Life Insurance and Critical Illness Northampton | Michael Knight Mortgages | Earls Barton | Wollaston | Irchester | Wellingborough | Northampton

Life Insurance and Critical Illness Protection

What is life insurance?

Also known as ‘term assurance’ or ‘life assurance’, life insurance is a simple, popular and affordable way to financially protect your family in the event of your death (premiums start from just a few pounds a month).

The length of time that you choose to be insured for is called the ‘term’. If you die during the term, your policy will pay out a guaranteed sum of money.

Even if you have an existing life insurance policy, it is worth speaking to me, as I may be able to offer you less expensive options, and my advice is absolutely free.

How much life insurance should you get?

You can choose how much life insurance you buy. You may have dependants to think of, or a mortgage or even an unprotected loan to cover.

People often want their policies to pay out a multiple of their salary or the value of their mortgage. Bear in mind this may not be enough to maintain your family’s present standard of living, so please speak to us. We can help you decide on the appropriate level of cover for your personal circumstances.

How much does life insurance cost?

The amount you pay on a monthly basis is the premium. Some premiums start from a few pence a day, although the exact amount will depend upon your individual circumstances. Premiums are based mainly on your age, sex, occupation, whether you smoke, medical history and the level of cover you require

Critical Illness

A critical illness is unfortunately something that can affect anyone, of any age:

·Average age for female claims with Norwich Union in 2005 was 39 and 42 for males.
·Since 1999 the average age of Scottish Providents claimants is 42

The good news is that as medical science advances, more and more people are surviving serious illness, and this makes it essential that you do everything you can to maintain your quality of life should you suffer a critical illness or disability.

Critical illness cover is an insurance that pays out a cash lump sum if you are diagnosed with a critical illness covered by your insurance plan during its term.

I can arrange this sort of cover for you on a standalone basis, or as part of life insurance (see separate page for more details on life insurance).

I do not charge a fee for my advice, so even if you have existing critical illness cover, it is worth speaking to me as there may be less expensive options available to you with comparable benefits.

Some statistics about illnesses in the UK:

·Nearly 2 million people of working age will be off work for at least 6 months at any one time through sickness or disability. (Source: Scottish Provident 2006)

·1 in 3 people will develop some form of cancer during their lifetime (Source: Cancer Research UK 2004)

·Coronary Heart Disease, in form of CVD, causes over 117,000 deaths a year in the UK (Source: British Heart Foundation 2006)

·A staggering 2.6 million people are estimated to be living with coronary heart disease (Source: British Heart Foundation Coronary Heart Disease Statistics 2006)

The estimated number of people under 75 living in the UK who have had a heart attack is 826,000 (Source: British Heart Foundation Fact sheet 2004)

These policies are not savings or investment plans so if you cancel your policy, you will not get your money back. All of the protection policies named above have benefits and drawbacks. Drawbacks can include exclusions and limits to the amount of cover. I will discuss these with you before I make a recommendation.