Do you need life insurance?

Firstly, it’s important to point out that not everyone needs life insurance, yes it can benefit most people, but it’s particularly useful for those that have significant financial commitments. The main reason for getting life insurance is to protect your loved ones from the risk of financial hardship in the event of your death and if you’re the main earner in the household this is especially true. Whether you’re the main breadwinner or not, you need to pose yourself the question, what would happen to your loved ones financially in the event that you die? It’s a fairly morbid question to ask, but an important one. Chances are the last thing you’d want to happen while your family is grieving their loss is for them to be worried about how to pay the bills or keep a roof over their heads. That’s where life insurance comes in. By taking out a life insurance policy, you can ensure that all of your debts and financial commitments are paid for, so your family doesn’t need to worry about money in the immediate aftermath of your death.

Top reasons for taking out life insurance

There are a multitude of reasons you may take out a life insurance policy, these are among the most common:

• Buying a new home
• To cover rent
• Getting married
• Having a baby
• Planning for a funeral
• Leaving something for the next generation
• To cover bills and debts

Whatever your reason for taking out a policy though, it’s typically to protect your loved ones in some way, shape or form.

What affects the cost of life insurance?

There are a variety of factors which will affect the cost of your life insurance, some you’ll have control over and others you won’t. Here we summerise some of the most important influencers:

• Your age – sadly policies will get more expensive as we age
• The type of policy you choose, level, decreasing, whole of life
• The level of cover, i.e. size of the payout
• Whether you’re a smoker
• Where you live
• What your job is
• Your health and your family’s health history
• Whether you do anything hazardous like scuba diving or rock climbing

As we age our health tends to deteriorate and we become more prone to illnesses and have a higher chance of dying. For those reasons, it is usually better to take out a life insurance policy sooner rather than later. The longer you leave it the higher the monthly premiums will become.

*Content courtesy of The Voice*

The post Why it pays to get life insurance when you’re young appeared first on Life Insurances UK.

Insurance Companies will Do Everything they Can to Avoid Paying Out
It is commonly believed that insurance companies are here to scam you and will do all that they can to avoid paying out. But these companies routinely publish their pay-out to claim ratio, and almost all claims are paid by life insurance companies. Trying to cheat someone out of life insurance is much more complex than with something like auto insurance where there could be so many conflicting factors.

There is also a myth that insurance companies will make it a pain for you to claim, but that’s wrong again. If you want to make sure that the claim process goes as smoothly as possible, you’re the one who is going to have to take the proper steps.

This firstly means that you have to be completely truthful when answering questions when applying. You also want to be as accurate as possible. Also, you want to make sure that each of your dependents knows that you have a life insurance policy. You want to let them know the term of the insurance policy in question, the insurer, and the policy number.

Couples Should Always Get a Joint Policy
Some people will automatically assume that it’s a better idea to get a joint policy if you have the chance, but that’s not always the case. While it’s true that these policies will usually cost you much less, the coverage won’t be as comprehensive.

The main issue with these policies is that they only pay once. The policy will pay out the minute one of the two partners dies, and once that happens, the other partner is on their own. And at this point, their premiums are likely to go up due to age. Not only that, but there’s also the possibility of you separating at some point, which comes with additional issues.

Pay-outs Are Tax-Free
They can be, but they aren’t necessarily. This is what confuses so many people about taxes and life insurance policy pay-outs. If you want your policy pay-outs to be tax-exempt, they have to be “written in trust”. If you don’t do that, pay-outs will be hit with an inheritance tax. So, make sure that you know this and that the policy is properly drafted.

I Can’t Get Affordable Life Insurance if I Have a Chronic Condition
Another thing that many people are scared about when considering life insurance is whether they’ll be able to get a reasonable deal if they have a chronic condition, like diabetes for instance. While it is true that this will be taken into consideration during calculations, it is still possible to get reasonable premiums when you know where to look.

