Protection
Protect yourself & your family
Life Assurance
People don’t often dwell on what the financial consequences of their own death would be. It’s not generally in our nature to think about such things. The sad reality is though that people do die unexpectedly. Life insurance policies are designed to help you and your family in the event of this. Life Insurance policies can pay out a lump sum (or regular annual income) if you were to pass away during the term of your policy.
Many people at all stages of life can benefit from the peace of mind of having life insurance. To know that should the worst case scenario happen, your loved ones will not necessarily have to worry about finances on top of the pain they would no doubt be suffering having lost a loved one. An Advisor will help you work out how much cover you would need to fit your circumstances. In the event of death, it is also a possibility that you may want to leave your family or loved ones money that will cover expenses such as the mortgage, funeral costs, school/university fees or just a general
rainy day fund which would have ordinarily been taken care of from the income you would have continued earning.
Income Protection
An Income Protection Policy is designed to protect your income if you are unable to work as a result of disability or ill health. Unlike an Accident, Sickness or Unemployment policy which typically has maximum term of 12 to 24 months, an Income Protection policy can have a significantly longer term, and typically upon a successful claim, would pay out a monthly tax- free income after your chosen deferred period until you either recover or reach your selected retirement age.
The maximum cover you can have is normally between 50-60% of your gross income. However, as the benefit is paid tax free, the amount you receive into your bank account each month should not be too dissimilar to the amount you receive whilst working. Some of the most common conditions covered by income protection policies are mental health illnesses such as anxiety, stress or depression, back pain and broken bones. Payment protection Insurance is optional. There are other providers of Payment Protection Insurance and other products designed to protect you against the loss of income.
Critical illness cover
Life assurance obviously provides your beneficiaries with a lump sum of money should you pass away but there are situations where a lump sum of money would be just as useful such as if you were to unfortunately contract a critical illness such as cancer, a heart attack, stroke, neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or Motor Neurone Disease, severed or amputated limps, total loss of sight, hearing or speech plus a number of other illness or ailments policies typically cover. In this instance you would more than likely be unable to work for a prolonged period of time and your income could be affected, so to have a policy which would provide you with a lump sum upon diagnosis of a critical illness could be very useful.
The Mortgage Squad will help you work out how much cover you would need to fit your circumstances fully explaining how the policy works and any exclusions to the policy.
Accident, sickness and unemployment cover
What would you do if you suddenly couldn’t pay your mortgage or monthly bills due to being unable to work? Accident, Sickness & Unemployment cover is a policy which is designed to help cover you should you be unable to work if you suffer a sickness, have an accident or be made redundant.
Most policies of this type will pay out a monthly benefit after an initial waiting period and will pay out for up to 12 or 24 months or when you return to work usually whichever happens first depending on the terms of your policy.
You can either arrange just Accident & Sickness cover to keep monthly premiums lower or just Unemployment cover which certain companies offer. Please ask the Advisor for more details and they can pass your details onto an affiliated firm who can provide you with options for this type of cover. Payment protection Insurance is optional. There are other providers of Payment Protection Insurance and other products designed to protect you against the loss of income. For impartial information about insurance, please visit the website at www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk.
HOME INSURANCE
Buildings Insurance is designed to cover you against physical damage to your property. It is generally a condition on your mortgage contract and is required by most mortgage lenders to comply with the terms and conditions of the mortgage contract.
Contents Insurance offers cover against fire, theft and damage to your personal belongings. As different companies offer different inclusions and exclusions of what they cover, you should always check your existing policies to see if it includes cover on your most precious items. If you are interested in this type of cover, The Mortgage Squad can refer you to an affiliated company to help you arrange this cover.
WILL WRITING SERVICES
When a person dies without leaving a valid Will, their property (the estate) must be shared out according to certain rules. These are called the rules of intestacy. A person who dies without leaving a Will is called an intestate person. Only married or civil partners and some other close relatives can inherit under the rules of intestacy. We attach this link for further details surrounding intestacy: Intestacy – who inherits if someone dies without a will? – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Mortgage Squad have teamed up with a local Will writing company to offer our clients the ability to set up a Will or have their current one reviewed/updated. Please ask your Advisor at The Mortgage Squad should you wish to be put in touch with the firm we recommend.