Over 40s Life Insurance????

mscroft

This is my 1st post and hope im in the right place

My Husband and I have been married 20+ years and all our Life Insurance policies/savings plans are about to expire/mature.

I am 40 and a full time carer to our 12yr old disabled son. My Husband is 45 and works full time in HM Forces. We have 2 other children - 1 in Uni and another in further education (21 & 19).

We own our own home, currently worth about 240,000, and have 90,000 left on mortgage. With the payouts we are due to receive this year, and regular overpayments for the next 2/3yrs we should be mortgage free (fingers X) by the end of 2015. Its a large house and should be worth significantly more when the housing market recovers. Should we need to move again, it would be into something smaller/cheaper. My Husband should leave the Army in 2016 with a 50,000 lump sum payment and 1,200 a month.

Our term life insurance policies have just expired and with our savings plans about to mature, we are going to be left with 1 life policy (both lives with critical illness cover) which runs till my Husband leaves the Forces.

Im looking into "what next????" with regard to all the above. We have quotes for about 55.00 per month, for 2 separate policies - 100,000 cover with terminal illness to expire aged 80.

IS this the best way to go or should we be looking at whole of life cover (quote says - 130.00 per month for same cover as above), or even a guaranteed policy like endowment/investment ISA etc ????

Would really appreciate any advice at all as Ive spent weeks looking and reading and im no further on.

Thank you

ACG

There are numerous options - whole of life, family income benefit, term assurance.

The easiest and most common route is to do a set sum assured level/increasing/decreasing depending on what suits you over a set term - which it looks like you are looking at. There is no right or wrong way it depends what you want and what your budget is.

dunstonh

We have quotes for about 55.00 per month, for 2 separate policies - 100,000 cover with terminal illness to expire aged 80.

Why do you need to go to 80?

IS this the best way to go or should we be looking at whole of life cover

Do you need whole of life assurance?

or even a guaranteed policy like endowment/investment ISA etc ????

The last endowment in the mainstream ceased to be available in 2003. Stocks and Shares ISA covers a different need (not much use if one of you die in the early years but fine if you live for 20 odd years)

Would really appreciate any advice at all as Ive spent weeks looking and reading and im no further on.

Sounds like you need advice. At the moment you are looking at hypothetical solutions without looking at what you need.

mscroft

I think thats the point.....Ive no idea what we now need.

We've sought the advice of a IFA and im no further on. The last time we planned for the future was the late 80s and oh how times have changed!

I thought getting a policy now, whilst in good health, to cover till our 80s would be better than trying to get one in our late 60s/70s but 55.00 per month seems a lot if we get nothing back at the end of it and are still alive (maybe thats average and im just very out of touch).

We dont need mortgage cover. The 1 policy we have left would pay off the current mortgage if either/both of us died tomorrow. When this policy ends in 2016, we wont have a mortgage. I just wonder if term insurance is a waste of money, and now we are much better off financially, we should be thinking more about protecting our kids and providing for them

ACG

Go and see a another advisor, and another and another, until you find one you are comfortable with, you feel is taking the time to understand and know your needs etc.

But you need to think about what would happen and what financially you would want to happen if one or both of you were to die. Presumably this would involve there being enough money for you to be able to pay for a carer for your son. Im also presuming your main income comes from your husband, so you may want to think about covering his income in the event that he were to die or be unable to work.

You mention life cover which is fine. But your husband seems to be the main earner so i would also be considering Income Protection/PHI.
You may want to leave your children enough to pay for a full time carer for the rest of your sons life - therefore you might want to do a family income benefit plan rather than a lump sum (so that its cheaper for you and your other children cant run off a blow it all.

Without knowing you and your family its very difficult to say so im just throwing ideas out there that might end up confusing you more (hopefully not though), there is no "normal" family - if there is i havnt come across it yet. I really do think you should speak to someone if only to get advice on what you should be looking at once someone has done a complete factfind on you - its not worth getting wrong.

weighty1_2

One other thing to consider is whether or not the premium will be affected upon completion of the underwriting. Depending on whether your husband is a member of the RAF, Navy or Army could affect whether the premium you have been quoted stays the same or increases upon assessment of your husbands role in the forces.

So now, not only is there the quandry of whether the cover is right but also whether it will be affordable once terms are offered. As others have said, I'd speak to another adviser if you aren't happy with the first one and ideally chose one who has an understanding of the underwriting issues faced by armed forces personnel.

stephenni1971

I am aware of the rules on advertising on the forum however in the circumstances I thought it better to declare my hand...

I specialise in Armed Forces cover - member of Service Insurance and Investment Advisory Panel. if Army then you do need to be careful as there is a massive difference between the underwriting criteria of UK life insurers - I recently reduced a clients premium from £56 to 10.50 just by changing company!

It really will depend on the circumstances of his job, especially SF, EOD, divers and pilots.

I'd be happy to help or give you any pointers you need - bearing in mind there are a few military only products that may also be appropriate for him/you both such as PAX & SLI.

MODs - hope you dont mind me posting this but fed up seeing forces families advised my non-military specialists and getting inappropriate and ridiculously expensive policies!

mscroft

Thanks to you all for responding to this message.

We currently live in Germany so getting financial advice isnt easy. All the IFAs seem to have gone from here now. At one time they were as common as car salesmen.

The guy my Husband has already spoken to (via telephone) said the quotes were tailored to our situation specifically and that his premiums would be reduced once he leaves the forces. He also recommended to write the policies into trust. Ive checked out all the quotes he gave us and they compare very favourably to anything I can find.

I suppose what we were expecting was to say to someone "This is what we've got...what else do we need?" and for the IFA to say "I advise this, I advise that" but he didnt. He just sent quotes for all the various things and said he couldnt say more than that.

We are travelling back to the UK at Easter and im wondering if we should bring all our paperwork and make an appt with someone back in our home town. My Husbands keen to get it sorted though and im not sure he will want to wait till then. He thinks we should replace the term Life policies for now and re-visit the investments when we know more about whats on offer. Is a 40 year policy excessive?

mscroft

Oh BTW, we have PAX, had it over 20yrs. Its the only policy we will have left once the investments mature. Both lives 50,000, 3 kids, with critical illness and loss of limbs cover. We currently pay 27.00 per month. We can extend that beyond 2016 (or when hubby leaves) but we've been told its not that good and the money would be better spent on another/better policy.

stephenni1971

If he has told you the premiums will reduce when he leaves the army it's not the right policy for you- simple as that.

There are options that should be cheaper right now available.

As for your term you choose that to suit hour need, be it family, mortgage or other debt you want to cover.

mscroft

Im not sure if I can do this but I can delete it if necessary. The info he sent us states:

"As we briefly discussed, I have carried out thorough research with each insurance provider to ensure that you aren’t penalised unnessacarilly on the cost of the insurance purely down to the fact you are in the Armed Forces. Literally all insurance providers, bar one, would place a ‘hefty’ increase on your premium due to the fact you are in the Army – even though you are not under orders.
Thankfully one of the insurance providers, Friends Life, will not increase the cost of your cover, nor will they place any exclusion on your policy due to your occupation.
Friends Life is the new name (as of October 2011) for three of the top UK insurers who merged together – Friends Provident, AXA and Bupa. I have no hesitation in recommending Friends Life considering their reputation, heritage and financial backing".