We strongly suggest you check out I’m Insured if you want to learn more about getting life insurance with diabetes. Not only will you be able to know how to get diabetes life insurance for a reasonable price, but you will also be able to get a free quote from a certified broker. This service will connect you with all the best providers for your condition and could help you save thousands on your policy.

You Don’t Need Insurance if You Don’t Work
Another thing that people assume is that they don’t need to get insurance if they’re not contributing financially to the household, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. You still have a spouse to worry about, and if you have a family, your absence could still lead to financial loss to them.

For instance, if you’re no longer there to take care of the children during the day or take them to school and back, this means that the other partner might now have to pay for someone to do it or take on some additional costs. That can make a significant difference in their budget, so this is something that you should be aware of.

These are just some of the most common myths that are being propagated about life insurance and insurance in general. If you’re currently in the process of shopping for a life policy, we suggest you do as much research as you can and make an informed decision before you sign anything.

*Content courtesy of The Yorker*

The post 5 Common Myths and Misconceptions About Life Insurance appeared first on Life Insurances UK.

Reassured director of corporate sales Phil Jeynes told City A.M. that the existence of a coronavirus vaccine could mean customers who have had the vaccine are offered different terms to those who have not, based upon the increased risk for those who have not had the vaccine.

Jeynes explained that since the early days of the pandemic insurers introduced two or three additional underwriting questions designed to establish whether the applicant presented a major risk of coronavirus, such as ‘have you had or come into contact with someone who’s had coronavirus?’

“For customers with, or at high risk of contracting covid, insurers have tended to apply a postponement period and then asked the customer to come back and confirm they’re recovered or have had a negative test result,” Jeynes continued. “If the customer doesn’t have any covid symptoms or contact, it’s been business as usual for life insurance – same products, same prices.

“A vaccine therefore presents the opportunity to remove those extra questions and make underwriting slightly faster again, but otherwise won’t have much impact. It’s possible insurers would start to ask whether clients have received the vaccine once it becomes commonplace, and that could be used to offer different terms based on the increased risk for people who choose not to be vaccinated, but that’s some way off and would obviously be weighed alongside myriad other factors and risks, such as other medical conditions, BMI level, age, and so on.”

Last week Pfizer announced that its experimental Covid vaccine proved 90 per cent effective in phase three clinical trials. The UK government has ordered 40 million doses of the vaccine. Earlier this week the UK secured 5 million doses of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine, which proved 95 per cent effective in late-stage clinical trials.

So far, the UK has secured 355 million doses of potential vaccines produced by seven different companies

The UK government has a priority list for vaccinating people against coronavirus. First in line for a vaccine are care home residents and carers, followed by older age groups from 80-plus-year-olds, going down to 65-plus-year-olds. Then adults with underlying health conditions, then 50-plus-year-olds, going down the age bands.

Medical insurance
When it comes to medical insurance, Assured Futures director Ian Sawyer thought it unlikely refusing a coronavirus vaccine would have an impact.

He explained: “If we compare with flu, no insurer seeks knowledge of or demands any customer has the flu jab, and yet we also lose around 20,000 people a year to flu, so this precedent would say no.”

With that said he did not entirely rule out additional rules around the vaccine, adding: “Strangers things have happened so it remains a possibility.”

The director said ultimately whether the coronavirus vaccine will have an impact of medical insurance came down to how much more serious insurers viewed Covid-19 in comparison to flu.

“Covid is unlikely to make many claims on private medical insurance as treating Covid is generally emergency treatment and would be usually handled by the NHS, so Covid itself should not provoke that much rise in risks and costs,” he continued.

“[But] the impact of Covid is on the wider access to treatment for other conditions, resulting in massive NHS queues, which should provoke more people to consider private medical insurance – although of course buying it now won’t help anyone needing immediate treatment, as pre-existing conditions will be excluded.”

*Content courtesy of City A.M*

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