# Insurances - Life, Critical Illness and House Insurance



## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

I am in the process of buying a new house and as part of the process i have recieved quotes for house insurance which is £314 but it seems a tad high as i have been coparing meerkats and reckon i can knock nearly 100 pound of this.

But my main concern i life and critical illness cover as i have never had this level of cover for both me and my wife.

The cost is £59.94 for life and critical illness cover for both me and my wife but it does seem excessively high and again a quick visit to comparing meerkats suggests it should be at least 10-15 pound less a month?

Am i being daft and missing something?


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## MDC250 (Jan 4, 2014)

Too many unknown variables such as age, amount to be covered, breakdown between critical and life cover, any medical conditions which may load the premium etc and not something you would really want to share on a public forum!

As you will have found out the life cover element is cheap it's the critical illness that costs. Just check it covers all that it can some policies are better than others.

For something like this I'd want professional advice. 

This is the one of the first things I did when I found out we were expecting a few years back, crazy but gives a degree of peace of mind.


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## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

MDC250 said:


> Too many unknown variables such as age, amount to be covered, breakdown between critical and life cover, any medical conditions which may load the premium etc and not something you would really want to share on a public forum!
> 
> As you will have found out the life cover element is cheap it's the critical illness that costs. Just check it covers all that it can some policies are better than others.
> 
> ...


Yeah I didn't want to post too much info like you say. The figures are from a financial advisor


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## MDC250 (Jan 4, 2014)

If it's any consolation and this is not a peeing competition I pay twice that...kind of baseless without knowing my personal circs so we are back to square one!

Mine is with Aviva who at the time of taking the policies out were working out the best for us.


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## Nico1970 (May 15, 2014)

As noted above, life insurance is far cheaper than critical illness insurance or life plus critical illness cover. For obvious reasons, of course - the underwriters have loads of statistics which say you are more likely to suffer from a 'critical' illness than pop your clogs completely.

What you need to do is decide what is most important to you if X happens. For example, it is generally imperative, if you have a mortgage, that you obtain life insurance. In the event of your death, the people you leave behind would struggle to continue to pay the mortgage and have a reasonable standard of living. Life insurance (assuming it is for an appropriate amount) would cover the mortgage liabilities in the event of your death.

What you need to weigh up then is, if you took seriously ill and were unable to work or at the very least unable to work your normal job (and had to accept a lower paid position / go part time etc), how would that affect your loved one's ability to continue to pay the mortagage as well as other bills etc. and maintain a reasonable standard of living. If the answer to that makes you think twice, then you probably may want to seriously consider critical illness insurance or added cover as it gives a safety net and indeed peace of mind.

Of course, there are so many variables - how many years of productive working are you likely to have, size of mortgage, family health history so the best advice is to seek some professional advice from an Independent Financial Advisor.

Good luck..


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## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

MDC250 said:


> If it's any consolation and this is not a peeing competition I pay twice that...kind of baseless without knowing my personal circs so we are back to square one!
> 
> Mine is with Aviva who at the time of taking the policies out were working out the best for us.


This is with Aviva too as it happens


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## NiallSD (May 21, 2013)

As an IFA we as a code of practice would never advise you compare critical illness policies as they all tend to offer cover for different types of specified severity and conditions. We should never ever recommend replacing CI cover with another provider based on cost alone. 

This is not something I feel the internet explicitly explains. 

Do you want to find out a claim is declined because you chose not to have the highest level of cover, or are you happy to take the risk? No right or wrong answer as long as you are comfortable with decision. 

I just feel that these compare websites don't necessarily put the consumer in the best position to make an informed choice.


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## MDC250 (Jan 4, 2014)

^ sound advice and from a pro!


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## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

NiallSD said:


> As an IFA we as a code of practice would never advise you compare critical illness policies as they all tend to offer cover for different types of specified severity and conditions. We should never ever recommend replacing CI cover with another provider based on cost alone.
> 
> This is not something I feel the internet explicitly explains.
> 
> ...


