Historically, insurers have used age, health and occupation as the main factors which influence he cost of your life insurance. But now your post code is going to be taken into account as well.

Aviva, previously Norwich Union, has added your post code as a factor after using average life expectancy per post code to help price their pension annuities. Success with annuities has convinced them that it was time to add average life expectancy per post code to their life insurance underwriting. They believe that post code assessments will affect the premiums for about 30% of applicants, changing their premium by around 10% up or down.

But some social commentators are worried. They believe that it could create a post code lottery whereby people living in deprived areas will automatically have to pay more than those living in more affluent areas.

But we can see why Aviva are now taking account of post codes. A report by the World Health Organisation looking at Glasgow, found huge variations in life expectancy across small areas of the city. They give an example that a boy born this year in the Calton area of Glasgow could expect to live to 54 whereas if he lived in Lenzie a few miles away, his life expectancy would be 82. With such stark statistics as these it’s no wonder the life insurance industry is taking note.

If you undergo a DNA test to find out your likelihood of contracting inheritable disease such as breast cancer could a life insurance company demand to see the results? Well currently, a voluntary agreement prevents insurers from even asking whether the person has had a test and they can’t instruct anyone to take a test.

But as we all know, things can change and the agreement is only voluntary. Indeed the agreement is due to expire in 2014 and we are sure that the current arrangements will change.

We don’t believe that people in the UK will stand for demands for wholesale DNA testing and the politicians will probably support that view. But the issue is heightened by the increasing availability of DNA testing. There are even DIY testing kits, albeit at the princely sum of £700 (well outside the budget of an insurance company!) but at one time a basic flat screen TV’s were £2,500!

So what’s the chance that if you decided to take a test now for your own peace of mind, that the insurers couldn’t demand to see the results after the 2014 expiry date? Well, if the results are on your health records at your GP’s then as things are now, nothing. In fact as far as we are aware, when you give your GP your approval to provide information to a life insurance company, the GP is at liberty to disclose everything in the file.

So if the DNA results are in your health file then your insurer could get hold of them.

Will you avoid this problem if you have a DIY DNA test? Well, yes but as with many of these new developments the problem comes with interpreting the results. To get it 100% right you really need a medically trained person – and if you ask your GP, it’s on your records again!

It’s a difficult one. But if you have a strong reason for testing because for example, your family has a history of breast cancer, you’ll just have to go ahead and hope that the politicians sort the law out before 2014.

This possibility is something that every family should have covered but it seems that more than 1.5 million families with children haven’t even considered the situation - and far more, 7 million, admit that they don’t have adequate life or critical illness cover.

This means that if the grim reaper came knocking, those families are likely to suffer severe financial hardship. In the worst case scenario the family might be unable to pay the mortgage and face repossession.

I know that the recession is putting strains on some family’s budgets but quite honestly, if you are under-insured you need to sort it out. At least get some life insurance which will payout in the event of death – the price of life cover is at an all time low so it’s a relative bargain. A 30 year old male, could get cover for £100,000 for 25 years for as little as £6.53 a month.

Even better, get some cover in case you become critically ill. Critical Illness policies cover the big three illnesses – cancer, stroke and heart attack – plus a wide range of other serious illnesses. These policies payout as soon as a diagnosis of an insured illness is confirmed. In many ways this type of cover is even more important that than life cover although you can buy both types of cover in a combined policy. Critical Illness cover is more expensive that pure life cover – because the chances of a payout are higher – which in many ways is confirmation of the importance of this type of cover.

So if you are one of the 1.5 million or indeed, one of the 7 million, for your family’s sake get it sorted!

Scientists are now saying that half a glass of wine a day can increase life expectancy by almost 5 years. That conclusion followed a study of 1,400 middle aged men over four decades. Of course, it doesn’t have to be wine – I suppose a wee dram would also qualify!

But even if you drink a bit more each day – say 2 galsses of wine, 2 whiskies or 2 pints of beer, you’re still likely to extend your life by 2 years.

Now all this sounds like great news to me and I got to thinking about whether that means that my life insurance premiums should therefore be a bit cheaper. In my mind I began composing a letter to the chief underwriter at Norwich Union.

Dear Sir …. I am writing to you to get a reduction in my monthly premium and make a claim for a rebate of part of the £25.46 a month I have been paying for the last 35 years………..

