Life/ASU insurance broker or direct?

martyp

Hi all, hoping someone can advise please. I've always got life insurance through a broker but have been getting ASU direct for years now. I have £35k left on the 50% of a shared ownership house, no dependents and probably would need about £500 a month if I wasn't working. I'm paying £21 a month for life and critical illness and £17 ASU which they've just said they're cancelling. I've needed the unemployment cover a few times in the past. Not sure if almost £40 a month is excessive for my circumstances and also wondering about getting life insurance direct to take advantage of cashback deals or if that could be a very risky decision as might not be taking into account illnesses covered and payout likelihood etc?

Weighty1

No insurer is taking on new unemployment policy holders so there's not a lot you can do about that.  I'd consider looking at long-term income protection on top of the critical illness cover.  Whilst the CIC might pay the mortgage off if you suffer one of  the illnesses what about the rent, council tax, gas/elec, water, tv, food, broadband, tv, netflix, etc etc etc.  Average claims on long-term plans last in excess of 6-years and that's a hell of a time to last with no income.

Personally, I don't think £40/month is excessive, if anything, I think most people should pay well in excess of that IF you want to be protected in a comprehensive manner.  I always say to my clients "you can pay whatever you want but just remember, it's not me that has to pay the bills if you're long term sick".....

martyp

Thanks Weighty1, much appreciated. I noticed when searching as well that unemployment cover is off the cards. I don't know if there might be any chance my existing policy provider may strike a new deal but not expecting anything so am reviewing both life insurance with CIC and an income protection policy in place of the ASU. I'll have to try and get my head around the different policies still with regards to mortgage protection, income protection and AS/ASU as I kept getting confused about which was which.

I recall my parents kept getting payouts with their life insurance cover as well and wondered if that was something I missed out on as any such benefits including cashback are lost as the broker gets commission which according to the documents I got was around £500 or so initially with an ongoing 40p a month or something after a period.

csgohan4

Insurance is a scam, until you need it, it really depends on your risk appetite and if you can  make ends meet without it should the worse thing happen