Protection

Protection is generally needed for one of two reasons:

To provide money for people who depend on you or to provide money for yourself in times of need. We arrange all types of protection including life cover, critical illness cover, income protection, accident, sickness & unemployment cover and buildings and contents insurance.

Life Cover

The following are all types of situations which may require the use of life cover:

1. Mortgage - If the house is to be lived in by your partner or your children, then you need to ensure that the mortgage is to be repaid in the event of a premature death.
2. Money for dependents - If you have small children then money will help provide for them, perhaps by allowing the surviving partner to stay at home or work part time for several years

The good news is that many people already have existing life cover and this quite often is sufficient for their needs.

The other good news is that the cost of life cover has falled dramatically in recent years and you may be able to replace an existing policy with one which is much cheaper than you are currently paying.

At the time of writing there are a number of companies who would provide £ 100,000 of cover for a male aged 30 next birthday, non-smoker for less than £ 10.00* per month and as low as £ 7.35 per month.

If you are in a company pension scheme that does not provide life cover, are self employed or have dependents, it is essentail you have your position assessed.

Critical Illness

This is a policy which would potentially pay out on diagnosis of a critical illness. Examples of critical illnesses are cancer, stroke and heart attack. It may well be that on diagnosis you are unable to work again yet have a relatively large mortgage. A critical illness policy would potentially pay off the mortgage.

Income Protection

This is a policy which pays a 'replacement' income in the unfortunate event of you being unable to work. It is usually payable from a defined point until either you return to work or reach retirement, whichever occurs first. It is usually a proportion of your income.

Accident, Sickness & Unemployment

Accident & Sickness protection is designed to pay your mortgage payments whilst you are unable to work for a maximum period, usually up to 12 months or 24 months. This is not to be confused with income protection.

Unemployment protection is designed to pay your mortgage payments whilst you are unemployed for a maiximum period, usually up to 12 months or 24 months.

Buildings & Contents

The buildings part is to insure your home and the contents is to insure your contents.

*Life & Pensions Moneyfacts September 2007