That’s about as far as I got. Despite what the scientists say about drinking, I’m absolutely sure that the underwriting guru’s at the nations’ insurance companies are going to take no notice whatsoever.

So I saved my self the price of a stamp. And poured myself another glass of chilled chardonay.

As the financial markets in the UK continue to be hit by the Credit Crunch - Brokers Online has dcide to restart its finance Blog.

Here you will be able to read information on whats hapening and what is likely to happen to the UK economy in the next few months and years.

During such a difficult time I guess the best advice anyone can give you is to try not to worry unduely. Panic cause people to make silly snap decisions, try not to fall in to that trap!

Some financial products such as life insurance may feel life they are a luxury but in reality if you are finding hard to pay your bills now imagine how hard it could be without the correct forms of protection insurance.

You must also consider products such as Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance and Income Protection these products can be particularly helpful in times such as these.

Investigate your options clearly and carefully - please remember getting quotations for products is not the same as actually buying them - find out how much additional protection could cost you before you dismiss it out of hand.

Regards,

Editor Brokers Online

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Companies face severe funding woes By Chris Giles, Economics Editor Financial Times

Published: December 1 2008 20:44 | Last updated: December 1 2008 20:44

Company finances are facing the most severe squeeze in almost 30 years, Bank of England figures showed on Monday, as deposits in banks are falling fast and businesses struggle to raise new funds.

In October, deposits at banks and building societies by non-financial companies fell 5.2 per cent, the fastest rate since 1980. In the same month, the annual growth in lending to non-financial companies fell to 6.5 per cent, down from 17.9 per cent a year earlier.

Michael Saunders of Citi said: “With such a rapid deterioration in corporate liquidity, many companies cannot be patient and hope to sit out the downturn – they will have to cut back quickly on jobs and investment.”

Households are finding credit conditions almost as tough. The annual growth in the total amount of mortgage debt rose 4.5 per cent in October, the lowest growth rate since the mid 1990s.

But this figure is also deceptive because net mortgage lending since Lehman Brothers failed in September has ground almost to a halt.

Over the most recent quarter, the growth of secured lending by banks and building societies to households is lower than at any time since the Bank started collecting such data in 1963.

Household deposit growth into banks and building societies – a crucial measure of the health of the nation’s domestic finances – had been growing at a steady rate of about 8 per cent a year since 2002. Since September that rate dropped to 6 per cent, the lowest for eight years.

Such dramatic falls in the underlying strength of lending to companies and households will weigh heavily on the Bank’s monetary policy committee this week as it meets to decide interest rates. It expressed concern over the weakness in the growth of monetary aggregates last month when it cut rates 1.5 percentage points, and this concern has intensified over the past month.

Simon Ward of New Star said: “The monetary data confirm a grim near-term economic outlook and warrant a further cut in interest rates at this week’s MPC meeting.”

The weak credit figures come from the components of the Bank’s aggregate money supply, or M4, figures, which show both deposits in UK banks and building societies and lending by them. The aggregate growth of both M4 and M4 lending is rising at double digit rates, but most of this growth represents loans between subsidiaries of financial institutions or loans to the financial sector.

Original Page https://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/283b9772-bfda-11dd-9222-0000779fd18c.html?nclick_check=1

Author: Richard Norfolk

If you see your doctor for a report on your condition, be it general or specific to particular symptoms, you would not unreasonably expect an accurate report. If you were paying for the report, this should put extra pressure on your GP to supply one which would be precise and correct, not vague and open to interpretation.

When applying for life insurance it would appear that around 40% of us have a medical condition which we feel obliged to declare on the application form. This information is then followed up by the insurance company and, provided that it is acceptable to the applicant, they will then contact the GP and ask for a medical report on the individual. This report has to be paid for so the insurance company is quite justified in expecting it to be precise and accurate; unfortunately there are times when it is not.

It is a fact that doctors are often under pressure, with a workload that fails to leave adequate time for attention to details which are apparently rather less than urgent. The result is that there are times when GPs will take the easy way out (presumably to save time) and instead of supplying a report, they will pass on to the insurance company a copy of the patient’s record from the practice computer.

In these circumstances they are not only supplying the wrong sort of information, but they could also be breaking the law by breaching patient confidentiality in supplying information about a patient which the patient had not agreed could be disclosed.

As far as the insurance company are concerned, they have paid for information relating to a specific condition or conditions about which they need full and accurate information, to enable them to assess the risk for life insurance. They are not qualified to take the whole of a patient’s records and from them deduce the risk relating to specific conditions. That is a task requiring a doctor’s skills.

