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Original poster

Mortage/critical illness cover??

31 replies

aGalChangedHerName · 18/12/2008 06:59

We are in the process of switching our mortage through a financial advisor. Getting a much better rate with C&G.

He is reccommending critical illness cover along with life assurance in one policy. We have never had it as the cost has always put DH off (oh and he is invincable too) but i am 37 and he is 45.

So i worry that as we get older is is likely/probable that one of us could get sick and be unable to return to work etc etc.

So is it a must to have this cover? How many of you have it? And thoe who don't,do you worry about getting ill etc?

Thanks

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ThePellyandMe · 18/12/2008 07:07

We had critical illness cover thanks to advice from our financial adviser. Rates were cheaper then, this was 2001.

3 Years ago I was diagnosed with cervical cancer, treated with major surgery but the policy paid out £85,000 or thereabouts. This money made a massive difference to our lives and provided a real cushion when I was ill and depressed and probably spent too much

So yes, I would say if you can afford it, have it.

TBH I always thought it would be DH that might need the policy as he is 14 years older than me but there you go.

Original poster
aGalChangedHerName · 18/12/2008 07:13

Really??

See DH is always suspicious of these policys. He believes that if you have the policy it has so many clauses that it wont pay out for loads of stuff.

I would have it in a heartbeat and i will have to talk him into it i think.

He says that it will cost £107 a month and DH would rather make over payments to the mortage and pay it off quicker but i can see the point of having the cover.

Glad you had the pay out at a time you really needed it,hope you are well now x

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bollockbrainASSofBETHLEHEM · 18/12/2008 07:14

you do not have to have this cover at all and many dont.

In such circumstances such as pelly it has proved to be worthwhile, but beware, there are so mny clauses they use to get out of paying. It can prove to be a very expensive waste of time.

MaSTARRecycle · 18/12/2008 07:14

we have just taken out income protection for me as the main breadwinner. Despite my chequered health history only £5 a week for £1500 a month. It covers terminal illness and death.

bollockbrainASSofBETHLEHEM · 18/12/2008 07:16

£107 a month is a hell of a lot of money which you could be investing elsewhere should you ever need it.

Original poster
aGalChangedHerName · 18/12/2008 07:17

Bethlehem that is DH's view. He has read of people getting ill and because they had a scan 10 years ago the cover the policy has refused to pay out

God you just don't know with this stuff.

The financial obv gets commission for selling it so i don't trust what he says either.

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Original poster
aGalChangedHerName · 18/12/2008 07:19

The life assurance (death part) is only £27 a month so the critical illness is £80

I am clueless really.

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MaSTARRecycle · 18/12/2008 07:25

look into income protection rather than life assurance. Gives a monthly income in case anything happens to him. I was well aware of the insurance co's not paying out so declared every lump and bump in my medical history took about 2 hours!

Original poster
aGalChangedHerName · 18/12/2008 07:28

Will my financial fellow be able to help us with that STARR? Wonder why he didn't reccommend that or tell us that was available?

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LoveBeingAMummyKissingSanta · 18/12/2008 07:32

MaSTARRecycle has hit the nail one he head, you just ahve to ensure that EVERYTHING is declared.

Yes he probably gets commission but let's not forget if he didn't ask how you'd cope fincailly if something happened to your DH then he wouldn't be doing his job either!

You need to weight it up which is really the most important to YOU, an extra £80 a month now or cover in case the worst happens?

There's nothing wrong with either answer, it is your personal preference.

MaSTARRecycle · 18/12/2008 07:33

probably because a lot less commission. My ifa went through all my financial details and looked at the exposure we had. I already had life cover for the mortgage via endowments. We just needed something to cover our outgoings. Oh and I am 43.

Original poster
aGalChangedHerName · 18/12/2008 07:51

He is coming back on Monday so will talk to him about other options then.

Thanks all x

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ThePellyandMe · 18/12/2008 13:16

I think our policy only cost about £25 a month. £107 we never would have been able to afford.

With regards to paying out I had the same worries and became convinced they would wriggle out of our claim but as others have said you just have to declare everything in your medical history.

Anyway it worked out really well for us but that was a fluke really, the policy was joint but was in place in case DH had a heart attack/ stroke kind of thing and had to stop work. Neither of us ever thought I would get ill and I certainly didn't expect what I had to be covered by the policy as it was caught in the early stages. I thought you had to be half dead or something

Twiglett · 18/12/2008 13:17

life assurance yes

critical illness no

IMHO

SixSpotBurnet · 18/12/2008 13:25

I do have critical illness cover as well as life assurance as I was advised to do so by an independent financial adviser (nothing to do with mortgage). DH does not work so I am the sole breadwinner.

Yorkiegirl · 18/12/2008 13:34

Message withdrawn

Original poster
aGalChangedHerName · 18/12/2008 13:43

I know Yorkie He and i got married in after hearing about your DH. I will look into the income protection then. It seems to be something to think about.

£107 seems to be such a lot of money to pay out,especially when we could make overpayments some months with that money.

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Yorkiegirl · 18/12/2008 13:45

Message withdrawn

Original poster
aGalChangedHerName · 18/12/2008 13:48

Critical illness is with Legal and General so might ask him to cost income protection too.

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MaSTARRecycle · 18/12/2008 13:50

Oh ours is with Legal and General as well!

Original poster
aGalChangedHerName · 18/12/2008 13:52

Will get DH to phone our financial guy and look into income protection before he comes back on Monday.

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Yorkiegirl · 18/12/2008 13:53

Message withdrawn

Original poster
aGalChangedHerName · 18/12/2008 14:03

Thanks for that info. I'd never heard of income protection so that was really useful xx

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Bezi · 18/12/2008 15:10

I work for a bank and sell mortgages ife insurances etc. the price you were quoted does seem high, make sure you look into different policies and dont just take your financial advisors word as gospal. There are certain banks and insurance firms who do not use financial advisors. there are different types of cover
life- will pay a lump sum on death
critical illness- will payout lump sum on diagnosis of certain illnessess eg. cancer
Income protection - will pay monthly amount if unable to work due to redundancy
sickness - will pay monthly benefit if unable to work if sick.

These are just the ones I am aware of different companies have different policies. Hope this helps

Original poster
aGalChangedHerName · 18/12/2008 17:38

Thank you Bezi. FA guy is saying we need to decide by Monday as it's a really good deal but don't want to jump in and make the wrong decision.

Our mortage will be £123 thou. Does that cover still seem high to you?

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