Critical Illness Advisors

The last thing you want to think about if you suffer a critical illness is how to pay for your mortgage or any adaptations required to your home or lifestyle. Critical illness Insurance pays out a tax-free lump sum if you are diagnosed with a serious illness. The illnesses covered by the policy will be confirmed in the Policy Summary or Key Facts Document which you would receive from the insurer.

Get the best value cover

Critical illness Insurance pays out a tax-free lump sum if you are diagnosed with a specified serious illness.

It is important that before taking out critical illness insurance you compare quotes to get the best value and most comprehensive cover possible. By spending a little time comparing quotes, you can save a lot of money and trouble on premiums.

Building and Contents

For Buildings and Contents Insurance we usually offer products from a limited panel of providers.

Buildings insurance is not only a necessity for homeowners with a mortgage; it's a requirement. The amount of coverage should allow for the assessed value of rebuilding the damaged or destroyed property. For permanent structures, this number is found in the valuation report, which can be provided by your local estate agency. If you are under-insured, it can affect coverage in the event of damage. It is important your buildings are covered from the first day you accept responsibility or ownership for your property.

Buildings insurance is available for both structural aspects of your property, as well as permanent fittings and fixtures. This often includes sub-structures such as garages, storage sheds, greenhouses, fences, and driveways. Premium costs are dependent upon type of property, where it is located, and how big it is.

Often mortgage companies direct homeowners towards providers that can cover the owner's needs, but it pays to look around for the best rate.

Even if you do not have a mortgage, it is recommended that you have buildings insurance to cover the possible hefty costs if something were to damage your property. Coverage usually includes loss or damage as a result of weather (storms, wind, flooding, lightning, extreme cold), natural disasters, purposeful harm (theft, vandalism, arson), and accidents (fire among others).

Often, your policy can be extended to cover interior damage, or can be combined with a contents policy to protect your personal items. By spending just a little time to compare quotes, you can save a lot of money and trouble on premiums.

Income Protection Insurance

It is important to protect your lifestyle and family if you are unable to work due to illness or accident.

Some employers provide their staff with their full salary or a proportion of their salary for a few weeks or months. The law requires all employers to pay statutory sick pay for up to 28 weeks. However, it is likely this will be a lot less than your earnings.

As part of a benefit package some employers arrange group income protection insurance for staff members. This would pay staff members an income after the statutory sick period.

If you are self-employed you will not receive any employer benefits or statutory sick pay.

Income Protection Insurance protects your income in the event of long-term illness or accident that prevents you from working. The maximum you are allowed to insure for is usually 50% to 60% of your earnings before tax.

In the event of a claim being made because of illness or disability, an income protection insurance policy would pay out a tax-free income.

The cost of the monthly premium depends on a number of factors which include: your age, your sex, your health, your occupation and your hobbies and lifestyle. One other factor which influences the premium is the deferred period. When you make a claim there is a deferred period before the benefit is paid. Normally deferred periods are from 4 weeks to 104 weeks. The longer the deferred period the cheaper the premium.

By spending just a little time to compare quotes, you can save a lot of money and trouble on premiums.

Life Insurance

Life insurance is risk coverage in the possible event of death during a specified period of time; this type of insurance is often known as term life insurance or temporary life insurance. This set term is often around 20 years, and usually associated with events like a mortgage or children. Term life insures that your spouse or child will be financially secure for debts and provisions in case of unlikely death.

A specific cash value is not often associated with term life insurance. Life insurance attached to a mortgage (often a requirement) decreases its payout as the overall cost of your mortgage decreases.

It is necessary to consider how much coverage is required, whether the insurance policy can be renewed if needed, whether benefits are allotted over time or as one lump sum, and what exclusions are involved that could interrupt payout.

Premiums are affected by the policy insured's health and lifestyle, but are in general much lower than those associated with investment life insurance, also known as life assurance.

It is important to compare premium prices for term life insurance, as the costs can vary widely. By spending just a little time to compare quotes, you can save a lot of money and trouble on premiums.

Mortgage Payment Protection Plans

For Mortgage Payment Protection plans and Accident, Sickness & Unemployment (ASU) plans we act as introducers only and don't advise.

Mortgage Payment Protection is a comprehensive insurance policy that covers reasons you may not be able to pay your mortgage during a specified period of time. These circumstances could include accident, disability, illness, or unemployment. Usually, claims are covered for a period of time up to 12 months.

Mortgage Payment Protections does not usually cover pre-existing medical conditions, pregnancy, substance abuse, or disorders without backing medical evidence.

Prevent undue stress during hard times, by ensuring you and your family are covered in case of unintentional and unexpected circumstances that could prevent your ability to pay your home mortgage. By spending just a little time to compare quotes, you can save a lot of money and trouble on premiums.

This Payment Protection Insurance is optional. There are other providers of Payment Protection Insurance and other products designed to protect you against loss of income. For impartial information about insurance, please visit the website at www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk

On clicking the above links you will leave the regulated site of Tom Garside Financial Services. Neither Tom Garside Financial Services, nor Sesame Ltd, is responsible for the accuracy of the information contained within the linked site.

Accident, Sickness & Unemployment (ASU)

For Accident, Sickness & Unemployment and Mortgage Payment Protection plans we act as introducers only and don't advise.

Accident, Sickness and Unemployment insurance (ASU), can also be referred to as mortgage payment protection and will provide you with an income to meet your outgoings if you are off work sick, have an accident or are made redundant. It pays out a monthly benefit to cover your mortgage and other related costs.

You may choose the amount of benefit you would like to receive - although there are some limits on the maximum amount. The premium will be a percentage of the amount of monthly benefit you would like to receive. Benefits are usually payable for a maximum of 12 months.

Some policies will also allow you to choose whether you want to receive benefits for accident and sickness only, unemployment only or all three. Most policies will also have a 'deferment period'. This is the period of time you will have to wait after losing your source of income until you may claim the policy benefit.

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Life assurance, also known as investment life insurance, whole life insurance, or permanent life insurance, is a policy to cover the eventual imminent death of the insured. It is insurance against an event that will happen. Because these policies are not term limited, premiums are often much higher than with term life insurance, but they guarantee payout upon maturity. The policy matures upon financial payout at the time of death.

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Due to the fact that premiums are higher than with other types of life insurance, it is very important to compare rates among various insurers.

Life assurance adds a monetary bonus to your own premium payments. Occasionally there are exceptions to payout, thus it is very important that all the details of the policy are understood. Payments can take the form of periodic installments, or as a single lump sum. 

Loans can be taken out against the policy's value, in case of need, but these loans reduce the payout to the beneficiary unless paid back. Often these policies can include benefits in case of critical illness or accident.

Cost of coverage depends on many factors, all meant to determine risk. These factors include age, gender, lifestyle, health, and occupation. The amount of coverage you need is dependent upon debts, mortgage, and family needs. By spending just a little time to compare quotes, you can save a lot of money and trouble on premiums.