What insurance should I have if I'm single

FIRSTTIMER

Hi,


I am currently reviewing my insurance needs income wise and wondered what things I should have as extra's on top?


Current Status....
Age 35, Earn approx. 45k and mortgage of around 140k.
Get 6 months full sick pay and also have around 6 months salary in savings easy access.
Have company pension as normal that also has life cover.
I also have life cover with critical illness with legal and general for 150k fixed until I am 70 guaranteed premiums.


Do I really need income protection AND/OR redundancy cover? Are they worth it - or will state benefits be sufficient if I can no longer work due to sickness/illness? I am just making sure I am fully secure being the sole provider of my lifestyle....

lisyloo

Are you married or co-habiting?
Kids?

How much life cover do you have?
If it's a contributions based pension then what is the size of the pot that would be paid to your estate? (just thinking you might be overinsured for death).

The next one I would look at is PHI (not CI).
This would pay up to 75% of your income after 6 months until recovered/death/retirement.
Critical illness pays a lump sum on certain illness (not whether you can work or not) so is fine for house alterations, treatment, bucket list, but not good for providing an income for the rest of your life.
I would look for a policy that covers YOUR profession and not being unable to do any job (this means you won't be expected to flip burgers or collect shopping trolleys if you are currently a solicitor).

FIRSTTIMER

Single, not married, no kids (wont be having kids!)


Life Cover (government pension/university lecturer) is 3 times my salary with work £150k and Life Cover with CIC from L&G £150k. So 300k really.


Permanent Health Cover is around £35 a month for £1750 for me, fixed premiums until age 65 - but I just think will I need it - wont the government cover me in terms of benefits if I cannot work due to sickness and illness....also will my pension provider not provide me with enhanced ill health retirement should I also not be able to work??

Weighty1

Did you take advice on arranging the L&G life insurance with CI cover? L&G currently have the least comprehensive plan on the market when it comes to critical illness cover. I'd recommend just about every company before them.

Aretnap

FIRSTTIMER wrote: »

Permanent Health Cover is around £35 a month for £1750 for me, fixed premiums until age 65 - but I just think will I need it - wont the government cover me in terms of benefits if I cannot work due to sickness and illness....

Not to the tune of £1750 per month. Employment and Support Allowance, for example, is currently £71/week. You should think about the actual state benefits you'd be eligible for and about how you'd feel living on that level of income before you decide that you don't need income protection.

also will my pension provider not provide me with enhanced ill health retirement should I also not be able to work??

That would depend very much on the terms of the scheme, but again it probably wouldn't be enough to keep you in the manner to which you've become accustomed in the long term, especially if you became ill well short of your expected retirement date.

If you have 6 months sick pay and 6 months savings (and you don't plan to spend the savings any time soon) then you could keep the cost of income protection down by choosing a policy with a long waiting period (eg a year) before you can start claiming.

Life cover is not necessary if you have no dependants, but critical illness cover is worth having (though personally I'd rank it as less important that permanent health insurance). That said if you have a CI policy then the cost of adding life insurance to it is often pennies or even zero, so choosing CI only isn't necessarily the best option, especially if there's a possibility that you might get a partner in future.

FIRSTTIMER

Thanks for all this advice, is this wise then.....


Liverpool Victoria - twelve month deferred - £35 fixed premium monthly with fixed income for £1750 per month - but stopping the policy at aged 60 - I very much doubt I would be wanting to work at the pace/full time at that age. My mortgage will hopefully be paid off by then and I would very much think I would go part time/reduce hours by then until retirement.....


Looking at retiring by 65.

FIRSTTIMER

Also - what are worst CIC Policies out there - I took the L and G one out 5 years ago independently via Cavendish - but my premium is fixed at £370 a year until age 70 with £150k payout. I wouldn't want to change unless it was for a significant reason as looking at premiums now - its more circa £600 a year, beagle street/AIG being the cheapest two for me....