Neither the Association of British Insurers nor the British Medical Association is satisfied with the current procedure. There is concern that the agreement by which insurers are allowed access to some medical information could be damaged if they are allowed open access to the whole of a patient’s medical records.

As a result of this concern an agreement has been made between both parties, whereby the fee paid by the insurance company to doctors will increase by 6% per annum over a five year period. In exchange for this commitment GPs have agreed, through the BMA, to provide the insurance companies with reports of a good quality, which will give them the information which they need. At the same time patient confidentiality will be preserved, as the only information which will be provided will be that which the patient has asked to be divulged.

Thus the cost to an insurer of a GPs report will rise over a five year period from £74.70 to £100. A supplementary report will increase from £19.10 to £25.50 and a medical examination from £82.20 to £110 over the same period.

The BMA have for their part made the point to GPs that life assurance is for the patients benefit and should not be treated lightly; they have asked for accuracy in the preparation of these reports which do after all have a cost benefit for the GPs.

This is a relatively small price for insurers for to pay for accurate information, which should in itself save costs for them by providing dependable facts.

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Author: Catriona Singfield

In the UK, as with the rest of Europe, we are now living longer than at any time in the past – and the figure is rising. The average lifespan for a British man is now 76.2 years, with a woman living even longer at 80.7 years. This is excellent news, but sadly there is a downside – we may be living longer, but we’re not as healthy as our fellow Europeans.

According to an EU survey on the subject, conducted over a sample of 60,000 people, longevity is not the only index of old age we should be paying attention to. The survey made a study of age of death, sickness and overall health. Healthy life years, the amount of time we can expect to enjoy an active, able old age, are just not matching up to lifespan.

Out of a average life of 76.2 years, a British man can expect to enjoy only 61.5 years in good physical condition. In the European league table of health, we are fifth from the bottom.

However, it is important not to jump to conclusions too early because as yet, no-one is sure exactly why the study has come up with these findings. There are wide variations across Europe, with cardiovascular disease being far more of a risk the further north you live. According to action group Help the Aged, we are putting ourselves at risk because we do not take one simple factor as seriously as we should - the cold. Failure to wrap up can lead to thickening of the blood, perhaps even a fatal clot. Surely an incentive to keep warm!

The healthiest Europeans are the Italians, with an average of 70.9 healthy life years over a total lifespan of 76.8 years. It’s well known that in Italy, the national diet includes a lot of vegetables and fish, with few saturated fats, which may be one reason why the Italians are living more healthily for longer. Again according to Help the Aged, these differences could be caused by several factors: better diet, the quality of the Health Service, the weather, and prevalence of smoking.

Indeed, in a recent league table comparing healthy life years and lifespan, Italy is number one. Next come Spain, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, and the UK, followed by France, Hungary, Portugal and Finland.

The figures are interesting. For example, a Finnish woman can expect to live for 81.8 years, but only 56.5 years will be free from ill health, defined in the study as a disabling condition.

Taken together, all these factors point to one conclusion: the average man or woman would be well advised to look for good critical illness cover, not only life insurance. Consider this sobering fact: the average age of retirement now comes after the average age at which ill health sets in – by between three and a half and eight and a half years. The recent rise in official retirement age is matched by many people’s expectations of being not just available, but able to work into their 70s.

So what is critical illness cover? Briefly, this is insurance that pays out if you are diagnosed with a serious condition, for example cancer, a stroke, or heart disease. Be sure to check the policy carefully, as not all policies cover the same conditions. Consider that such an illness can affect your entire lifestyle. You may need to change or even give up your work, or alter your house or car. If you have good critical illness cover in place, at least you can be sure that your needs can be met financially.

If you have a family, you may like to consider what the effect would be were you not there for them. No-one likes to think of the worst happening, but it is only sensible to take a careful look at your life insurance options.

Fortunately, it’s easy to find out good information on these types of insurance, for both cost and cover. Go online and find an Internet insurance broker, who will be able to search for you to find the most competitive quote.

Once you have your plans in place, there’s only one more thing to do – beat those tables and enjoy your old age!

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Author: Dot Piper

There’s a new critical illness policy on the market which attempts to go some way with regard to sorting out the perplexity regarding exactly what is, and is not, covered when it comes to claiming on the policy.

