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Original poster

do you/should I have income protection/life insurance?

17 replies

Reastie · 29/10/2013 18:11

DH has income protection which we are looking to renew as usual and we've been talking about if we need it or if we should get life insurance instead/not have either/is it necessary. Is this the norm to have?

A quick synopsis of us - we own outright out home. DH has a mortgage on his property he lived in pre me. It has 6 years left and he rents it out. The income protection is if he can't work (he is in a physical job) in his current job (not any job). We currently spend around £1100 on essential outgoings per month (but could fine tune this by eg buying cheaper food/putting heating on less etc). I earn around £850 per month working part time. On savings and my income we could survive a few years without DH working but it would be tight.

Any thoughts very welcome Thanks

OP posts:
Littleredsquirrel · 29/10/2013 18:13

You might find that income protection only costs you a few pounds a month. have you had any quotes?

Minnieisthedevilmouse · 29/10/2013 18:13

Yes I think you should. I'm insured and I'm a sahm. IMO it's like house insurance in usefulness. Not at all but were it to happen it would be invaluable.

Ill double check what it is and revert....

RandomMess · 29/10/2013 18:14

Hmm does either of you have a pension through work that would pay out to the suriving spouse "death in service benefit"?

Original poster
Reastie · 29/10/2013 18:32

Little DH says he's currently paying £40 a month (this has been the approx rate for the past 7 years since he's had the mortgage).

random not sure. I have a teachers pension and I know DHs pension would pay out to me but alot less, and our pensions aren't very good tbh.

OP posts:
Original poster
Reastie · 29/10/2013 18:32

Oh, maybe I should also add, we are mid 30's and have a 2 yo dd.

OP posts:
specialsubject · 29/10/2013 18:37

in that case, YES. Think what happens if one of you dies. How does the other one work and do child care?

make sure you also have guardians sorted in case you both die before your daughter is independent. Hope not, but it does happen.

ParsingFright · 29/10/2013 18:45

If you own your own home outright and have an income stream from the rental house which doesn't depend on either of you working, then you're in a better situation than most people would be if they lost one worker/childcarer.

So I'd say it's not absolutely critical that you have the insurance. You can shop around and decide if any policy gives you a better return than paying off the mortgage on the rental, or some other investment.

ParsingFright · 29/10/2013 18:48

I would also look into the details of the teachers' pension/death in service stuff, as I know (sadly from friends' experience) that it can be excellent.

Some of the gold-plated stuff might be opt-in, so you'll need to check it out carefully.

Original poster
Reastie · 30/10/2013 12:27

Thanks, that's all worth thinking about. I think we're thinking given our situ, it would be good to have but not completely essential, so is it worth the cost. Obviously if we ever needed it it would be very useful but we could cope (not much more though) without it.

parsing if it did happen that I died we would send DD to nursery and have family to help us. DH could still work allbeit on reduced hours and earn enough. I'm already working with family for childcare.

special yes we have to do our wills with guardians. It's on the list.

OP posts:
hermioneweasley · 31/10/2013 20:24

Life insurance in your circs should be pretty cheap (£10/month) so I would choose to have it if you can afford it.

bestadviceprotection · 04/11/2013 16:08

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Original poster
Reastie · 04/11/2013 16:42

Ohh, I didn't realise it could be so cheap, thanks hermione

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Thatsinteresting · 09/11/2013 06:21

We have life insurance as if something happened to one of us the other one wants to be at home with our young dc for a while without worrying about money.

My dh did have income insurance, I think it was £40-45 a month but when he got made redundant we realised how crap it was. It had to wait ages for a payment, it didn't cover all his salary and it was only paid for a limited time. We decided to cancel it and just cut our cloth when he got a new job.

Roshbegosh · 09/11/2013 06:55

Life insurance is a must at your age with a child. Income insurance sounds like a good idea but when I looked into it, it was rubbish, a total waste of money so read the terms carefully before you sign up, if you do. Maybe critical illness insurance is something to consider.

plum100 · 09/11/2013 07:05

Yes to the life insurance - its cheap - if you are relatively healthy - but i agree with the others about income protection - a friend has it as the moment but it does only last 12 months and hers only covers her mortgage - she still has a shortfall covering her bills .

vj32 · 09/11/2013 11:48

We have life insurance but not illness insurance. From what I have read there are too many exemptions and in most cases they find an excuse not to pay out.

Original poster
Reastie · 10/11/2013 08:28

thanks, the main reason we are looking at income insurance is DH does a physical job and has his own very small business. The protection covers him even if he can work in another type of job but not his work. Apparently he's found a cover for illness but also would give £50k out of life insurance should he die, so this might be the best of both worlds for a few years.

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