|
Home::Insurance
Life Insurance - Top Tips for buying online
Author : Michael Challiner
More and more people in the UK are buying life insurance online and the numbers seem to be doubling every two years. The reasons are clear. Prices are lower on the Internet and life insurance is fundamentally a simple insurance product.
Despite the underlying simplicity of life insurance, most web sites channel their online clients through a telephone based help and advice service manned by experienced personnel. They represent your safety net so if a little technical knowledge is called for, help is at hand.
But its always a good idea to have a few Top Tips in your back pocket when youre shopping online for life insurance. Theyll help you ask the right questions and find the best policy.
1. Always have your Life Insurance policy Written in Trust.
This means that in the event of a claim, the money goes directly and immediately to the person(s) you nominate when you first take the policy out. It also avoids all possibility of your estate having to pay Inheritance Tax on the proceeds of your policy and that could represent a 40% tax saving !
All you have to do is tell the online brokerage organising your policy that you want your policy Written in Trust and the names of the people who the life insurance company pay in the event of a claim. They will then sort it all out for you. The extra good news is that this service is invariably free of charge. So its a win win situation and there arent many of those around these days !
2. In the early years a Reviewable Life Insurance Policy will be cheaper but a Guaranteed Policy will work out a better buy in the longer term.
With a Guaranteed Policy the insurance company guarantees never to increase your policys premium.
With a Reviewable Policy you agree that your insurance company can review the cost of your policy at regular intervals. But dont be kidded in our experience a review is just another word for a price increase. After all, whos ever heard of an insurance company passing up a chance to charge you more! The review intervals are usually between 2 to 5 years but this does vary between insurance companies. You will find the details of the review intervals on the documents sent to you before you accept the insurance these are called The Key Features Documents.
So, comparing otherwise like for like policies, in the early years the premiums for a Reviewable Policy will undoubtedly be lower than the premiums for a Guaranteed Policy. Thereafter, the premiums for a Reviewable Policy increase eventually catching up with and overtaking, the premium for a Guaranteed Policy.
In our experience, you can expect the monthly premiums for a Reviewable Policy to exceed those of a Guaranteed policy in about 7 to 10 years and then within the following 10 years, more than double again. If your budget is currently tight then by all means choose a Reviewable Policy - after all your salary may increase in coming years and ease the strain. On the other hand, if the premiums for a Guaranteed Policy are affordable, we think they represent your best buy.
A footnote. Many insurance companies have stopped offering Guaranteed rates for standalone critical illness insurance policies. This because they have experienced much higher claim rates than they initially expected. However, you may still find a Guaranteed life insurance policy that also provides critical illness cover. As we have explained, Guaranteed rates are especially good value and if you can get a quote for a Guaranteed life policy that includes critical illness cover, you may have a real bargain.
3. Thinking about a Joint Life Insurance Policy?
A Joint Life Insurance policy is usually written on a first death basis. This means that the policy will pay out on the death of the first policyholder, subject to the policy being in force at the time. This leaves the second person uninsured and older. Older people can struggle to get life insurance at an affordable premium, so rather than a Joint Policy consider taking out separate policies now. Overall it will work out a little dearer - but you get twice the cover and double the peace of mind.
4. Taking out a Life Insurance Policy? Now would be an ideal time to include Critical Illness cover.
Are you likely to need Critical Illness Insurance in the future? Yes? Then consider adding it now to the life insurance policy youre arranging. Why? There are three reasons.
Firstly, a Life Insurance policy combined with Critical Illness cover will work out significantly cheaper than buying two separate policies. Secondly, as we have already explained in the footnote to Tip 2, you may be able to buy a combined Life and Critical Illness policy with a guaranteed premium. That could be e real bargain. Finally, premiums for critical illness cover increase rapidly as you get older so the sooner you take it out, the cheaper it will be.
5. Dont confuse Terminal Illness cover with Critical Illness cover.
Theres world of difference between Terminal Illness and Critical Illness cover so its important to understand the difference.
Terminal Illness cover pays out the insured lump sum if a Medical Doctor diagnoses you with an illness from which the Doctor expects you to die within 12 months. Most good life policies automatically include Terminal Illness cover at no extra cost. Its basically an early, and welcome policy payout.
A Critical Illness policy pays out the insured lump sum if you are diagnosed with one of a wide range chronic illness and there is no life expectancy criteria. Indeed, with many of the insured illnesses you could expect to survive for many years. For example: certain cancers, heart disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, loss of speech, sight or hearing, onset of Parkinsons or Alzheimers disease, third degree burns etc. Say you were an engineer aged 40 and you lost your sight. A Critical Illness policy would pay out immediately and that money could well be vital in helping you and your family through many difficult financial years ahead. If you just had Terminal Illness cover thered be no chance of a payout.
So as you can see, Critical Illness cover is far more comprehensive than simple Terminal Illness cover and for that reason critical illness cover always costs you extra.
Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com
Michael Challiner has 15 years experience in financial services marketing at senior level, the last 5 of which specialised in online marketing. Prior to that he spent 15 years in advertising with two of the worlds top advertising agencies, J Walter Thompson and Saatchi & Saatchi.
Michael now Works as the editor of Express Life Insurance . All future work by Michael and additional news stories about life insurance may all be found at his life insurance resource
Spam emails More free articles Related articles
|
More related feeds |
Tips For Getting Best Classic Car Insurance Online | information ...
Tips For Getting Best Classic Car Insurance Online. by Paul Tillery. If you are looking for a vintage automobile insurance quote online you will want to find out more about the various kinds of policies that are offered. ...iPhone Downloads Site - Tips To Pick The Best Site
iPhone Downloads Site - Tips To Pick The Best Site. By Davion W. Any iPhone user must be excited to maximize the features of this hi-tech gadget, and one way this can be possible is to find the best iPhone downloads site on the World ... Top Tips For Buying Mobile Phone Insurance
Ever thought of buying insurance for your mobile? You might not think it's worth it, but it can be. After all, over 1.3 million mobile phones have been stolen in the UK, more than 1.6 million lost, and many more damaged. ... Make Money Online - Favourite Method for Generating Online Income
The next thing that you need to do is to go to a site called compete.com and use this find the top keywords that are driving organic (search engine) traffic to the site. You then need to establish how many backlinks the site has and ... Find the best motorcycle insurance online | paulhatesmac.com
As a result of of this, it is very important that that you will need bike insurance to cover you. Here we will be covering the tips that will help you find the best bike insurance and in the same topic also help you understanding how ... Earn Money While Online with Small Home Business Marketing - Tips ...
If you would love to be financially independent and have more time to do things in life you want to do, you can start a home business online. Home businesses do not need to be massive empires with . ... Make Money Online Without A Website
Let me put it this way, for the past 7 years my life has revolved around advertising websites online through Google. Google Money Pro is a new online marketing course by Steven Holdaway. I hope this information was usefull to you. ... Cure Chronic Bronchitis
Through appropriate medical treatment alongside crucial way-of-life changes, someone suffering from this condition has more improved chances of enjoying life to the fullest and maximizing his or here lifetime. A few of these options for ... Charisma, Love and Health
By loving others, not only can your health improve, but your social life improves as well. So what are you waiting for? Start looking for ways to love others more and watch your life improve in every aspect. ... Blogging About Stuff: Comparing Health Insurance Plans
You need to look into any and all term life insurance plans as well as any other kind that you might be considering. Remember that a health insurance quote for anything is a great start, but you need to research even further and get all ...
| |
