Level Term Assurance Discussion

payless

Brokers

Some are IFAs regulated by FSA (arrange protection and investments) , some sell the mainly same protection products under a term called "pure protection" these advisers will come under the FSA regulations Jan 05. At the moment most work under a looser set of ABi rules.

Either way IMHO you should use an adviser with at least FPC3 level qualification.

Execution only - no advice given , sometimes means you get a cheaper price from some brokers - based on your questions can't see that you should go there.

As for products - different people have different views- they all have exclusions , pro/ cons

System

I have a level term life assurance policy with M&S with 10 years left to run. Can I just cancel this type of policy or does it have to run full term? My needs have changed as I am cancelling my endowment.

payless

No reason why a M&S lTA could not be cancelled - although of course not saying that would be a good idea
( as don't know enough about your circumstances)

needtosave_4

???
ok really confused...apologies now for being stupid!
at the moment my partner and i have joint life cover worth £228k. He owns 2 properties (our house and his mothers, my name isn't on either mortgage) but we'd need another £30k to cover the cost of both mortgages should one of us die.
We plan to get married within the next couple of years - will this change anything on our current policy? Should we take out spearate policies to cover the shortfall in the cover and provide extra cover??
Neither of us has CI cover at the moment either - should i persue this is go for income protection?? I'm 30, he's 29.
any advice much appreciated

lisyloo

We plan to get married within the next couple of years - will this change anything on our current policy? Should we take out spearate policies to cover the shortfall in the cover and provide extra cover??

I don't believe that getting married will change anything on your policy, but it could give you better entitlements to each others pension funds in the event of death (spouses have certain rights on certain pensions).

Whether you need the extra cover is entirely up to you.
Could you both manage a £30K mortgage on your own?
Do you want to?
If you can't manage or don't want to then you should see if you can modify your policy.
If your not bothered abut having a £30K mortgage then there is no particular reason why you have to.
It's all about the level of cover you feel comfortable with.

In some cases it's acceptable to have less than the mortgage, in some cases people need a lot more (if they want to cover child care costs for example).
It's all down to your needs and requirements.

Bear in mind that your employer may provide some benefits on death (ask them) also you may egt lump sum payouts from your pension policies if you die before retirement (again you need to check what your pensions provide on death).

Neither of us has CI cover at the moment either - should i persue this is go for income protection??

You should certainly make sure you understand the difference.
CI pays out a lump sum (NO income) and is limited to certain conditions.
Income protection pays out an income until retirement when your pension kicks in.
Personally I think income protection is much more valuable.

Again you need to review what is provided by your emplyoyers in the event of sickness, accident and redundancy.
Most emplyers for example offer 6 months sick pay, so you may only need a policy that kicks in after 6 months.

My advice, is first find out what you have got from your employer and your existing pension arrangements.
If you are lucky your employer may have a PHI scheme (permanent health insurance) which pays out until retirement if you are sick.
If these benefits are already available then you obviously don't need to pay extra for them.

needtosave_4

thanks very much lisyloo - will check out our different employment terms and take it from there. Income protection certainly sounds more useful at the moment than CI cover...will investigate the best deals

mutley74

I wish to consider taking out life assurance with critical illness cover, thinking of levekl term over 25 yrs, tp provide a payout if anything happens to me. also consider the same for partner, as a separate policy.
Went to hargeaveslansdown today and they rebate some of their commission, thus new quoye for me is £22, £100k cover. Is this a good quote? Does anyone have any experience of buying from Hargeaves lansdown? re there any better brokers outthere one can recommend?

Do we need to place a policy in trust at the time of taking a policy out, or can that change be made at any time?

payless

Most of their services are execution only.
ie no advice

mutley74

think i know what i want:
probably 25-30 yr life cover with CI and maybe terminal illness cover for £100k.
Just trying to figure the best place to look for quotes. Looked at MSE recommendations in Martin's article, just trying to ensure i get a good deal but a good policy. But just heard that some policies cover kids too - is that true? Do all companies do this? Any suggestions about this?

Also, just spoke to an IFA via moneysupermarket today, and they say that some policies cover more critical illness's more than others. Any advice on what are good companies to ensure i get a policy that cover most/all possible critical illness's?

Just discovered that Hargreaveslansdown do a price promise, so it seems a lot of companies do this. Just wonder how good they are at actually matching a lower price.

payless

Can't really answer that generally - then it becomes advice!