Traditional critical illness policies tend to cover up to 35 listed medical conditions. Policyholders could become seriously ill with a condition that doesn’t fall into the scope of the policy and find that their illness is not covered, whilst others may be diagnosed with a listed illness with a lower “grading” which is relatively easily treated, for which they get a full payout.
Because of this inequality, the Financial Services Authority is uneasy with regard to insurers failing to fully understand that cover is restricted to certain specific illnesses.

This new product is marketed by the Prudential, under the name of the Flexible Protection Plan, and is unusual in that it claims to cover an amazing 140 medical conditions. However, cover is based on the severity of the condition which could possibly cause some uncertainty regarding the grading of these illnesses.

This is how the plan works:

Listed in the policy are practically all serious illnesses and the payout when one these is diagnosed will be graded according to the severity of the condition. The Prudential says that by tying payments to the degree of seriousness of the illness means that more payments can be offered to people with debilitating illnesses, who may otherwise get nothing at all. An example of this is that should you lose the sight of one eye; the Prudential policy will pay 25% of the sum assured. Normally, critical illness policies would only pay out when total blindness occurs. In all, 140 severe conditions are covered.

A spokesman for one of the specialist financial advisers welcomed the range of the policy, but voiced some concern regarding the implementation of these severity-based payments, saying that it would be open to argument as to what level of severity some illnesses would be graded as. It was felt that it would not be advisable to enter into this type of policy unless you had a very clear understanding of exactly how it would work. We quote “It will be up to the consumer to decide whether a guarantee of getting a smaller payment is better than possibly getting nothing.”

The cost of this new policy is approximately twice as much as conventional critical illness cover.

If your main concern regarding insurance cover should you become critically ill would be the financial outcome, it might be better to consider life insurance. Particularly, if you have a family to support, you may need something that is going to guarantee their lifestyle in the worst case scenario and with the addition of some income protection cover, which would meet outgoings in the event of you becoming unable to work due to illness. This type of cover, unlike the critical illness policy, protects you against common conditions, which result in you being unable to carry out your work.

The best course of action would be to contact a broker and check out the alternatives. The internet’s a good place to start and there are some good internet discount’s available, along with plenty of advice. A good broker will be able to compare the products available and come up with the right insurance product for you.

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Author: Dot Piper

There’s a new critical illness policy on the market which attempts to go some way with regard to sorting out the perplexity regarding exactly what is, and is not, covered when it comes to claiming on the policy.

Traditional critical illness policies tend to cover up to 35 listed medical conditions. Policyholders could become seriously ill with a condition that doesn’t fall into the scope of the policy and find that their illness is not covered, whilst others may be diagnosed with a listed illness with a lower “grading” which is relatively easily treated, for which they get a full payout.
Because of this inequality, the Financial Services Authority is uneasy with regard to insurers failing to fully understand that cover is restricted to certain specific illnesses.

This new product is marketed by the Prudential, under the name of the Flexible Protection Plan, and is unusual in that it claims to cover an amazing 140 medical conditions. However, cover is based on the severity of the condition which could possibly cause some uncertainty regarding the grading of these illnesses.

This is how the plan works:

Listed in the policy are practically all serious illnesses and the payout when one these is diagnosed will be graded according to the severity of the condition. The Prudential says that by tying payments to the degree of seriousness of the illness means that more payments can be offered to people with debilitating illnesses, who may otherwise get nothing at all. An example of this is that should you lose the sight of one eye; the Prudential policy will pay 25% of the sum assured. Normally, critical illness policies would only pay out when total blindness occurs. In all, 140 severe conditions are covered.

A spokesman for one of the specialist financial advisers welcomed the range of the policy, but voiced some concern regarding the implementation of these severity-based payments, saying that it would be open to argument as to what level of severity some illnesses would be graded as. It was felt that it would not be advisable to enter into this type of policy unless you had a very clear understanding of exactly how it would work. We quote “It will be up to the consumer to decide whether a guarantee of getting a smaller payment is better than possibly getting nothing.”

The cost of this new policy is approximately twice as much as conventional critical illness cover.

If your main concern regarding insurance cover should you become critically ill would be the financial outcome, it might be better to consider life insurance. Particularly, if you have a family to support, you may need something that is going to guarantee their lifestyle in the worst case scenario and with the addition of some income protection cover, which would meet outgoings in the event of you becoming unable to work due to illness. This type of cover, unlike the critical illness policy, protects you against common conditions, which result in you being unable to carry out your work.

