Aibu to be pissed parents have no life insurance

[pregnantforever]

Parents are in their 50s although my dad has the health of a 70year old. They don't take care of themselves and my dad moans every day about how awful his health is but rarely does anything about it.
He makes stupid decisions that are unsafe. Hes self employed and works lots of hours (manual job) with no need to (mortgage free, own their own car, have savings ect). He seems to almost brag about it. Last week sat saying he had had to work in the dark all day in a house where there was no light or electric, in the freezing cold with leaking water everywhere. We all pointed out that he had done this by choice, he's self employed and it's not worth risking his life for, he could have waited until the next day when some of those issues were sorted out but he didn't want to. We said we thought he was irresponsible and he walked off in a big mood.
I told my mum I hoped they had good life insurance if he was going to carry on making stupid decisions like that because she will be left growing old by herself, and she said they had none, and that there was no point in getting any because it would be expensive and their house was paid off anyway.
I don't think owning a house means much. If one of them needs care they will be up shit creek without a paddle. They both insist they want to stay in that house and never go into a care home ect, and my brother won't have anything to do with looking after them, he's not inclined like that. I have a spinal cord injury and don't want all of the burden of taking care of them or one of them being forced to sell up to pay for their care. Surely if they had life insurance then that would at least cover some costs should one of them take a turn? Or do I just need to keep my nose out massively and not worry? I've never asked anything about it before so had no idea they didn't have it.

Mind your own business !
Their finances are nothing to do with you !

Who would pay the household bills if you were both diagnosed with cancer and off work? Income protection is often forgotten but insanely important.

I think you are just worried about your inheritance.You parents house is payed for.If i was them i would just spend their money and sod you.They are not there to provide for ypu

It's up to them not you. I hate the way some people seem to look upon their parents as a cash cow. My mother had none and left a tiny amount of cash. She lived in a council house. She didn't even have a bank account. I had to pay for the funeral but I didn't begrudge it one bit because she looked after me when I was a child so it was my turn to look after her when she was older. The funeral was paid for on a credit card btw.

Interesting how many replies are mentioning funeral costs. I know a funeral can be pricy. But what's the cheapest method of 'Get rid of this, please, he doesn't need it any more'? That's all I want - though I'm not obsessed with stopping anyone doing more if THEY want to.

Not everyone can get life insurance. I tried numerous places to get life insurance but found kept getting turned down due to anxiety-mental health. After a year if trying I finally found somewhere that would accept me.

ExaltedWombat : leave your body to science. They will take your body away, put it to good use, and eventually return ashes or dispose of them as chosen by you. No cost at all.

We will have a ‘do’ to say goodbye to our parents but it won’t involve a service at a crematorium, hearses etc.

Not because if the cost, but because those things don’t seem meaningful to anyone in our family.

As it happens what we will do will be much cheaper.

(One parent: body donated to science, the other, direct cremation, both: gatherings that are meaningful to family)

YABU to say you're pissed when you mean pissed off.

@OP.

I think you are being unreasonable.

Most people's life insurance is purely there to cover the mortgage. Otherwise it's a relatively expensive expense, unless first taken out at an early age. I expect a lot of self employed people don't have any.

wombat The cheapest way of disposing of a body is burying it on land you own. Then followed by direct cremation which can vary from £1,000 to £2,000.

Years ago, when I worked in life assurance, you could insure anyone's life if you had a good reason. For instance, you might be able to insure your parents' life for funeral costs or care. However, at their age and with their state of health, it would probably cost a fortune.

Ease up, they looked after you and looked after themselves all their life. There is no sense in life insurance once you've paid your mortgage, your kids are adults and you have some savings. Nor can you buy any insurance for the first time at a sensible rate in your fifties.

I also think it is unfair for what are quite wealthy people, ie those who own an expensive property outright and have much better pensions than younger people, to effectively expect someone else, ie the taxpayer to pay for their care.

Oh fuck off with your bloody knee-jerk idiotic jealousy. Those people are the people WHO PAID THEIR TAXES ALL THEIR LIVES and therefore deserve to use the benefits that THEY paid for.

And that is because the chance of you dying has increased. Insurance companies are there to make money after all.

Butt out of their life
Don't like the tone of your post

I am a bit younger than your parents with own home and no mortgage. Both DH and I have life insurance to help the other person so they don't have to worry about finances along with bereavement. Not sure why everyone is saying it's just for paying off the mortgage. There are a lot more bills than just the mortgage and on top of that repairs to the house etc.

We don’t have life insurance. Our house is paid for and we have some savings so funeral costs would be covered. Life insurance wouldn’t pay for care because that would only be paid out when they had died. Sounds like they have it covered and you shouldn’t be worried, it they have savings that will pay for any care they need. They are allowed to keep £23 K of their savings I think,

Read this www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/care/paying-for-care/financial-assessment/residential-care-funding-changes/

batsarecool Because that is how traditionally life insurance was sold to anyone in their fifties now. It was sold as an insurance policy to cover your mortgage. I have bought one twice and both times no one even suggested that you could make it more than the cost of the mortgage. And anyone my age would probably have bought this pre internet.

@jinglebells,sorry but care home fees are much higher than £1k per month; we have been paying £900 per week for respite care for moderate nursing and living.

Life insurance is designed to pay off mortgage, they don't need it. I think you're referring to critical illness cover, which would be very expensive at their age if they have health issues.

Life insurance wouldn’t necessarily help, OP. Maybe critical injury insurance might be a good idea if your parents depend on your DF’s income.

X post with Scottishgirl

I know of a company that are out there to insure the uninsureable if you like! They help people with diabetes, previous cancer, mental health issues and previous suicide attempts etc xxx

Critical illness cover would be unaffordable for your dad if he is in poor health, or have lots of exclusions.