Thanks very much for that


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## m4rkymark (Aug 17, 2014)

the other thing a lot of people tend to forget is they get life cover through their work pensions scheme - death in service benefit. its normally 3 or 4 times your salary. if you are certain you are going to be working in the same place until you retire you may be over insured if you take out additional cover and have this benefit. some people would argue there is no such thing of being over-insured - its all a matter of opinion though.


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## MDC250 (Jan 4, 2014)

m4rkymark said:


> the other thing a lot of people tend to forget is they get life cover through their work pensions scheme - death in service benefit. its normally 3 or 4 times your salary. if you are certain you are going to be working in the same place until you retire you may be over insured if you take out additional cover and have this benefit. some people would argue there is no such thing of being over-insured - its all a matter of opinion though.


Don't think death in service is mandatory is it and/or necessarily linked to pension schemes?!?

We've only just got it in work, it's a very cheap product for the employer to offer well in my place it is as most employees are very young. Couple of the old girls, well into late 60s were loading the premium that put work off for a while.


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## Caledoniandream (Oct 9, 2009)

Your job has a high influence on "Critical Illness" insurance, working Off-Shore I guess adds a lot to the cost. 
Never try to save on a critical illness insurance, the moment you need it, you don't want to discuss all kind of issues with your insurer, you have bigger problems at that point. 
Any insurance is always "Bad Value" until you need it! 
I hope you never need it, but when you do, you want to have peace that you have the best. 
My ex was critical ill for the best of 2 years, without a good insurance we would have lived under the bridges.


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## Guitarjon (Jul 13, 2012)

We have life and critical illness cover. Its £44 for the two of us with prudential. We were with legal and general for about £46 a month but the new one covers for more illnesses and covers quicker. I'll be honest the deal breaker was the free cinema tickets every week for me and my partner. 

It would have been cheaper but we are what they call over weight.


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## J306TD (May 19, 2008)

Have you spoken to a financial adviser about this. They can tailor a package to suit you. Also they can get you better deals than going direct to the same company. Avoid your bank they just over charge. I have been using the same company for the last 2 years. Always speak to the same guy which is even better as it feels more personal. I had a few health issues crop up just before mine was due to start. He was happy to wait for me to get the all clear. So no pestering for business. Can PM you his details if needed.


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## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

Caledoniandream said:


> Your job has a high influence on "Critical Illness" insurance, working Off-Shore I guess adds a lot to the cost.
> Never try to save on a critical illness insurance, the moment you need it, you don't want to discuss all kind of issues with your insurer, you have bigger problems at that point.
> Any insurance is always "Bad Value" until you need it!
> I hope you never need it, but when you do, you want to have peace that you have the best.
> My ex was critical ill for the best of 2 years, without a good insurance we would have lived under the bridges.


Never thought of it like that about my job being possibly in a higher risk bracket


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## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

J306TD said:


> Have you spoken to a financial adviser about this. They can tailor a package to suit you. Also they can get you better deals than going direct to the same company. Avoid your bank they just over charge. I have been using the same company for the last 2 years. Always speak to the same guy which is even better as it feels more personal. I had a few health issues crop up just before mine was due to start. He was happy to wait for me to get the all clear. So no pestering for business. Can PM you his details if needed.


i rang the financial advisor back and aired my thoughts and he echoed what was said on here in that the products they recommend have to be pretty much bullet proof so they don't in trouble for recommending or giving bad advice


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## m4rkymark (Aug 17, 2014)

MDC250 said:


> Don't think death in service is mandatory is it and/or necessarily linked to pension schemes?!?
> 
> We've only just got it in work, it's a very cheap product for the employer to offer well in my place it is as most employees are very young. Couple of the old girls, well into late 60s were loading the premium that put work off for a while.


Sorry I can only comment on the three schemes I have been in and they have all been linked to company pension scheme one of these being the prudential where I was a FA but this was many years ago so maybe things have changed. The three companies are big national/worldwide companies so maybe it's because their schemes are so big it's linked to this? I have family who work in aviva and nhs and their death in service is linked to their pensions too hence the reason I thought they were all linked to a company pension.


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