Protection
What is it? Why do I need it?
As part of our service when you become a client of McLean Financial Services we look at what policies you need in place to cover you in the event of –
- Death
- Serious illness – cancer, heart attack, stroke, MS and many others
- Accident
- Sickness
- Disability
We are not just here to put the roof over your head we want to keep you in that home and protect you and your families. We get asked many questions from clients about protection.
We are able to provide the following types of cover:
Death Cover – which pays out should you die. It ensures that you do not leave your family with the debt you’ve left behind.
Cancer, heart attack, stroke, MS cover – commonly called Critical Illness Cover the main claims on this are for the aforementioned and also the fifth most common claim is sadly on children’s cover which many providers are able to offer as a part of the cover. 1 in 2 of us will face cancer in our lifetimes. You can’t take it for granted that it won’t be you.
Family cover – if you die, how will your family cope with the loss of income? We can put policies in place to ensure a monthly amount is paid out to your partner and family to make sure they can maintain the home and standard of living.
Income protection – If you have an accident, suffer sickness or become disabled and are off work, your work will stop paying you after a certain amount of time. If you are a contractor or self employed then you don’t get anything when you are off work. You therefore need a policy to ensure that you can continue to pay your bills and living costs until you can return to work. We can tailor this cover to your circumstances and make sure when you are off work your finances are not causing you stress at an already worrying time.
What cover should I have in place?
That depends on your circumstances and the best way to establish that is to meet with us and allow us to make recommendations. Clients always think that death cover is really important and it is but protecting your income and making sure you can cover your bills and standard of living if you are off work beyond your company sick pay covers you is also really important. We always ask our clients what life would look like of £94.25 per week (statutory sick pay). We’re here to have those frank conversations with you so you get the right protection in place for your circumstances.
I have cover in place through my employer so do I need extra cover?
Some employers offer death in service benefit which pays out a lump sum if you die, typically 4 times your annual salary. While it can be a valuable benefit, it is best to think of it as a nice to have as your employer could change your terms and conditions or you could move jobs and then you’d have to find cover in the future when it could be more expensive as you will be older and your medical circumstances may have changed. This type of employer cover only protects for death it does not cover for serious or critical illness so it’s worth bearing that in mind too.
Do these polices pay out?
We work with the best providers on the market and their claim stats speak for themselves. In 2018, Aviva paid out 98.9% of all life claims in 2018 and Scottish Widows paid out 94.1% of critical illness claims. It is a misconception that policies do not pay out. If you make sure that your cover has been properly arranged for your medical circumstances there is no reason that it should not pay out.
Can I buy this cheaper online?
If we had a pound for every time that clients ask us this… Yes, you probably can go online and buy the policies cheaper however there are a number of pitfalls to this. Firstly headline pricing, comparison sites are great for showing you what it can cost but when you look further, they have no idea of your medical circumstances and therefore aren’t painting a true picture of the cost. The prices you see often claim they cover critical illness but you’ll find when you look at the policy that only 10% of the sum assured is paid out for critical illness so you could have a massive shortfall if you do need to make a claim. Online policies cannot be written in trust which is really important when it comes to paying out. Putting a policy in trust ensures the money goes to the right person at the right time.
Online policies do not often cover the same amount of critical illnesses that our policies cover, so again when you need to make a claim you may find the condition or even your occupation isn’t covered.
Come to us in the first instance as we have access to the same providers but we do the research and make sure you get the right policy written the right way.
Are these policies a condition of my mortgage?
The only policy you must legally have in place for your mortgage is buildings insurance, any financial adviser who tells you otherwise is wrong and is falsely trying to get a sale. Taking protection policies is not mandatory but as a responsible firm we’d be stupid to saddle you with debt and not make sure that you can continue to repay it to keep your home. That’s why when we look at your mortgage we review your needs in respect of these policies and make our recommendations based on your health, lifestyle and circumstances so you can be sure the advice is correct for you.
Can I cancel my policy?
You should ask yourself why you are cancelling your policy. If you cancel your policy now it will only be more expensive to get cover in the future and you took that policy out for good reason on a recommendation from us so make sure you think very carefully before cancelling a policy. This video from on of our providers, Legal and General, explains why it is so important to have cover in place. It also shows the benefit of working with a broker who has your best interests in mind.
If you have a policy that is no longer suitable for your needs or your circumstances have changed then we will always review this and provide you with advice on what you should do with the policy.