How to pay less for your life insurance while securing a great product

If you are at a stage in your life where obtaining life insurance is important to you, it is likely that you will have a lot of other financial responsibilities too. Finding life insurance that will cover you for these responsibilities after you have gone, but is justifiable within your current monthly budget, is more important than ever whilst the economy is still at a low point. Finding a life insurance policy to suit your budget doesn’t mean that you need to make a sacrifice on the quality of the policy. There are several ways that you can reduce the cost of your life insurance policy without compromise.

Obtain quotes

Getting a range of prices and policy types is important whichever type of insurance you are looking for. It is no different with life insurance quotes. Be sure to check several different companies when looking for your policy. Don’t be fooled by comparison sites, 3 months free schemes or free gifts, as these are usually put in place to distract you from the small print of a policy.

List your Life Insurance Requirements

Compiling a list of figures and features that you need from your life insurance will help you to choose the right policy. If you have a special type of mortgage, you will need to make sure any mortgage life insurance policy you choose will cover your type of mortgage and fluctuations in interest rates if applicable.

Know your faults

Being aware of aspects of your health, lifestyle or financial situation that might affect your policy will help you to ensure you are covered and not paying more than you should be because of an abnormality in your situation. When looking for critical illness cover you may find a company that specialising in your health condition will charge less than a “one size fits all” type of policy.

Adapt your lifestyle.

If you are serious about getting the best deal on your life insurance policy, consider how a few lifestyle changes could reduce your risk to the insurers. Being a smoker is of course very bad for your health, and because of this your life expectancy will be lesser than a non-smoker and therefore you insurance policy will cost more.

Learn your life insurance types

Knowing about the different types of life insurance policies that are available will help you to be clever in your choice of policy types. Consider term life insurance, convertible insurance policies, investment life insurance or policies that allow riders, as these will all allow you to think ahead of the monthly payments and how much your insurance policy could back to you or your family later down the line.

A little research will go a long way, and taking the time over choosing the right life insurance policy will set you and your family up for life.

Tags: life insurance policy, point, investment, lifestyle, financial responsibilities, little research, health lifestyle, list

House building halted as buyers struggle to get mortgages, says FMB

The number of new houses being built in the UK has dropped in recent months because property developers have backed out of projects as people struggle to find mortgages to buy property, according to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). Read more

Tags: lifestyle choices, mortgage, divorce, increase, lifestyle, Barratt, Mortgages, house builders

Non-disclosure ‘more common in paper applications’

The tendency not to disclose information about one’s medical history and lifestyle is more common among those filling out paper insurance applications than those who submit them over the phone or computer, according to AXA.

With paper applications, non-disclosure accounts for 5.78 per cent being declined, whereas non-disclosure only affects 3.4 per cent of electronic applications and 1.23 per cent of phone applications, the insurer found.

In electronic applications, non-disclosure is less common because certain answers prompt more questions.

Mike Taylor, Chief Underwriter for AXA, said: “What this research shows us is that tele-underwriters’ knowledge combined with our expert underwriting system allows the relevant questions to be asked and hugely reduces the risk of non-disclosure.

“All these cases of non-disclosure were found at underwriting stage, so we were able to correct the applications and underwrite accordingly to make sure the consumer was properly covered.”

Meanwhile, a recent AXA survey found that employees use approximately five and a half days per year sending text messages.

Tags: electronic applications, non-disclosure, underwriting stage, lifestyle, insurance applications

PMI customers can enjoy hefty discounts by staying fit

A recent report has shown that there has been a rise in the number of people taking out private medical insurance this year compared to last year.

The rise of around 1.5% is thought to be because many PMI providers are offering huge discounts to those that are prepared to try and stay fit and healthy, which means that many consumers can enjoy far lower premiums. In the past the level of interest in this type of cover had fallen due to increased costs on premiums.

Some PMI providers are now offering discounts of up to 75% to consumers that have no serious health problems, do not smoke, go to the gym, and lead a healthy lifestyle, as these factors all reduce the risk of claims. In addition, many PMI providers are now also offering no claims discounts to consumers, much in the same way as car insurance companies do, and in some cases these discounts can be transferred if the consumers switches provider.

In some cases insurance companies are allowing consumers to pay larger excesses, which helps to keep the cost of premiums down further. One industry official stated: ‘We found many people were prepared to pay a much higher excess in return for lower monthly premiums. This is especially true of the elderly, who often have more savings in place than younger policyholders. It gives customers more options.’

