Whole life Insurance

geocon

Hi, I am interested in buying a whole-life insurance but cannot find anywhere on the internet for a quote. The comparison sides all have quotes for term assurance or mortgage insurance. Thanks, G

dunstonh

You wont find much internet coverage as Whole of life assurance doesnt fall under protection rules but under investment rules. Many of these internet sites dont hold that level of authorisation. Plus, a good number of the whole of life providers dont make their product available on quote portals but require manual quotes to be obtained. So, even if they do have investment authorisation, they cant offer many. And, modern versions come with a variety of options (such as flexible payment options, e.g. only pay for 10 years but get whole of life cover etc). Lastly, its quite low profit and high admin and that doesnt fit with internet portals very well.

Best to get an IFA involved with WOL. Otherwise you are going to be limited to a very small range of products.

JohnFB

How do you know an IFA is truly independent. One IFA I contacted some years ago turned out to be working for Natwest ?
Admittedly the products he recommended were not Natwest products.
If he/she is truly independent and not backed up by a large organisation then how do you know how reliable or stable they are ?

Wutang_2

JohnFB wrote: »

How do you know an IFA is truly independent. One IFA I contacted some years ago turned out to be working for Natwest ?
Admittedly the products he recommended were not Natwest products.
If he/she is truly independent and not backed up by a large organisation then how do you know how reliable or stable they are ?

Is this a joke?

dunstonh

How do you know an IFA is truly independent. One IFA I contacted some years ago turned out to be working for Natwest ?

I means independent. If he was working for Natwest he was not an IFA but an FA. Either he lied to you or your didnt understand the difference. Given the rest of your post, I suggest its a lack of understanding. You are not alone though.

Admittedly the products he recommended were not Natwest products.

That makes him an FA or tied agent or sales rep (different names for the same role). It does not make him an IFA.

If he/she is truly independent and not backed up by a large organisation then how do you know how reliable or stable they are ?

The products purchased via an IFA are with investent companies, insurers etc. Not with the IFA themselves. The IFA is qualified and regulated. Whilst there will be the occassional bad apple, IFAs only account for 2% of complaints at the FOS despite being the size of the distribution channel. This has fallen year on year for at least the last 5 years and the FOS themselves have remarked on how high the quality from IFAs is.

JohnFB

Thanks for your reply Dunstonh.
Why would my question be a joke ?