The best course of action would be to contact a broker and check out the alternatives. The internet’s a good place to start and there are some good internet discount’s available, along with plenty of advice. A good broker will be able to compare the products available and come up with the right insurance product for you.

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Author: Michael Challiner

Thinking of giving up smoking? Maybe the thought of England’s 2007 smoking ban in enclosed public places is niggling away. Could this be the spur you need to finally kick the habit? Think of what you could buy with the money saved – that holiday the family have been talking about, your son’s new bike, simply more money to spend maybe?

Here are some more thoughts:
· Several thousand people have given up smoking since the ban came into force in Ireland and Scotland.
· It has been found that the average smoker spends over £90,000 in a lifetime.
· The Health Development Agency tells us that smoking is “the biggest single cause of illness and premature death, killing some 83,200 people a year in England alone.”
· Become a non smoker and you’ll save around 50% on your health and life insurance premiums, not to mention living longer!
· Your health will undoubtedly benefit. Also the health of your family. Passive smoking creates risks too!

Life and critical illness insurance premiums are rising. The popularity and ease of access to the internet over the past few years has encouraged people to search for lower and lower insurance rates. Insurers have cut the cost of cover as much as they can in order to be competitive, but the underwriters have now decided the time has come to redress the balance. The insurance company will publish their standard rate, which will be based on fit and healthy individuals. There will then be an increased premium for those that the insurers feel are at risk of health problems. That means you!

It doesn’t take long for the insurance companies to consider you’re a safer bet for them. Most companies accept you are a non-smoker after 12 smoke-free months, although a few require a little longer and it can be as long as 5 years. Once you’re successfully over this (normally 12 month) period you can start to think about your future insurance needs. The first thing to do is to contact your insurer and ask for you policy to be re-assessed.

Be completely truthful – any claims will be thoroughly checked and your Doctor will be asked to confirm that you are a non-smoker. If anything is out of order, the claim will be rejected under the insurer’s non-disclosure rules.

The new quote will show a big reduction in the premium. You may well be able to save even more money by searching the internet to find out what other companies have to offer. If you decide to change insurers, don’t cancel your original until you’re certain that you’ve been accepted by the new company, after they’ve checked your application form including details of health records. Cancellation charges won’t apply to the old policy, so it’s simple to change insurers. You don’t even have to let the old company know, simply cancel your direct debit and when it’s queried just say that you no longer need the policy.

No one said it would be easy, but it has to worthwhile. For the sake of your health. Good Luck.

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Author: Dot Piper

If you’re planning a pregnancy or are newly pregnant, may we congratulate you? Naturally, your mind may be filled with all manner of things, from your first scan-date to how to choose a suitable, up-to date name without upsetting the excited grandparents-to-be. Dare we ask, have you thought about insurance?

If you choose to take out life insurance, then without a doubt, the right time is before you become pregnant. Once into the pregnancy it may become very much more difficult to be accepted by insurers. Particularly with a first pregnancy, you never know what complications might arise. Whilst the vast majority of pregnancies proceed without any complications whatsoever, some conditions can crop up, such as gestational diabetes or high blood pressure, which insurers would consider as a greater risk. If cover is offered once one of these problems is diagnosed, the premium could be raised by up to 50%. If this happens it may be a good idea to accept the increased cost and change to a more economical policy when the baby is a few months old.

There are some cases where women have applied for cover after experiencing problems, only to be told that the will only be accepted after the child is born and everything is fine. One insurer told us that as lifestyles change and women are starting their families after they have reached their mid-thirties it is increasingly likely that they will delay cover until after the birth.

In the case of a single parent, you are going to have a tiny individual totally dependant on you. In the event of your death, it is doubly important that provision has been made for the care of that child, both personally and financially.

For two-parent families, whilst the pressure is less, it still makes sound sense to cover for the financial implications of bringing up a family single-handed. There is a case for arranging separate life cover and the cost of two single policies would be only minimally more expensive. As an example:

· Level term assurance, over 25 years, for a couple aged around 30, would cost around £16 per month for £150,000 worth of cover. The policy would pay out on the death of the first partner.
· The male partner taking out the policy over the same term would pay £10 per month and the female partner would pay £8.
· These figures assuming that both are non-smokers.

