Insurance - Confused

bewteen

OMG, I am so confused. My fixed rate is coming to an end shortly so am looking to see if I can save some money.

I've currently got mortgage payment protection, life cover and critical illness.

However, I am finding it all very confusing. Someone has also mentioned income protection. Both myself and my partner are on a pretty good wage which I would love to protect but then what other cover should I get? I basically don't want to be paying twice for the same thing.

Any advice?

dunstonh

Both myself and my partner are on a pretty good wage which I would love to protect but then what other cover should I get?

permanent health insurance is proper income protection.

I basically don't want to be paying twice for the same thing.

PHI allows you to select the deferment period so you dont overlap with employer benefits or mortgage payment protection if you have that.

lisyloo

The critical illness you have will pay out a lump sum on certain illnesses.
Income protection will pay you an income if you can't work, so you can carry on your lifestyle as it is. If you are ill for a long time then at a certain point e.g. six months, your employers sick pay scheme will stop and you'll be on state benefits.

It's a bit of a trade-off because if you insure for everything then you would have no money left.

My advice would be to firstly check what both of your employers offer.
Some people have life insurance and sometimes income protection from their employer.
Also bear in mind that if you die before retirement then you may have lump sums coming from pension funds.
Make sure you don't get confused between PHI (permanent health insurance) and PMI (private medical insurance) as one pays an income and the other pays fo operations and health care.
If someone mentions health insurance then make sure you understand what it covers as there can be various forms of it.

So my advice is to first check what you get from employers and existing pension funds, then consider what you think you need.

My own opinion is that covering your income long term is more important that covering only certain critical illnesses but as always it's down to individual circumstances and attitude to risk.

bewteen

Ok, my employer doesn't offer much in the way of benefits and I believe my partner is entitled to a one-off payment if he dies, or should I say I'm entitled to it! I think this is part of his work pension scheme.

It sounds like PHI/Income protection is the way to go, and I take it I should also continue with my mortgage payment protection. Does this mean the life cover and critical illness are not necessary?

Sorry if this is a completely stupid question but I'm ashamed to say I don't have much of a clue