BORING I know- what life cover do you have?

[pootlepod]

In process of changing mortgage and hence life cover. Currently (based on pre dd circumstances) we only have cover if one of us dies. We think we need to extend this but can't decided whether to go for assurance/critical illness etc.

Any thoughts?

We have 4x salary for dh, + mortgage gets paid off, + £150k if I drop, and critical illness for me, dh, and it also covers dss. Very insured!

deegward, are you ever tempted?

Think we are now very un-insured.

There are days , I think though compared to most we are on the high side, but I would say that since you have dd that you both should be insured, and also think of the senario if you had to stop working to look after sick child or you were too sick to work. I really am a pesamist aren't I?

think we are as well, we only have the mod one, £100k ish id DH dies (lots of stipulations on weather he'll be covered in certain situations as well ie, we're not if it's a landmine) er, thta's it really I think. should really get some and a pension each.

just enough to cover mortgage, plus i think there is life cover attached to dh's pension as to my work one when i was working! we don't have any other insurance, read somewhere that things like critical illness have so many exemptions that it is not worth it, might be better to take any contributions and put it in a savings account.

I think I just worry about what would I do, with no dh, no income and 2 dss. I know we are lucky that we can afford to be so heavily insured, believe me I hope this is money wasted. Our neighbours have a far higher disposable income than us, as they are not insured apart from mortgage, and go spending all the time. I am far happier in my situation.

deegward - you a sensible lady. I think I am somewhere between you and your neighbour although not on the spending front, I am a natural saver, comes from my mum's constant nagging!

oops should read 'are a'

Believe me Yingers my dh would laugh if he heard you calling me sensible, I have been sooo bad with money in the past but dh (who works for a bank) has put me right

dh and I both have 4x salary death in service.
Also critical illness cover through work

we have 4 x salary plus £250k on dh and about £150K on me plus a pension and death benefit from my former employer.
We have 2 small children.

you should certainly both be insured pootlepod, just think how much your dh will have to deal with if you died, finances is the last thing he'd want to stress about on top. I'd say insure both of you for at least the amount of your borrowings (mortgage and any other significant debt) plus 3 or 4x the salary of the working spouses on the death of that spouse.

critical illness is good cover if you keep it simple - one that pays out a lump sum immediately on heart attack or diagnosis of cancer. I wouldn't bother with policies that cover any other illnesses, these are the biggies statistically and fairly clear cut whether you get them or not, not much scope for argument! Possibly stroke, too. It is expensive compared to life cover, and you might want to do it for just the working spouse if you are worried about the extra expense.
you'll get cheaper rates if you have a medical specially for the purpose, and accept a moratorium - eg no claims for first 6 months

Thanks all for the advice, very useful. I know that mortgage companies (and others) make a lot of money from these extras and I do believe in the need for some of it but it's knowing the balance between what we need if anything should happen and not paying so much now that it's money wasted.

pootle, the thing about life cover is that it is very simple - you die, they pay. so you don't need any fancy extras, you don't care what company it comes from as long (as long as it is solvent and established). you really just do a search and buy the cheapest one. which almost certainly won't come from your mortgage company.
there are internet sites who will search 20 insurance cos at a time for you - any remember what they are called? www.confused.com is good for car insurance - maybe check if they search for life insurance as well?

Thanks princess, was investigating other companies already as I know that very often the mortgage company isn't the cheapest. (Think they rely on you being stressed). Hadn't thought that there would be acomparison website. Guess what I'm doing tomorrow!

pootle, try Rebroke - disconcerting name but they found some good cheap life cover for DH when his old one ran out (he's 52 so it's pretty expensive now!)

try www.lifesearch. co.uk - sorry can;t do links. We got our policies from them. I'm a financial advisor, so knew what i wanted. I think they do advice based also. hth