as anyone heard of a company called Synergy?

byrneand

Hi,

I've been looking at redundancy cover and have been quoted by an IFA cover for £1,250 for approx £35 which does not seem unreasonable. The cover is provided by a company called Synergy (backed by the Pru and is FSA regulated) and has a qualification period of just 30 days, which seems pretty good compared to a number of policies.

I'm thinking of taking up the policy and have two questions I was wondering if people could help me with:

1.) Has anyone heard of Synergy, or had any experience with them?
2.) The policy requires me to sign on for job seekers allowance. I'd obviously be more than happy to do that on becoming unemployed but I was just wondering if there are any reasons why I would be refused job seekers allowance (e.g savings in excess of £xyz,)?

Thanks in advance!

lisyloo

Job seekers allowance is not means tested, so you won't be refused provided you have paid sufficient NI contributions (2 years I think).

They might be saying that because because the benefits people are meant to do some checks that you are actually looking for work.

But it's a good idea anyway because apart from the small amount you get, it does pay your minimum NI contributions, which count towards you state pension (and benefits like JSA).
So if you went back to work a few months later then it would be a continuous period of NI contributions.

Personally I found it a distraction from looking for a job as initially there were a few interviews, but it's got to be done.

Quentin

byrneand wrote: »

1.) Has anyone heard of Synergy, or had any experience with them?

Are you sure this is the insurer? They definitely aren't part of the Pru, though may of course do business with them.

payless

I've answered your previous post asking the same.

Be aware that the product is somewhat more complex than first viewed, and whilst most plans can be cancelled by insurer - this plan only requires a 30 day notice for the unemployment to be cancelled

IMO there are potentially better MPPI policies for new borrowers , although with its qerks its still worth consideration for "existing borrowers"

BTW ( from your other post) ... there is actually no defination " whole of market" for insurance advisers

byrneand

payless wrote: »

I've answered your previous post asking the same.
quote]

Thanks. I re-posted it here... after you said "why don't you try posting it in the insurance section and see what replies you get"

payless

That wasn't me.. but I know what you mean ( ensure you read my edited post above... I know a a fir bit about the mechanics of this product , the pru have nothing to do with the unemployment cover , rather they are the supliers of other elements to the plan - make sure you read the exclusions carefully before starting a plan )

dunstonh

Synergy offer a budget option as payless says. For that they are quite good. However, if you want a better quality option then others exist. Of course, quality costs more. You need to decide if paying cheaper premiums or getting better cover is the priority to you.

clear_blu

lisyloo wrote: »

Job seekers allowance is not means tested, so you won't be refused provided you have paid sufficient NI contributions (2 years I think).

Not wanting to be pedantic but contributions based Job seekers allowance can be reduced if you receive a company pension. Depending on the level of pension, Job seekers can be reduced to zero.

Job seekers allowance NOT based on contributions (can't remember what its called) is reduced to zero if you have savings in excess of £16,000.

byrneand

dunstonh wrote: »

Synergy offer a budget option as payless says. For that they are quite good. However, if you want a better quality option then others exist. Of course, quality costs more. You need to decide if paying cheaper premiums or getting better cover is the priority to you.

Hi Dunstonh,

You say that the Synergy product is a budget option. All I'm really looking for is unemployment cover and it seems to tick the boxes on that front. In what ways is it a "budget option" and what would other plans provide that this doesn't.

- To give a bit of background, I'm 27, single, mortgage of £170k (£500/month), savings of approx £100k and would receive a payment in lieu of notice of about £20k. Since much of those saving's are tied up in longer term/fixed rate products

I'm looking for something literally just to cover the mortgage, since the incremental payment to top up to an "income" of £1,250 is something like £5-10 a month on the Synergy product (compared to the £500 mortgage cover) it seems you might as well top it up to that and it would make things a bit more comfortable if I couldn't get work again straight away. Just basically trying to cover bases in case of the worst.

Which of the premium products would be better/and why in your opinion.

Thanks!