That’s a cost of £2 per month more, but both partners are covered. There’s also a lot more flexibility in arranging single life policies in that if one of the couple earns considerably more than the other they are able to arrange insurance for a higher sum, in order to maintain the standard of living of the family, should the worst happen.

It’s a sensible step to arrange your insurance prior to your first pregnancy for another reason too. Should you be diagnosed with a condition which would upset your insurers, you’d be covered for subsequent pregnancies as your insurance is for life.

So, log on to the internet and see what the brokers can offer you. You’ll only have one lot of form-filling to do and they’ll come up with a range of deals to suit your circumstances. The internet discount may come in useful too. Now, having got that out of the way, which website offers advice on naming the baby?

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Author: Dot Piper

Private medical insurance policies are becoming increasingly used tools. NHS waiting lists just don’t fit in with many people’s busy lifestyles and a convenient appointment and treatment may be top on your priority list, should you or your family fall ill.

As with all insurance products, private medical policies vary in their terms and are specific about what they do and don’t cover. For instance, one of the most well-known insurers, Bupa, will only cover you for “experimental” medical treatment where that procedure is part of a valid medical trial or study. Another well known insurer, Norwich Union Healthcare is only happy to cover treatment that is classed as standard practice in the UK.

It could be that your private care doctor feels that the best treatment for you would be one of the newer ones, as opposed to an older, standard, procedure. Obviously you’d probably be happy to accept the doctor’s recommendations. You could then be in the situation where your insurance company would not cover the cost of this treatment.

Where these problems have occurred, patients have submitted complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service, otherwise known as the FOS. As a result of this, the FOS has, in some cases, ruled against the insurers and it has been possible to include some of the newer treatments in practice. Laser treatment has replaced larynx surgery in some cases, and key-hole, rather than open-wound, bladder treatment can now also be covered.

Although used in the USA for five years as standard practice, there was a new form of varicose vein surgery which insurers in the UK were declining to pay out on, until the FOS decision was made to accept the treatment.

It appears that the FOS can only overturn the decision of the insurer regarding experimental treatments where such treatments are not specifically excluded in the policy. If the policy is specific about exclusion of these treatments, the ombudsman will not be able to help.

The FOS says “If the policyholder has been advised by his or her treating physician that, in their particular circumstances, they should have a newer treatment instead of an established procedure, our general view would be that it could be unfair for the firm to turn down the claim entirely.” However, they also point out that, by ruling against the insurers, it doesn’t follow that they endorse specific treatments.

The response of the insurers to these rulings seems to be that they may well be re-considering their position in regard to experimental treatments and how they deal with them. Norwich Union have stated that a review of their policies is in the pipeline in view of the rulings of the FOS. Bupa are concerned that their clients may be claiming for treatments not yet tested in the UK.

WPA, another medical insurance provider, have stated that if a doctor has recommended a specific course of experimental treatment, for which there are grounds to prove why that treatment is better than any other, then they will cover this.

It appears that things are falling into place and necessary changes are taking place regarding the experimental treatment scenario. If you’re about to take out this valuable insurance, it’s as well to keep all these issues in mind. By logging on to the internet and finding a broker who will compare what’s on offer from the many policies available in the medical insurance market, you’ll be able to find the right policy for you and your family. At the right price too.

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Blogg entry Fri 14th July

Author: Emma Mayo

It looks like some life insurance policies are forever – because people have been forgetting to tell their next of kin just exactly what they did with their policy documents. It’s not that quite simple, there are many reasons why a life insurance policy may sit unclaimed – but as a result it is estimated that at least £2 billion in life insurance claims have been left unclaimed. Surely that’s more than careless!

There are a myriad of reasons why life insurance policies get forgotten:

People forget that they took them out in the first place.
People often don’t leave a Will; as a result relatives have no evidence to show there was a policy, unless they come across some paperwork.
One in 16 people move house and forget to inform financial companies that they have moved, and lose touch completely.

It can get even more complicated. There were a lot of life assurance policies sold in the later half of the 20th Century which doubled as savings vehicles, and were very popular at the time. As times have changed and companies have been bought by larger companies, they have disappeared off the radar, but the money will still be there – waiting to be claimed one day.

If you have a life policy and the company no longer exists, the Internet is the best place to look. Search on the company name in Google then you should be able to get some information relating to the company that now owns the policy. If that fails, then try the Association of Friendly Societies on 020 7216 7436 (www.afs.org.uk) - a trade body that has old records relating to friendlies and mutuals from the past.

