Six personal insurance tips
1. Don’t get hung up on the cost.
Lots of people put off buying insurance because they assume it’s too expensive. Insurance can be varied to suit most budgets. The key here is getting the RIGHT cover and thinking about the cost of not having insurance when something goes wrong.
2. Don’t underestimate your needs
Many people underestimate their needs or pick a smaller number than they’d like to try and cut down on costs. It’s really important to try and do your sums first, otherwise you may run the risk of selling your beneficiaries short.
There will be different factors to consider. If you’ve already built up a significant savings pot, you may not need so much cover. On the other hand, if you have a spouse or a family, you may want to ensure that there is enough in the pot to provide for them in the long-term. You’ll want to look at the amount of mortgage debt you have, other debts and expenses that need to be paid. Are their education costs coming up in the future or would your spouse need to give up work to look after the children?
3. Don’t put it off too long.
The sooner you get cover, the cheaper it is likely to be. Many people wait until they are homeowners or married with a family before buying life insurance. However, you’ll run the risk of higher premiums or even being denied coverage if you develop a serious illness as you get older.
It’s definitely never too early to think about getting insurance to protect your finances in the future.
4. Don’t forget to review your policy.
We see this a lot. Clients take out insurance at one stage of their life and never consider it again, our circumstances change so frequently we really should be reviewing our insurance every time a big life event happens. New job, new house, children, additional debt, marriage. All of these have an effect on the insurance you should have in place.
5. Don’t assume your policy won’t pay out
As long as you buy a life insurance policy from a reputable provider, we can assure you that life insurance isn’t a scam. If you’ve provided truthful, accurate information, there shouldn’t be any reason why your insurer declines the claim.
6. Avoid comparison sites and speak to a person.
Algorithms can be great for simple needs, there are so many variations is what cover people need and why, an algorithm is likely to get a recommendation wrong, as it doesn’t match you and the specific nuances of your circumstances.
As a qualified adviser I can tailor a recommendation to you, and your family’s needs. Also, using a local adviser keeps the commission from the policy local. It is free to talk to an adviser about insurance, our charge comes from the insurance provider in the form of a commission, if you don’t go ahead with a recommendation, you’re not out of pocket.
You can’t beat speaking to a human, if I ever needed to claim on insurance policy, I would want an adviser on my side helping me through that difficult stage, definitely not a virtual meerkat!
Tarnia Elsworth
Director and Protection Adviser
Phone 01524 920015 Mobile 07951113654
Web tpfinancialsolutions.co.uk/protection
Email tarnia@tpfinancialsolutions.co.uk
