When arranging life insurance or critical illness insurance it is extremely important to ensure that the cover selected adequately covers your needs. Take time when obtaining quotes to ensure the cover is suitable as it will pay off for you and your family in the long run.

WHAT IS LIFE INSURANCE

You may also find that life insurance is referred to as life cover or life assurance and really these are all different terms that mean the same thing.

Life insurance or assurance is a financial protection for your dependents in the event of your untimely death.

You would pay premiums to the company each month and in return for being covered for the ‘sum assured’ which is the amount that will be paid out on death.

The cost of life insurance/assurance will vary on :

1. The size of the sum assured

2. Your age and occupation

3. Gender and whether you smoke and also the term of the policy.

The application form that you need to complete will also ask certain medical questions. Pre existing medical conditions can affect the price you need to pay and insurers can refuse to insure you if you are deemed to be too high a risk.

DO YOU NEED LIFE INSURANCE

Basically, if you have dependents or a mortgage then the answer would be YES

Just take time to consider what would happen if you were to die today? Would your family be able to cope financially if you have insufficient life cover or no cover at all.

The only people who do not need life cover may be people who have no dependents at all. However, some mortgage lenders will insist that you insure yourself even if you have no dependents.

Take time to think about the situation. It is amazing to think that recent research suggests that 70% of the population do not have any life cover at all.

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When arranging life,term or critical illness insurance, it is extremely important to ensure that the cover selected adequately covers your needs.

It is firstly very important that you have cover that would protect your dependents in the event of your death or contracting a critical illness that may prevent you from earning a living.

One of the largest life insurance companies in the UK, has advised that the average age of a female critical illness claimant is 44, whilst with males it is 46. Half of the life insurance claims paid were also for people aged under 55.

These statistics will come as a surprise to many people and just proves that you need to ensure that you have the proper protection in place.

It is a quite amazing statistic that two thirds of families have no life cover at all !!!

In the event of the death of the main breadwinner in a family or if the main breadwinner was diagnosed with a serious illness, the family could find themselves in a terrible situation.

Life insurance for example is reasonably cheap , particularly when compared with other lifestyle products that we all pay for and take for granted as part of our monthly outgoings e.g. mobile phones, TV packages, nights out etc, etc

If you have children or other dependents you need to think seriously about life insurance.

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Always remember to ensure that you are properly covered to satisfy your needs

When arranging life insurance, term insurance or critical illness quotes, it is extremely important to ensure that the cover you have selected adequately meets your needs.

Some frequently asked questions are answered below:

Level term assurance: The amount of life cover or the amount insured will remain the same throughout the life of the policy. This type of cover would be suitable for people with interest only mortgages where the amount of mortgage loan will not decrease over the term of the mortgage and for family protection.

Premium frequency: You can normally pay your premiums monthly or yearly

Smoker status: If you have used cigarettes,cigars,pipes,or nicotine replacements in the last twelve months including occasional use then you must answer this question as ‘yes’

Term: Choose the length of time you wish the policy to cover you for in terms of whole years. For example if the mortgage term is twenty five years then you would choose this period of time.

Overall, though it is important that you are comfortable with the product that you have selected and ensure that it meets your needs.

Life insurance that you may purchase to protect your family in the event of your death is an extremely important decision and should be researched properly.

Online quotes available from http://www.insurescotland.com

When arranging life insurance it is important to ensure that the cover selected adequately meets your needs.

There are a few different types of life insurance and some more details are given below to try and help you navigate your way round the different options.

LEVEL TERM ASSURANCE

The amount of life cover would remain the same throughout the life of the policy. Generally this cover would be suitable for people with an interest only mortgage where the amount of the mortgage loan would not decrease over the term of the mortgage

DECREASING TERM ASSURANCE

The amount of the life cover would reduce with the outstanding debt on a repayment mortgage. This type of life insurance would generally be suitable for someone who has a repayment mortgage where the mortgage is repaid gradually over the course of the mortgage term. The premium would remain the same throughout the term selected.

FAMILY INCOME BENEFIT

This type of policy is similar to that of Level Term but instead pays out an annual amount until the end of the policy rather than a lump sum.

The main point to remember is that it is extremely important to ensure that the cover suits the needs of you and your family.

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When arranging your home building & contents insurance it is extremely important to ensure that you are fully aware of what excess applies to your policy as you will need to pay this amount in the event that you have a claim.  

It may be quite confusing, but take time to ensure that you know the position as you do not want a shock in the event of a claim.

Policy Excess : This is applied to all policyholders and is part of the policy terms. In addition to this excess there may be

Voluntary Excess: This is an optional amount that you can choose which will reduce your premium.

Compulsory Excess: These may be applied by the insurance company to reflect your policy risk. These excesses will be clearly shown on your policy schedule.

OTHER EXCESSES TO CHECK

Due to the large increase in the number of escape of water claims, many insurance companies have increased the compulsory excess for this type of claim. Make sure that you are aware of this amount as it is not uncommon for the escape of water excess to be £200 or more.

The main point to bear in mind is to check what the excesses are and ensure that they suit your needs.

