Archive for September, 2009

Life Insurance plans For The Over 50s Are They Worth it?

Summary
This article airs the problems with the over fifties plans that do not want your medical history ,can they really be financially worth it? Carry on reading for more information.

Becoming increasingly popular are the over  fifties life insurance quotes.

They promise acceptance without medical questions and are frequently endorsed by mature celebrities like Judi Dench and Nigel Havers. Consumers who purchase these life insurance plans might be paying far more in than their recipients will get out.

Pledging a pay out on the policyholder’s death, premiums commence at about £7 growing to about £60. Being sold to people between 51 and 79 the settlement depends on the premium paid, gender and age when the policy starts.
Significantly, no questions about their health are asked.  Some insurance plans stop after a specific amount of time, but will still be valid until the policyholder dies. In other insurance plans the payment is made until the policyholder dies, nevertheless insurance holders can put more in than they get out depending upon when they die.

Referring to adverts for Axa Sun Life plan, Simon Michaels of independent financial advisers Martin Jones IFA Ltd says ‘I can’t comprehend David Frostsanctioning this style of insurance plan. He is a first-class act, but the same cannot be said for this policy.’

A director at Legal and Generals over 50’s life Cover Plan, Jim Paxton defends  Frost’s role, saying he is just making consumers conscious of the products existence , for which there is a terrific demand .He says, ‘The attraction is their affordability because of their assured acceptance procedure and the low payments.’

Nevertheless, you could get an even better plan somewhere else buying regular insurance policy on  equivalent terms ‘consumers could get three or four times as much for their money from a normal life insurance cover, in return for responding to a few questions.’ Says Gerald Parkins of Hillmont financial services.

Not asking any medical questions forces much dearer payments as these plans interest customers with pre-existing illnesses who may pass away before the Insurance Company has covered its cost. Companies also freeze any payouts for the first 2 or 3 years to  safeguard themselves. A reimbursement of the premiums made is more often than not refunded if a policyholder passes away of natural causes in this time.

The Manager of financial services at Tesco, Peter Yale, admits that the cost could be less for normal life insurance but usually by the time you reach your 50’s, many have experienced some kind of ill health, thus why consumers prefer the over fifties policies. Policyholders’paying in more than they ever get backis one part he does not concur with. ‘We limit the payments, when we compile the plan,’ he states, meaning once the insurance policyholders have paid the sum assured their premiums stop.

Many over-fifties policies do sooner or later have cut off points, but many clients have paid more than necessary before they reach this point. Premiums normally cease at 90 with the LV policy and the PO running them for a set length of time.

The main reason people purchase these policies is to pay interment expenses. Yet, the ultimate pay out may perhaps not be nearly enough. An up-front payment plan would be a better selection with Lincoln funeral care providing 4 packages priced between 2,510 pounds and 3,286 pounds. This particular type of plan can be taken out for 3 years.

 

Is Critical Illness Insurance Just the Job?

Summarys
It is essential to clarify the wording of policies, in particular those relating to critical illness cover. The innovative introduction of placing illnesses into groups, which will offer customers a greater choice of cover.

 A small number of people are covered against serious illness even though it may occur unexpectedly. Norwich Union, the income protection provider, has carried out research that say that only 5% of the the British work force own critical illness cover, even though they will obtain a lump sum if they have  a stroke, heart attack or suffer from cancer.

18 per cent of the population consider the insurance to be too dear, the survey reveals, which which accounts for the low take up.

Potential customers are also confused by the phraseology of policies and the difference between permanent medical insurance and critical illness cover.

An operational party formed by the AIB, is presently reviewing the  phrasing of policies. The situation could become much more baffling if the working party decides to decrease the amount of diseases defined as a critical illness.

Norwich Union have introduced a new plan known as Elixia 123, which it claims reduces the price of critical illness cover by around 26 per cent and on occasions by as much as 49 per cent.

This will be achieved by letting clients to choose the illnesses for which they want insurance. There are three categories of risk. Group one. Heart attacks, strokes and invasive cancer. The plan will only make a settlement if the disease leads to major life style changes or is life threatening.

Category two. Conditionsthat dramatically affect life style but do not have much impact on life expectancy. Alzheimer’s, blindness and Motor neurone disease  are included in this category.

Category 3. as one is unable to forecast what the future will hold.

Critical illness cover is not that pricey so it is wise to go for a comprehensive plan, which will give you complete protection.

Jennifer Green, the distribution development manager at PruHealth, is concerned about how the terms are defined. She emphasises that customers must comprehend accurately what they are purchasing. For instance, when is a condition defined as major? The 1st and the 3rd groups need explanation before buying insurance as there is not much to choose between them in her view. Difficulties can happen later if the consumer has not fully appreciated the terms of the mortgage insurance policy when they put pen to paper, says Nye Jones.