If that doesn’t work – call the Mutual Societies Registration on 020 7066 4916. The old Register of Friendly Societies, they are a government body that has now been swallowed up by the Financial Services Authority, but they will be able to tell you what happened to the company that used to hold your policy, and who you should now contact.

If you don’t even have the name of the company, but you know that you have a life policy out there somewhere – then even then all is not lost. There is a service called the Unclaimed Assets Register (www.uar.co.uk, 0870 241 1713) that can help you. They have a huge database containing details of financial products across the board, from dividends and unit trusts to pensions and life policies. If it’s a basic enquiry, then the service may be free of charge; otherwise they charge a one-off, fixed charge of £18.50 to find an answer to your query. 10% of that fee goes to charity. You can make the enquiry either over the Internet or by post, and you will need to provide a certain amount of detail such as date of birth and previous addresses.

In making any of these enquiries incidentally, you must either be the policyholder or have power of attorney over another’s finances.

In an ideal world, everyone would keep all their financial documentation in one place. But the very nature of a life policy means that they sit around for years and often get forgotten. Our advice is, whether you are the policyholder or if you have power of attorney, find as much information as you can before starting your search. And don’t give up – the information is accessible, it may cost you just a bit of time and effort, and possibly £18.50, to find it.

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Author: Emma Mayo

The costs of smoking are well documented. High blood pressure, heart attacks, lung cancer – smokers know why it’s such a bad habit. The facts are humbling. 80% of non-smokers can expect to live to over 70, only 50% of smokers can. Also, 50% of smokers will die from a smoking-related disease. These diseases are often long, drawn out and very painful.

At over £5 for a packet of 20 cigarettes, they are also aware of how much it’s costing them monetarily. But the financial implications stretch further, meaning that smokers have to pay hundreds more for their life insurance.

Insurance companies classify anyone has who used any tobacco products in the twelve months before making the insurance application as ‘a smoker’. Statistics show that people that smoke are more likely to make a claim, so naturally the premiums are higher for smokers – but the margin is surprisingly high. A male 35-year-old smoker will pay 78% more in life insurance premiums than his non-smoking counterpart. It’s not much better for women – a smoker of 35 will pay 72% more. For £100,000 worth of cover over 20 years, that’s a difference of over £1,500. Add that to the cost of all those cigarettes at a rate of 20 a day, and that’s another £36,400 smoked up the chimney! Smoking certainly is an expensive habit…

Despite the extra cost implications, don’t be tempted to save money on life insurance by pretending that you don’t smoke. If you do need to make a claim then the insurer will most likely discover that you were in fact a smoker, and would use that as grounds to reject the claim. It simply isn’t worth the risk.

Some insurers have developed methods to make sure applicants cannot lie in any case. There is a saliva test that can reveal whether you are a smoker or not – and some insurers ask potential customers to take the test before they will insure them.

For people that do manage to give up the demon weed – they’ll have to wait for twelve months before telling the insurer and hopefully benefit from lower premiums. However, they’ll almost certainly get a better deal by shopping around on the Internet. Without the added expense of smoking affecting the quotation, the best bargains will be there for the taking.

Here are the two main reasons why people should give up:

Health – smoking is a sure fire way to shorten life span, and make things like running and exercise a lot more difficult.

Money – this article has already spelled out just how much smoking costs, that money could be far better spent on holidays and other luxuries.

If they’re not enough, there’s plenty more – like keeping a seat in the pub for example! Many pubs have already banned smoking. By 2007 smokers will be well and truly out in the cold.

If this article has inspired you to take a serious step towards giving up smoking, also have a look at www.quit.org.uk, representing the charity dedicated to helping people to quit the habit. The website www.givingupsmoking.co.uk is also a helpful port of call, and you can ring the NHS smoking helpline on 0800 169 0 169.

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Author: Dot Piper

How does 100% off the cost of next year’s health insurance premium sound?
This is on offer through the Prudential Insurance Company’s Pruehealth. They offer their Comprehensive Plan and here are the details, based on a 40 year old non smoker in good health: The monthly payment for a male would be £62.85 and for a female £66.43, there is an excess of £100. The premium is reduced if you gain “vitality” points and this is how it works:

At the end of the first year there is a discount of 25% and you earn further points and therefore further discounts, by improving your health. Measures such as reducing your blood pressure, taking fitness assessments and regularly visiting the gym are encouraged. Cheap gym membership is on offer. There is a website offering encouragement and handy tips about diet and exercise.