When arranging your home building & contents insurance policy it is extremely important to ensure that the cover you have selected adequately covers your needs and protects your home and your possessions.

A friend recently had a nasty surprise when she submitted a home insurance claim to her insurer after her house had been broken into. The thieves stole many personal belongings such as jewellery and laptops and other technology items.

They also stole several scissors and hairdressing equipment that she uses at her work and the total amount was in the region of £2,000.

Unfortunately, she has found out the hard way as the insurer involved repudiated the claim in respect of the aforementioned business equipment and therefore she has in effect been self insured for the £2,000 worth of goods.

Unfortunately, she thought she was covered for such items whilst in her home, but the home contents policy was quite clear and there was no cover when she read the policy.

The insurance company had settled the other part of the claim but they referred to the policy wording that clearly stated the position.

Many household policies do not cover business items and stock in the home, so it is not that uncommon.

Unfortunately, my friend has found out the hard way but she will be very careful in the future that any home insurance policy covers her needs.

Online home insurance quotes http://www.insurescotland.com/

There has been much coverage in the press recently of rising home insurance premiums and some of the percentage increases are quite staggering for some people.

Insurance companies will review their rates continually and will look for trends that may develop and the underwriters then may take action to increase premiums in certain postcodes or for certain types of risks. 

One insurance company may find that their claims experience in a particular postcode area has been particularly bad and therefore look to implement a large increase in this area in order that they slow down the new business that they write from such an area.

This may be fine if you are looking for a new business quote and you are not currently insured by this company as you would simply select another insurer from the panel who is more competitive to meet your needs.

However, if you are currently insured with such an insurer, then you may find that the renewal premium increases quite dramatically and this is the time that you will need to shop about and obtain alternative quotes.

It may also be the case that the insurance company has had a change in strategy and may not wish to keep increasing the number of home insurance policies that they write and again you may find in this instance that premiums may increase dramatically.

Whatever the reason may be it could be the case that the insurance company you selected three or four years ago will no longer be competitive for your home.

Insurance companies will price their products to try to make an underwriting profit and therefore rate changes to particular product lines will be dependent on the profit that the insurance company is achieving.

If your home insurance is due for renewal then obtain a quote from http://www.insurescotland.com and see how much you could save.

When arranging your home insurance policy, make sure that the policy you select meets your needs.

When arranging your home building & contents insurance it is very important that you are fully aware that the cover you have selected fully meets your needs.

Your home is probably the largest investment you will make and it makes sense to ensure that you are protecting the property to your satisfaction.

Many policies now have compulsory excesses and this varies from insurer to insurer, so it is important to ensure that you are aware of the excess as you will need to pay this amount in the event of a claim. 

Many insurance companies may also have a compulsory excess for escape of water of water in respect of building and contents insurance. You need to check this amount as the excess can vary from £100 up to £500 on some occasions. A £250 excess for escape of water is not uncommon, but make sure you are aware of what the excess is as you will require to pay this amount in the event of a claim.

One other point to check is the renewal paperwork that you will receive from your insurance company in respect of existing home insurance policies. There will normally be a page inserted that clearly shows any changes to your policy from the previous years renewal date.

It is extremely important to fully read these changes and make sure that any changes to your home policy still meet your needs.

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The storms that recently battered Scotland at the end of December and also during early January have left a trail of destruction and insurers have been inundated with calls from anxious policyholders.

Travelling around Scotland it is amazing to witness the number of mature trees that have been blown down and it really brings home the severity of the storm particularly in January.

Many people have suffered either damage to their car or home and the most important action is to call your insurance company for their advice.

Many cars have been damaged by flying slates or tiles or chimneys collapsing on them. There are also pictures of cars being damaged by walls or fallen trees. 

In these circumstances the best course of action is to contact you car insurer and let them deal with the accidental damage part of the claim. It would be extremely difficult to prove negligence against anyone and therefore it is best to contact your own car insurer.

There will probably be an excess on your car insurance policy, so check the details on your schedule as you will be responsible for this part of the claim. The claim will also affect your no claims discount under your car policy.

The best course of action is to contact your insurance company for advice and guidance.

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During the storms that battered the country at the end of December and then again in early January, many people advise that they have experienced damage to fences with many blown down or even blown away.

They have been enquiring as to whether fences are automatically covered by home insurance policies and unfortunately they will not be covered by the vast majority of policies.

On most home insurance policies, the insurers will normally have an exclusion under the storm peril. The exclusion will normally be loss or damage to fences, gates and hedges.

Unfortunately, the policyholder will be responsible for repairing the damage to the fence or replacing the fence.

Some policyholders are also wondering whether storm damage to garden walls are covered under a home policy and the building definition under most home insurance policies would normally include garden walls and the storm peril would not normally exclude garden walls so there is some good news on that front.

If you have suffered damage in the storms that battered the country then the first thing to do is call your insurance company for guidance. Due to the severity of the January storm, some insurance companies may authorise the work to proceed up to a certain figure. However, this will vary from insurer to insurer , so it is extremely important to call the insurance company to find out the position.

Online home building & contents quotes http://www.insurescotland.com