What types of protection are there?

The 4 key types of protections for individuals and their families can be split into:

• Life Assurance (Basic Life Cover)
• Critical Illness Cover
• Income Protection
• Family Income Benefit

All of them cover you for different things in different ways. Some people may opt for a choice of 2, 3 or even all 4. Others may be comfortable with 1.

How much does protection cost?

The million dollar question! This all depends on a number of factors. For example, how much protection do you want? How long do you want it to last? How old are you? Are you medically well? The easiest way to find out the cost is to fill in an application form. These are mostly done digitally now and tell us instantly if you could receive cover.

Is it easy to put protection in place?

Yes – once the application form is done, a number of things could happen. Either:

• You’re automatically accepted. You can now put your cover in place.
• The application is referred to an underwriter (an actual human being!) to double check and make a decision
• Your application is accepted but with some minor changes (this could be the premium increasing due to BMI, or an exclusion due to an existing condition.
• Your application is declined.

As you can probably tell, it’s only the bottom one of these that is a huge problem.

Can I protect other members of my family besides myself?

Absolutely – when putting protection in place, it’s important to look at whole eventualities. Take for example a married couple, where one of you works and is a stay-at-home parent. Whilst you might think in that instance it’s just the breadwinner that needs to be covered, what would you do if the other became ill? Would that increase childcare costs whilst trying to balance 2 roles now? It’s important to look holistically and cover a family rather than an individual. This is also why a lot of Critical Illness policies also offer the opportunity to cover children too.

When’s the best time to put protection in place?

As early as possible! Protection gets more expensive the older you are – so act early to avoid cost issues.

How long does protection last for?

That is completely down to you. It needs to be bespoke to your setup. For example, the term of your mortgage, or when your youngest child reaches 21. It’s personal and involved a common sense approach.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.