Insurance
Short term life cover is more useful than you might realise
Life cover and critical illness cover are usually associated with the full term of a mortgage. But it is possible to have cover from a year down to a single day.
Part of its appeal is that applying for short term cover can be a much simpler and quicker process than for a whole life or mortgage term life policy. Some people use it as temporary cover while they go through the application process for longer life products. This is sometimes called emergency insurance.
Short term life and critical illness cover, for typically less than five years, can be taken for various other reasons:
- Business cover
- Between employment
- Bridging loans
As the cover is for a relatively shorter term the premiums are not as high as many people think, due to the low probability of claiming. Of course if you do need to claim during that time, it could be priceless.
Choosing the best life cover depends on your budget, your age, and the amount of cover you want. That’s why you should shop around. Come and talk to us at Limetree – we will give you independent advice about products right across the whole market.
No Comments »
The important thing to remember with all insurance is to not compare price alone. You need to know what is actually covered by each policy, and whether it suits your requirements.
Because building insurance is usually a requirement when getting a mortgage, lenders may offer you their own. Don’t take the first thing offered – it pays to have a broker look at the whole market to find the best deal for the most suitable cover.
Buildings and contents insurance – what’s the difference?
Buildings insurance covers the physical structure of your building, calculated by how much it would cost to rebuild. It usually includes fixed fittings (such as bathrooms and kitchens), utilities and outbuildings such as greenhouses, garages and sheds.
Homeowners, including landlords, need buildings insurance to cover the cost of accidental damage or rebuild costs to their property if anything went wrong. It is usually an obligation for getting a mortgage.
Contents insurance, on the other hand, is not a legal requirement (although sometimes tenants need it to sign a letting contract). However, you should have it, because it covers your possessions (the un-fixed things in your home) in the event of theft or fire. Imagine how much it would cost to buy all of your possessions again brand new – clothes and furniture and appliances soon add up to a tremendous sum.
Buildings insurance tips
Savings can often be made if you take out buildings and contents insurance with the same insurer. Also, improving your security with better locks on doors and windows, a burglar alarm or even by joining a Neighbourhood Watch scheme can reduce your premium.
Another way to save money is by paying up front annually instead of in monthly payments, or by increasing the excess you are willing to pay if you do have to make a claim.
You need to tell your insurer if you change the structure of your building in any way, for example with a conservatory or loft conversion.
Some homeowners struggle to get buildings cover because their properties have developed subsidence or are built in an area prone to flooding. If this has happened to you, let us know – we have access to insurers who specialise in problem buildings.
If you are purchasing a leasehold property, for example in a block of flats, check first that it is not already be covered by the freehold owner’s insurance.
Contents insurance tips
Reduce your premium in the same ways as for buildings insurance: buy both together, increase security, pay annually with a larger excess.
Make sure that you get the level of cover that suits your situation. Insurers usually offer additional cover for accidental damage to your possessions, as well as options for insuring belongings away from home, such as jewellery and cameras.
Increasingly, insurers offer bicycle cover as a specific item on their policies – invaluable for living in the Cambridge area.
Beware of under-insuring your contents. If disaster strikes, you don’t want to be left unable to replace all your possessions. When you add up the costs of everything in your home at new prices – it might be more than you think (the average home’s contents add up to £40,000).
Instead of a cash payment, some insurers offer new-for-old policies, where they replace the destroyed or stolen items with the newest equivalent version.
At Limetree we have a vast range of the latest Building and Contents Insurance policies at our fingertips. If you would like advice on the best cover for you, please get in touch.
No Comments »
“My life premium has been loaded due to the early death of a close relative who lived a totally different lifestyle to me.”
We hear this a lot – healthy people having to pay more for life assurance because of a death or illness in their family, even when it is not something that they are any more likely to suffer themselves.
Some insurers have started loading premiums by 50% based on a parent being diagnosed with certain illnesses prior to their 65th birthday – regardless of the health of the person looking to be insured.
I recently had the example of a client whose father had smoked from the age of 14. He survived a stroke at the age of 52 and is now over 65. Although his son has never smoked, the initial insurer wanted a 50% loading for our client’s policy due to the father’s medical history.
We reapplied with a different insurer that doesn’t have an automatic loading clause for parents, with great success: the new insurer was only 15p per month higher than the first insurer’s original quotation (before the loading).
We can’t change the fact that some life insurers load premiums in these ways – but you don’t have to accept it. But we can help you to find one who doesn’t, and save you money each month with a smaller premium.
That’s why it’s worth contacting life insurance brokers. We can quickly find the best life assurance for your unique situation.
No Comments »
Three years ago now the Financial Services Authority (FSA) called upon insurance comparison websites to provide us with clear, fair information that is not misleading.
One of the things the FSA’s review of comparison sites looked at was ‘whether consumers were encouraged to consider features, other than price, before purchasing products’.
If the adverts for these websites on TV are to be believed, the size of the saving is still all that is important. But when it comes to buildings and contents insurance, price is not the only thing, especially when insuring your most expensive asset. Having the right cover for your property is essential.
For this reason at Limetree we discuss the various options available for buildings insurance and tailor the cover to your individual requirements.
As insurance brokers we offer an independent service designed to find the right cover for the correct price with the most suitable repayment option for you of annually or monthly.
Don’t be fooled by low prices – talk to people who know what matters in an insurance policy, and who can find the right one for you.
No Comments »
Have you been paying the same Life Assurance premiums for the last five to 10 years? If yes, then it’s time to review them.
You can’t pick up a newspaper at the moment without reading about the pensions crisis due to people living longer. Another effect of the increased longevity of the general population has been for life assurance premiums to reduce dramatically in recent years.
If your health has been unaffected over that time, it is likely that you could save money on your premium by finding a better deal (subject of course to the relevant underwriting).
Falling premiums are not the only reason to review your life insurance. You should also review your policy if your own health has improved, medicine has advanced in an area that affects you, or you no longer take part in an activity that was deemed dangerous.
Reasons to review your life insurance
- Premiums have reduced generally
- If you have stopped smoking (for at least 12 months)
- If your health has improved – and if your premium was originally loaded due to medical conditions that are now either resolved or more under control due to medical advances
- If you have lost weight – where your policy was originally loaded based on Body Mass Index (BMI)
- If your policy was loaded for a hazardous activity that you no longer do
If you haven’t thought about your life insurance for a while and want to find out how much money you could save, contact us for a no-obligation quotation.
No Comments »
