Emma from family insurance specialist CoverMyBubble answers all your questions about this complex topic
Q. Insurance can be a confusing topic – what are the main types of family insurance?
A. Life insurance cover – Not only do you lose a loved one when they die, you will also lose their income, and this is what most people do not plan for, or realise, until it’s too late. Life Insurance pays out if anything happens to you or your partner. It’s best to look at insuring both of you so one or the other would receive the lump sum to pay off a mortgage or help with childcare or future living costs.
Critical illness cover – Unfortunately more and more people are suffering from critical illnesses such as cancer, heart attacks, strokes, dementia, organ failure etc., and at younger ages too. There are up to 70 different conditions covered by the providers. You can make a claim and spend it how you wish. It can be used to clear your mortgage, pay towards specialist care, help towards bills whilst you are not working, make adjustments to your home for ability aids, or even a dream holiday to celebrate getting over the illness. When you have critical illness cover, your children are also covered for up to 50 percent of your sum assured.
Income protection – is a policy that protects you against loss of income due to illness or accident. Anxiety, stress & depression are the most claimed upon illnesses, so it is best to look at the options available. It could provide you with up to a 70 percent tax-free income until you are able to return to work.
Q. I cannot afford to spend a lot on insurance – is it worth having some rather than none?
A. Absolutely, we will provide affordable options to suit your circumstances. Every family is different, and we will take the time to get to know you a little and understand what you need protecting. We will provide you with options until it suits your affordability. It is better to have some insurance rather than nothing at all. Start with an affordable premium and we can always look at it again in the future and increase your cover. This is the benefit of having CoverMyBubble as your insurance broker as we will always be there to support and answer any questions you may have.
Q. What are the major life events insurance can help with?
A. The loss of a loved one – partner, child, family member or friend. It is hard enough to have a loved one die or suffer a critical illness, but then to suffer with the financial burden, makes things ten times worse and makes it last longer than needed. If you are planning a family or buying a house, taking out life insurance and critical illness protects you and your financial commitments.
Q. If I use an insurance broker, how can I be sure I am being offered the best deals?
A. Some insurance brokers will have access to the ‘whole of market’ like ourselves, which means they are basically a comparison site. We will do all the hard work and search for the best policy for you and your family, based on what your needs are. We don’t add any fees, so you are getting the actual deal the provider is quoting.
Q. Will it cost me anything to get insurance quotes?
A. Some brokers may charge a broker fee for their time. However, CoverMyBubble do not believe in charging our clients anything, as we are paid commission directly from the providers.
Q. At what age should I start thinking about life insurance?
A. As soon as you commit to a life event, like marriage, mortgage, or children. Basically, the younger and healthier you are, the cheaper the premiums will be. The less medical conditions, the less it affects your premium price. Some insurance providers will let you take out insurance from the age of 17-18 years old.
Q. Why might I need critical illness cover – can’t I rely on state benefits?
A. Unfortunately each person is different and state benefits cannot be guaranteed and can take time. You could be on £30,000 per year and used to a regular income each month to cover your costs. But if you were to claim state benefits you could potentially only receive approx. £95 a week Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) and for up to 28 weeks. Could you manage to pay your outgoings on this money each week?
By having cover in place, you will have the peace of mind that you can protect your income and may be have extra to pay for childcare or medical expenses.
Q. Is it true I can get cover for funeral costs?
A. Yes, we can look at various options to leave a lump sum of money for you to leave for a loved one to help pay for all funeral costs. You can pay for your funeral over 10 years at the current prices instead of waiting till your nearing retirement.
Q. Where can I go for reliable advice about a range of insurance policies such as life, critical illness, children’s cover, income protection and health?
A. Online can be a very daunting place with lots of overwhelming information and jargon that some may not understand. In order to get things explained clearly and in a friendly way, we would advise having a brief chat with us or another insurance broker. We have many FAQ’s on our website which you can read in your own time. These are worded so not to confuse you, but if you do have any other queries you can request a call back or chat to us via any of our social media platforms.
We are regulated by the FCA and fully authorised but if you wish to go elsewhere make sure you check their credentials. Some adverts on social media can be misleading so make sure you head to the bottom of their homepage and check before giving any of your data to them.
Q. I have life insurance already. Can I get this checked to see if it is suitable for me?
A. We advise everyone to check their documents when they receive them, but understand it is so easy to file them and trust everything is in order. Is your basic information correct? Is all your medical information disclosed? If anything is incorrect, this can lead to no pay-out from the insurance provider.
Get your documents out and check them or give us a call and we will review them free of charge. If the policy is good, we will say so. If not, we will give you some options to hopefully save you money, protect your whole family, or get you more sum assured.
Q. What is the story behind CoverMyBubble and how can I find out more?
A. Well the reason behind the name CoverMyBubble is this…. we have always referred to our family as ‘My Bubble’. Everyone has a ‘Bubble’ whether it is your partner, children or home and we want to cover your bubble with the right insurance cover.
In 2006 we lost our daughter Lillie-Beth and as a family we had no insurance in place. I was unable to work, and we suffered the financial burden. My husband was working all hours to try and keep us going and we were embarrassed to ask family for help. This did not just last one year…… but 10 years of suffering. Three years later I suffered a mini-stroke at the age of 30, and we still had no insurance in place, we just could not afford it.
We do not want any family to go through what we did as a family and therefore we do what we do. We can help you plan for the future you and make sure you are all covered should the worst happen. Find us at www.covermybubble.co.uk or @CoverMyBubble on social media.
