit towards routine dental and optical expenses

• Health and fitness club discounts available

• No claim discount of up to 45% (30% for switching policies)

• Overseas cover

• Ability to tailor plan benefits to suit individual

requirements

Make the leap to a better PROTECTED life!

*Source: Laing & Buisson Health and Care Cover UK Market Report 2007.

Of course you would!

When we look to the future, the last thing we want is something to threaten our financial security, or our ambitions and desires. The problem is – life doesn’t always go according to plan!

We are often so busy earning an income and getting on with our lives that we often forget to consider the consequences if that income should suddenly reduce or stop.

You will no doubt already insure your house, possessions and car, but what about the most important thing – you? Although we all hope to live a long and healthy life, illness can strike without warning, with devastating effects on your everyday life, so just think for a minute…

…what would happen if you were unable to work due to illness?

Would you be able to pay your mortgage each month?

Would you be able to meet all your monthly commitments?

How long would your savings last?

We live in an uncertain world where maintaining financial security is essential, which is why you need to ensure that you, your home, your family, your income and your lifestyle are

protected if the worst should happen.

Can you put a price on life?

Of course not, no amount of money can ever compensate for the death of a loved one. However, whilst it cannot ease the pain, cash from a life insurance policy can help with financial difficulties that often arise as a result.

Furthermore, it is very important to consider insuring for a critical Illness. This type of cover is designed to provide money for people who suffer an illness that significantly affects their life. Critical illness insurance will cover you and your family against the financial impact of a critical illness and the resulting loss of income through sickness.

Income protection is also a must, because put in the same situation, how will your loved ones pay for the necessities in life – food, birthdays, bills; everyday things that are still needed, when you are no longer there to provide for them?

You may already have some or all of these plans in place, that’s great; however it’s worth reviewing them regularly as circumstances change.  In particular, if you’ve given up smoking in the last 12 months, you will find non-smoker rates are substantially cheaper.  It might be that as a smoker you took out mortgage protection, you’ve now given up; therefore you could be paying substantially more than you should be!

Make the leap to a better PROTECTED life!

Anyone who does not get paid by their employer indefinitely, when they are off sick from work, should seriously consider the protection a Permanent Heath Insurance (PHI) policy affords.

The savings people have to fall back on, usually only amount to enough to cover their everyday outgoings for a couple of months at best! After this time the outlook becomes far less predictable, so this is where a PHI policy can give you real peace of mind.

Long-term illness is something we prefer not to think about but, in the most recent National Census it was found that, one in six people in the UK (10.3 million)

reported having a limiting long-term illness (LLTI)*. Many suffer financial hardship as a result.

If you are an employee and unable to work because of illness, you may be able to get Statutory Sick pay for up to 28 weeks. But the standard rate is around £80.00 a week.

You can argue there is a greater need for self-employed people to have a PHI policy in place, as if they don’t work they won’t have an income from day one. This makes the need for PHI much greater in order to maintain lifestyles.

PHI helps replace lost income if you suffer disability or a long-term illness. Critical illness cover is a different type of insurance. It pays out for specific illnesses such as cancer, heart attack, stroke, etc.

Although the majority of people have life insurance to cover the event of their death, far fewer insure

themselves against loss of income through illness. Yet protection against ill-health is far more necessary for most people than life cover.

PHI is called ‘permanent’ because the insurer may not cancel the policy, no matter how often you claim for benefit, although policies usually expire when the policyholder reaches 65.

How sick is sick?

Insurance companies have different definitions of what constitutes long-term illness, but you can be confident that it’s not enough just to feel a little under the weather! Usually to trigger the policy’s benefits you must demonstrate that you’re unable to follow your usual occupation as a result of sickness or accident.

PHI plans allow the planholder to select how long after they suffer an illness or a disability they want their specific plan to start providing income replacement. This may be as soon as four weeks (generally for the self-employed), 13 weeks, 26 weeks or even a year. The shorter the “deferment period” on a plan, the higher the premiums will be.

You can opt for cover that provides an income which increases at a pre-determined rate each year. But this costs more than a policy that offers a level rate of income. When the plan is paying benefits, premiums are normally waived. You will only start paying them again once you return to work.

Make the leap to a better PROTECTED life!

*Source: Census 2001, Office for National Statistics.