Where to start with life insurance, income protection etc? Don’t want to be diddled… 🤠

[Mb12340]

Now that DH and I are parents we’re keenly aware we need to get life insurance. But I feel like all I read are stories of companies trying to wriggle out of paying up, how do you choose a decent company that you can trust?

I earn twice as much as DH. If I die, DH will get a payout from my work that is about half the cost of the remaining mortgage balance. But he will also need additional monthly money to run the household.

If DH dies, I’d get nothing, but I could just about manage monthly household running costs.

Where should we start?

As for income protection/critical illness… I’m also keenly aware that statistically one of us is likely to get some kind of illness that needs a few months off work. But again, companies will say you’ve got the ‘wrong kind’ of cancer (for example) and refuse to pay up! How do you avoid the cowboys?!

Get in touch with a professional! My husband is a mortgage and protection adviser and so this is part of his job, you’re best off getting in touch with someone and going through all options properly.

Good cover comes with a £ though and the cheapest is not going to be the best, chat with an adviser about exactly what cover you want (as especially with income protection you have options, can add a deferral period, can have it to match income or at a set lower amount for example £1000 a month, can have it set to only last a certain time or to be long term).

List out what you need/want and then speak to a professional. FWIW they really can’t fiddle you if you read through all of their terms beforehand and make sure you’re happy with them- a lot of people don’t do this and then are surprised when they try to claim and find their condition isn’t on there, it was never on there but many don’t check they just assume.

Thank you for the information 😊

I’ve had a couple of good experiences with Vesta Financial Services. Due to complex family and personal health circumstances I cannot get everything cover wise that I wanted but they were very open and honest and explained what I could get in a way that I could understand. There was no pressure and I had plenty of time to look through my options and come up with a decision. I’d recommend getting in touch with them https://vestafs.co.uk/

Talking to a financial advisor would also be a good idea to work out your long term planning

Many companies provide this type of cover if you are employed so I'd check that first. It's often a way better level of cover than you can buy.

Term assurance is attached purely to your mortgage and will cover the outstanding payment in the event of the death of one or both of the mortgage account holders. Ours is with Aviva and costs about £38 per month. It's purely a mortgage related product, - but it at least guarantees the house if one of you dies.

Find out about death in service benefits via work, as PP said, and what sickness benefits your employer provides, as a first step.

If you do decide to talk to a financial advisor, make sure you pay a fee, not a percentage of whatever product they direct you to.