Life Insurance Discussion

brianrhill

Not all CI policies are the same, far from it.

uncletupelo

My father is 69 (70 before the end of this year). His current life assurance with M&S runs out around about the same time. He has a letter through advising him of this and with a phone number to call to discuss a new plan.

I was thinking about shopping around to see what the cheapest/best deal was for him. I thought there may have been some kind of site (like car or travel insurance) which would take the details and provide a list of deals. This doesn't appear to be the case? From what I can see I can either contact individual companies, give the details, then get a quote. Or pay a broker/isa a fee and they do the leg work for me?

Is this correct?

Just to add a little more information. My father is not comfortable phoning companies for this kind of thing so the idea of him calling around to get a quote is a complete non-starter. We can help him with form filling etc and if we get it down to 1 company we can have him call to set it up. If it becomes overly complicated he will simply renew with M&S.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

dunstonh

I thought there may have been some kind of site (like car or travel insurance) which would take the details and provide a list of deals. This doesn't appear to be the case?

Most of the internet quote sites will offer term assurance. They are lacking on whole of life assurance and that largely still needs an IFA to do it.

The only snag he may have is that his age means he may cease to be able to take out protection class insurance and require full authorisation class insurance. That has more to do with the ability to retail the product and most quote portals only hold the lower authorisation.

Does he actually need life assurance?

uncletupelo

dunstonh wrote: »

Most of the internet quote sites will offer term assurance. They are lacking on whole of life assurance and that largely still needs an IFA to do it.

The only snag he may have is that his age means he may cease to be able to take out protection class insurance and require full authorisation class insurance. That has more to do with the ability to retail the product and most quote portals only hold the lower authorisation.

Does he actually need life assurance?

He basically needs enough to bury him (funeral costs etc). He has no debt, a very small works pension and the state pension.

dunstonh

uncletupelo wrote: »

He basically needs enough to bury him (funeral costs etc). He has no debt, a very small works pension and the state pension.

Pre pay funeral may be better. If not, a whole of life assurance with a fixed payment period (e.g only pays premiums for x number of years) would potentially be an option.

A term assurance is highly unlikely to be a suitable option.

brianrhill

Assuming he has no assets, I'd agree with Dunstonh.

hampshirebabe

We, my hubby and I, have got mortgage life protection so the mortgage will be paid off if either of us dies, and I've got life insurance for a lump sum to go to hubby if I die, but I need to get some insurance for if hubby dies. I got a quote for a royal liver policy who said it would be better, ie you'd get more for your money, if we did all 3 policies from the same company and better still to get a monthly amount for 18 years or so instead of a fixed amount.
Sounds like it makes sense, but is it just salesman's talk?

brianrhill

they aren't independent advisers, they're salespeople - you are simply a way for them to hit their sales targets.

hampshirebabe

Yes, but is the new policy better than the one I've got? is it better to get 3 from one company rather than 3 different companies?

brianrhill

this is a discussion forum only so you should get independent advice from an IFA - they will source not only the most competitive cover for you but also the most suitable and affordable. The salespeople in the insurers, banks and building societies have little if any qualifications and only provide a scripted, restricted sales process on their own products designed to hit their sales targets. Try https://www.unbiased.co.uk for an IFA.