What life insurance elements do I need?

[musicalmoney]

Hello. I'm trying to cut my bills and looking for advice on life insurance.

I currently pay £39 a month, which covers my small mortgage, a lump sum to DS, and critical illness cover. I only have £26k on my current mortgage. Can't remember how much the lump sump for DS is. My salary at the time of taking the policy 3.5 years ago was about £21k, now just under £29k. Haven't updated that. I guess i should have!

A few colleagues have told me to do away with the critical illness cover as we get 6 months full pay and then 6 months half pay if off sick.

I've run through a quote and can get insurance for £13 with additional critical illness cover or £5 without.

Obviously £13 is still a good saving. Just wondering what others do?

Thanks.

CI policy definitions evolve every few years in line with medical advances so before you replace an old policy with new, do make sure you check the definitions of illnesses covered as you could end up with stricter definitions than your old policy. Also consider any add ons e.g. partial payments for things like early stage breadt cancer (DCIS), children's CI cover, hospitalisation benefit etc. The cheaper the cover, the lower quality the policy is likely to be.

A whole of market IFA will be able to assess your needs and recommend a type and level of cover

Thanks @Violetroselily I feel like I took everything the guy wanted to throw at me when I took the mortgage, and now I seem to be paying more than most people. But I appreciate you get what you pay for!

CI can be expensive and premiums will be influenced by your age, smoker status, family history, lifestyle, medical history etc. Something to bear in mind if anything has handed between you taking out your last policy and now.

You can find an IFA specialising in protection policies on unbiased.com - if you take a copy of your existing policy they should be able to compare it against new policies to see if there are any differences in cover.

I'm not an advisor but used to deal with Life and CI claims. Too many times I've seen people think they have particular cover but they don't, think it will pay out for X Y or Z, to a specific person or a completely different amount, all of which is too late to sort by the time they need to claim. Hence I would always suggest a whole of market IFA! WE

Thank you @Violetroselily I will check out that website.

Do not get life insurance with Legal and general, we are currently fighting them to pay out for my dh 39 with terminal bowel cancer with a life expectancy of less than 12months. The lack of compassion has been shocking.

@loubieloo4 I'm so sorry to hear you're both going through that. Sending you love and strength, and I will certainly keep your story in mind.