Income Protection and Critical Illness

Little_Bunny

Hi everyone,

I am in the process of purchasing a 50% share of a 1 bedflat in Canary Wharf. I have just hadthe mortgage approved but annoyingly I am still waiting for my solicitors tostart the conveyancing (the housing association solicitors have only just sentmy contract so will probably arrive by post to my solicitors tomorrow morning).

However whilst waiting for movements here, my mortgagebroker has got me in contact with a colleague of his and he has been trying tosell me both critical illness and income protection. I have been umming and ahhing about the wholething, I think it is kind of a waste of time as I am healthy and quite young(29) and I will definitely get it out when I am older, just not now. However when I told this to him he startedgetting a little bit pushy with me – I am not going to say the hard sell butthere was definitely a sense of ‘oh im only thinking of you in case you fallill, can’t pay the mortgage, get repossessed then get blacklisted and cannotbuy etc. and he did get quite annoyed when I mentioned that I just wanted toshop around i.e. let me see if going direct is cheaper although in hindsight I probablyshould not have said that to him! I wasjust getting a bit annoyed with him hassling me and making me feel bad for notsigning up straight away.

So my question is firstly is it worth taking out these 2insurances to begin with, and would you recommend me going direct and/orgetting quotes please or generally is it better going via a broker? To be fair what they are offering is notprohibitively expensive (£11 a month for CI for a £27k payout and £16 a monthfor income protection after 3 months for about £450 a month, there was a £33 a monthoption for approximately £1400 but I do think that is too much).

If anyone has any thoughts it would be much appreciatedplease because my mortgage broker is going to hassle me this Wednesday and I justdon’t want to be railroaded into something that might not be the best for me.

Many thanks,

LB

LateStarter

Unless you've got dependents (there's always a caveat somewhere), say no. Just NO. If you do, at some point, decide you want these things, get some proper advice and shop around for a best of market product - not an addon to a mortgage.

He's being a little pushy as he can sense you've wavering. He's not thinking of you - he's thinking of his commissions. Something along the lines of "I've thought about it and I've decided these products aren't for me at this stage of my life".

Annie1960

Income protection is not a bad thing to have - maybe you should consider it? How do you know you won't lose your job, have an accident and be unable to work etc?

If you do decide to get this, shop around, and make sure you get covered if you can't do your 'own occupation' rather than the 'any job' version.

G_M

People do get seriously ill even at 29. Out of the blue. Or they have an accident. Or lose their jobs.

These things are risks. Yes, as you get older, the citical illness risk increases (but bear in mind so does the premium - whereas if you start paying young, the premium can be 'locked in' so it's cheaper as you get older than it would be as new policy).

If you DO lose your job, get ill etc, do you want to be made homeless on top?

I'm not saying you should take out these policies, but don't just dismiss them either. Life is all about evaluating risks and making your own decisions......

ambioni

Life assurance is one type that is best bought from a broker (MSE has various pages on how to find one) because, oddly, it can actually work out much cheaper to buy through a broker than it can buying from the insurer direct. However, I would only worry about it if you have dependents, particularly children. If not, then income protection is the only insurance of the two that is worth having. Many employers provide good sick pay these days, but it can be worth having a private policy to cover job loss too (redundancy).

enginesuck

Seems expensive. I pay £40 a month for £150000 cover on my or my wifes life including critical illness cover of £30000 for 1 year. Immuch older than you also.

FBaby

Big difference in premium as you get older indeed.

Little_Bunny

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for the advice. I think you are right I will get the cheapest critical illness and income protection plans at £11 each. Yes not really much money but I just thought I'm too young I barely get sick! But you're right nothing is guaranteed so at least it will protect me just in case. Also it will only get more expensive as I get older so may as well do it now to lock in the price as G_M says. I will go with my broker even though he is annoying as he said there is extra protection they can offer so may as well - and it will get him off my case lol.

Also enginesuck that's a great deal you have ... Maybe they're not so good nowadays I dont know but I don't think its a bad offer. Thanks for all your help though!! ��

Kynthia

Make sure you understand how long the income protection pass out for and under what circumstances. Policies vary and you need one that suits your needs. Also decide whether you need both critical illness cover and income protection.