Income protection with AntInsurance

Pocoyo

I have just taken out a sickness/injury policy with AntInsurance http://www.antinsurance.co.uk/index.htm. My husband is self employed so there doesn't seem much point having unemployment cover. It's £20 per month for £1000 cover up to 12 months. Does anyone have experience of this company? Martin recommended them on his MPPI review as good value. The only thing that bothers me is the policy price is reviewable. I guess I could always change if it goes up by much.

I have taken out a life insurance policy with Cavendish but decided to knock the CI cover on the head. I wanted a bigger payout if one of us died now we have children. Prior to this we had decreasing cover just for the mortgage. I'm hoping I've made the right move. Is it worth looking at stand alone CI cover as well? Any advice appreciated.

dunstonh

That is not income protection. It is accident sickness and unemployment cover.

Reviewable premiums tend to be cheaper as they increase over time.

Switching from CI cover to go to ASU cover is a backward move as ASU falls below CI in the general pecking order (whilst income protection comes out above).

Pocoyo

Thanks. What's the difference between ACU and income protection then? The main reason we have decided to change things is that our previous policy was decreasing and covered the mortgage only (which is only small at around 50k). We wanted to make more provision if one of us dies or if my husband has an accident. I have a similar earning capability to him so if he was off longterm I could work full time, I'm currently very part time due to young children!
Thanks.

Pocoyo

Pocoyo wrote: »

Thanks. What's the difference between ACU and income protection then?

Sorry, I meant to say ASU.

dunstonh

Income protection (or Permanent health insurance (PHI) to give it the correct generic name) is underwritten to your circumstances and can never be cancelled by the insurance company regardless of the number of claims you may make (there are some budget versions of income protection that can but they are barely worth the paper they are written on). If you have a claimable event then they will pay for as long as it takes to get back to work or the selected end date (typically matches retirement age).

ASU covers unemployment (which PHI doesnt). However, ASU only pays out for a maximum of 12 months (some exist to 24 months but 12 is more common). The plan is not underwritten to your circumstances. The insurance company can also cancel or adjust the policy.

Recent years have seen the marketing departments of some companies promote their ASU product as income protection which has created this confusion with ASU and real income protection plans.

Pocoyo

Thank you very much.