I'm i paying too much for critical illness insurance

PeterT1983

I'm with Scottish widows I pay £45 a month and was wondering if I'm paying too much.
I'm not that smart with this sort of thing it's something I set up more than 10 years ago and the price per month keeps rising with inflation.
I think cover gives me life insurance, critical illness, and payment protection not sure if I need all this now, I'm 39 years old.

DullGreyGuy

Only way you can tell if you are paying too much is approaching a broker/IFA and getting quotes to see how much it would be today if you were to replace it. Obviously make sure you are comparing apples and apples as its easy to get a lower price by buying a more budget policy that gives you lower coverage.

Life Insurance - pays a lump sum when you die... if you have someone who'd be financially worse off with your death (spouse, kids etc) then normally you need it

Income Protection - comes in two flavours, both intend to replace your salary if you are too sick to work, basic one will pay for 12 months, good one will pay until your planned retirement date. If you need your income to sustain your standard of living then there is a good argument that this is sensible - some employers will provide a Group policy to employees but you always risk switching job to someone else who doesnt

Critical Illness - not a fan of this one personally... pays a lump sum if you get one of a specified list of conditions to the required level of severity (defined by medical tests etc). You could be critically ill but because the condition isnt on the list the policy doesnt respond. If you can afford it then great, people have been "lucky" and had an illness, got the payout and then recovered, the monies have allowed them to retire early, go part time, travel more etc

dunstonh

I'm with Scottish widows I pay £45 a month and was wondering if I'm paying too much.

Over the years SW has had different versions of CIC plans with differing levels of cover.   So, whilst you have told us the price, we cannot tell if you have one of their more budget variants or one of their more comprehensive variants.

I'm not that smart with this sort of thing it's something I set up more than 10 years ago and the price per month keeps rising with inflation.

SW plans only go up if the sum assured goes up. Indexation applies to both.

I think cover gives me life insurance, critical illness, and payment protection not sure if I need all this now, I'm 39 years old.

I am not aware of any SW plans that included payment protection.  Unless this is a previous Halifax plan that has recently rebranded to SW.

Weighty1

dunstonh said:

I'm with Scottish widows I pay £45 a month and was wondering if I'm paying too much.

Over the years SW has had different versions of CIC plans with differing levels of cover.   So, whilst you have told us the price, we cannot tell if you have one of their more budget variants or one of their more comprehensive variants.

I'm not that smart with this sort of thing it's something I set up more than 10 years ago and the price per month keeps rising with inflation.

SW plans only go up if the sum assured goes up. Indexation applies to both.

I think cover gives me life insurance, critical illness, and payment protection not sure if I need all this now, I'm 39 years old.

I am not aware of any SW plans that included payment protection.  Unless this is a previous Halifax plan that has recently rebranded to SW.

Payment protection is what SW call their waiver of premium benefit.

OP, as Dunstonh has said, if the premium has been going up then the benefit will have been going up.  With many insurers the premium does go up at a higher % than the cover does (premiums are often increasing at RPI x 1.5, whereas the sum assured only increases at the RPI rate).

It's impossible to know if you are paying too much, literally impossible.

diystarter7

Hi OP
Did you not do your research at the time?

However, IMHO, you wont get like for like any cheaper as you are older, but check what your plan exactly is and the t&C's and then take it from there and have a look around.

Re the critical illness, be aware what that exactly is.

good luck