sun life

dibblet

My dad has told me he has been paying into on of these schemes where whatever he contributes he only get £2000, you see them on tv all the time " u may pay in more than you get out" i understand that. he has been paying in since 1988 and still only gets £2000, if he cancels he says he will loose that and it's now not enough to bury him so he saving more to add to it! that sound like a MASSIVE con to me!???

torbrex

Death only policies have been around for an awful long time and they are quite upfront about their terms and conditions.
All insurance is a gamble, if you make a claim early then you win but if you pay in a long time the insurance company wins, its not a con, its a bet.

ACG

Ive been paying into house insurance for the last 6 years, ive never made a claim...i dont feel like thats a con.
My mum has been paying into car insurance for the last 25 years and home insurance for the last 25 years - shes never made a claim on either....im pretty sure she doesnt think there cons.

Insurance is a gamble on both sides. Thats all it is, a gamble on the life assured.

Ive never had been in the position to have many dealings with this type of insurance but i know the basics and its not the best insurance out there. Its just a way of putting money aside to ensure your family have some cash to cover funeral expenses or in this case make a contribution towards it if it isnt enough.

dunstonh

that sound like a MASSIVE con to me!???

Its not a massive con. They are typically extremely poor value and an option of last resort. However, Sun Life's clever advertising over the years has seen many people take them out who shouldnt have. Remember the "no salesman will call". That was a derogatory dig at advisers to put the persons mind at rest. Whereas in reality, an adviser would have almost certainly told them not to take one out but use a proper life assurance policy instead. The use of June Whitfield and Michael Parkinson appeals to that generation as "they would never rip anyone off".

These plans are DIY. So, its caveat emptor mainly.

You dad is lucky enough to live longer than he thought he was going to. That makes it unlucky from an insurance point of view. It isnt often you get someone complaining that their father hasn't died quickly enough.

fadetogrey

ACG wrote: »

Ive been paying into house insurance for the last 6 years, ive never made a claim...i dont feel like thats a con.
My mum has been paying into car insurance for the last 25 years and home insurance for the last 25 years - shes never made a claim on either....im pretty sure she doesnt think there cons.

Insurance is a gamble on both sides. Thats all it is, a gamble on the life assured.

Ive never had been in the position to have many dealings with this type of insurance but i know the basics and its not the best insurance out there. Its just a way of putting money aside to ensure your family have some cash to cover funeral expenses or in this case make a contribution towards it if it isnt enough.

I fully agree,I suspect in the OP fathers case he would have been better off taking out a "proper" insurance policy though depending on his age at the time it would have cost more at the time but paid more in the event it was needed.Those sun life policies seem to have little benefit as they wont pay out the benefit until you have been paying into them for 2 years.If you die before that you just get your payments returned.All insurance policies are a gamble as others have said.In my own case I paid into a critical illness policy for over 16 years never wanting or expecting to claim on it,it was just that ,insurance.This year however due to an unexpected illness and subsequent prognosis I have found myself claiming on the policy and although obviously I would have preferred not to it has paid out far more than I paid in or would likely have paid in.

dibblet

Sorry you seem to think i want my dad to die or get paid! that wasn't my intention, but to pay in nearly 6k and not be able to freeze it at some point seems harsh and i know he new the score, he is struggling now and still has to cough up £15 a month or lose half his burial money. i'm just over protective of him.
Sun life do say in all thier adverts that this is the case and the company have done nothing wrong, i was just hoping that dad was wrong thinking he can't stop paying them now.
Thanks you all for your comments i will think twice before posting off handed comments without thinking them through.