Am i overinsured?

Sean75

Hi to you all.I am after a bit of advice on life assurance and level term insurance.This is my situation:
I have a joint mortgage (repayment) with my fiancee of £51000 with just under 18 years left.Our mortgage also has a £23000 reserve as well which we can draw on at any time (although we haven't).We have a 5 year old son.At the moment we are paying the following for life assurance and level term assurance-
Life Assurance - Fiancee and myself £60000 Cover until 1/9/2020 - £8.44 per month.
Level Term (Policy 1) - Fiancee and myself £50000 Son £12500 Cover until 2/10/2020 - £23.85 per month.
(Policy 2) - Fiancee and myself £78236 Son £7500 Cover until 19/01/2024 - £39.07 per month.

So that works out at nearly £72 a month.Are we paying too much (over insured) or not paying enough?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.Many thanks.

dunstonh

Certainly not over insured. Indeed, you may be potentially under insured as far as covering your full need is concerned.

You may find rebrokering the life cover is a good option. Life cover gets cheaper per '000 the more you have. Having a single policy may prove cheaper. Also, you dont say the provider. Chances are you are not on the cheapest.

You do have to be wary of switching life cover if critical illness is built into the plans or you have had a medical condition which may result in a premium increase or decline on new business. Also, you need to make sure you dont buy a reviewable plan (or a yearly renewable term) in place of a guaranteed plan.

Sean75

Many thanks to your reply it is much appreciated.The ploicies are with the following companies:
Life Assurance - Scot Equitable
Level Term Assurance(Both policies) - Bupa
I forgot to mention that i have critical illness with life cover on my policies.

Sean75

Sorry poor spelling of [/B]POLICIES first time there!!!!

dunstonh

Critical illness is the bulk of the cost most likely. Scot Eq and Bupa are not known for their premium competitiveness.

Sean75

As a guide do you think i could possibly get exactly the same cover with different companies for a more competitive price? If so what companies do people suggest and are there any sites where i could get an instant online quote? Would i be better off having just one level term assurance policy?

dunstonh

do you think i could possibly get exactly the same cover with different companies for a more competitive price?

It depends. Older policies with CI cover tend to offer better coverage than modern plans. If the old plans are guaranteed then it may be worth holding on to them. If they are reviewable, then the extra benefits will almost certainly be reduced on the next review date. Different providers have different CI definitions. So yes, you can almost certainly get cheaper. To get the same cover would require you to investigate each provider to see what they cover.

If so what companies do people suggest and are there any sites where i could get an instant online quote?

Different insurance companies appear top depending on the age/sex/sum assured/health status/occupation etc. Its not a one company response.

There are a number of quote portals available who will be able to offer very good terms. However, they will not provide advice on which company has the best cover terms. They work on best premium only.

Would i be better off having just one level term assurance policy?

Probably. Higher sum assureds get discounts.

Sean75

Been offline for a couple of weeks due to unforseen computer problems.Do you have any links for online quotes as i am willing to see what savings(if any) i could make? Many thanks in anticipation.

chateauneufdupape

Sean75,

I used Cavendish Online following an article by Martin, it saved me a small fortune. They are a no frills broker, but I could not get anything anywhere close to their quotes. Have a search for Martin's original article.
Their website is
http://www.cavendishonline.co.uk