In addition to leading healthier lifestyles and paying higher excesses, consumers that want to enjoy the protection of private medical insurance should also shop around for the most competitive deals, as this can also help to ensure that the cost of cover is kept down. One official stated: ‘Savings can be made by switching insurer to a more competitive policy, even for the over-60s. The advantage of many of the policies offered by smaller companies is that premiums do not rise so sharply. This is because they have fewer claims.’

Tom Smith
20th September 2007

Tags: disease, work, train, healthy, out, fit, medical, lifestyle, claim

Veggies can now get great deal on life insurance

Life insurance premiums can vary from one insurance company to another, but the cost of premiums is based upon your circumstances, medical history, and lifestyle.

In the past, we have all learned that those that smoke, those that are morbidly overweight, and those with certain medical conditions will pay more for life insurance because it makes them high risk. Healthy individuals that do not smoke, do not drink to excess, and are not overweight, however, can enjoy lower premiums.

There is now an insurance policy that takes it one step further, and offers discounted premiums to those that do not eat meat. Vegetarians and those that eat only fish and no meat can enjoy lower premiums with the life insurance cover that is available through Animal Friends Insurance. The company, which is a non-profit organization that deals with pet insurance, has got together with Liverpool Victoria in order to offer the special life insurance deal.

According to the company there are around 3.5 million people in the UK that are either vegetarian already or are planning to give up meat in the next year or so. The term life insurance on offer from Animal Friends and Liverpool Victoria will offer a 6% discount on premiums to vegetarians and fish eaters.

One official from the company stated: “The risk of vegetarians suffering from some cancers is reduced by up to 40 percent and from heart disease by up to 30 percent, but despite this they have to pay the same life insurance premiums as meat eaters. We believe this is unfair and the life insurance industry needs to acknowledge the fact that being a vegetarian can have a very positive impact on life expectancy and reduce premiums accordingly.”

Tom Smith
19th September 2007

Tags: disease, Insurance, lifestyle, good, eat, life, healthy, vegetarians, vegetables, exercise

Expat banking comes recommended

An expatriate lifestyle magazine has today mapped out some of the typical preferences regarding banking abroad for expats.

Rhiannon Williamson, director of ShelterOffshore.com, said that her clientele tended to gravitate towards established banking names because they were a “known institution”, and regarded banking using different currencies as a “bonus”.

Offshore savings accounts – favoured by expats – differ from conventional accounts in that they tend to calculate interest on a daily basis due to the account’s inherent increased flexibility, which tends to lead to lower interest rates.

“Expats seek flexibility and low charges when banking abroad,” Ms Williamson said.

She added: to have the ability to bank and transact – i.e. transfer money and pay bills – in various currencies is a bonuses and a benefit.

“In our experience at ShelterOffshore, those who do business internationally or who live, travel or work in more than one country have a strong requirement for bank accounts with a single bank in more than one currency.”

For more information, ShelterOffshore’s website offers a comprehensive overview of the positives and negatives of various different accounts suitable for expatriates.

Tags: lifestyle, Expat, Currency, experience, benefit, savings accounts

Only quarter of Brits have adequate insurance cover against loss of income

A recent study carried out has shown the low level of insurance protection cover amongst Brits against loss of income in comparison to the reliance of British households on more than one income. According to the study almost fifty percent of households in the UK rely on more than one income in order to cover living costs, spending, and expenses. However, only a quarter of Brits seems to have adequate insurance cover to protect against the loss of their income.

The data comes from the Scottish Widows Protection Report. The information from the report showed the low level of protection amongst Brits when it comes to insuring themselves against loss of income due to situations such as illness or death. The report also showed that the majority of Brits had less than two months salary in savings to cover them in the event that they ended up losing an essential income.

According to the report: “These findings show that if a breadwinner becomes long-term ill – or dies – the average household in the UK does not even have their essential expenditure covered – let alone enough money for those little luxuries.” The report also indicated that even those with over thirty thousand pounds in savings shouldn’t get too complacent about how they would manage in the event of a loss of income: “Many people aspire to do more than just ‘survive’ a crisis – they wish to maintain their current lifestyle.”

A spokesperson from Scottish Widows stated: “The majority of the population is walking a financial high wire without a safety net. Nobody knows what is around the corner, but we have to accept that all too often illness does strike and accidents do happen. If people don’t start to take responsibility for their own financial futures then they could be left in a position where they can’t even cover the essential expenditure in their lives.”

Tags: expenditure, Insurance, income, lifestyle, cover