When checked with other medical insurance policies, the Pruehealth policy mentioned above came out more expensive than those of General Medical, Health-on-line and Axa PPP. General Medical, for example, offers their Foundation Plus First Choice policy. The premium again based on a 40 year old non-smoker, male or female, is £48.05. The excess is £100.

As the cost of insurance rises with age, inevitably the insurers are going to have to recoup their costs. Some work their premiums out based on age bands and the cost of insurance can jump sharply as you move up from 40 to 49, 50 to 59 and so on. Rather than sudden increases in the premium, many companies increase by a smaller amount, but apply this yearly.

At a time when private medical insurance seems to be roaring away and the very people that need it most are starting to cancel their policies, it’s clear that something needs to be done. Medical inflation accounts for an 8% rise in premiums per year, as new drugs and diagnostic equipment cost soar.

Consumers can feel reassured by some of the latest changes on offer in a bid to address the problem. One idea is suggested by Penny O’Nions, of the specialist broker Onions Group. They have a plan which covers inpatient care only. Any private outpatient care would have to come out of your own pocket and whilst most serious illnesses such as cancer would involve hospitalisation, increasingly these are treated in outpatient facilities and therefore wouldn’t be covered.

An excess on your policy (the part you pay yourself in the event of a claim) can gain large savings in your premium. By paying an excess of £100 you could save around 10% and if you’re prepared for an even bigger excess, say £2000, you could halve the amount you pay. This effectively puts a ceiling on the costs of illness.

No claims discounts usually apply to these types of policies and you should be able to transfer these if you decide to “jump ship”.

As you can see, there’s a vast range of options. Many people stick to the same old policies, feeling it’s just not worth the effort of transferring but in fact it couldn’t be easier. Just go to your favourite search engine, search for insurance brokers and find one which offers health insurance. They’ll take your circumstances into account and find the best deal for you. There’ll be the additional bonus of an on-line discount.

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Cover for your children is the most undervalued aspect of critical illness insurance. But as most policies automatically provide the cover as a free extra, we suspect that some policyholders don’t even know they’ve got it!

Most policies automatically insure your children albeit at a lower level of benefits than the main policyholders cover. But this cover is invaluable, especially if your child becomes critically ill and you need to take time off work to provide care.

Critical Illness insurance pays out a tax free capital sum if the policyholder, or one of their children, suffers one of the very serious illnesses scheduled on their policy. The only rider is that the claimant must survive at least 28 days after the diagnosis.

Scottish Provident, one of the UK’s largest critical illness insurers has announced that claims for children is now its fourth-largest cause for a claim. Says Nick Kirwan, their Protection Marketing Director, “Work takes a back seat when your child becomes ill. You may need to cut your working hours or even stop working altogether”.

If your critical illness policy does insure your children, then a payout from the policy gives you the financial flexibility to do just that. So how much will they pay out?

Most insurers will pay a proportion of total insured value if a child becomes critically ill. For example, Norwich Union will pay out 50% of the insured sum or £10,000 whichever is the lower – and this cover includes adopted children and step children. Standard Life and Legal & General also pay up to 50% with Standard setting the maximum payout at £25,000 and in L&G’s case it’s £15,000.

Cover never starts as soon as the child is born. With some policies cover starts up at 3 months but others wait as long as three years. Ideally, you want cover to start as early as possible.

Another other point to understand is that if the main policyholder has a claim, then the policy pays out and terminates – they can’t claim more than once. But if there is a claim for a child, the policy does not terminate – the cover for the policyholders continues unaffected. And if you start or add to your family after you’ve started the policy there’s no need to inform the insurer as the cover automatically covers all your children.

But not all insurers will insure your children. Neither the Halifax, National Westminster nor Nationwide Life include any cover for children. So if you have or intend to have a family, it’s vital that you tell your adviser and then he or she will ensure your policy includes the necessary cover.

And that brings us to the topic of professional advice. You can buy Critical Illness insurance online all by yourself but honestly it isn’t worth the risk. In our experience over 50 % of DIY buyers don’t get it exactly right. There is little standardisation within critical illness insurance so you’re unlikely to get your ideal policy if you buy on price alone. It’s one of those situations where a low price can turn out to be a costly mistake!

In order to get the ideal policy your adviser need to understand how much you can afford and what aspects of cover are most important to you. It’s then a matter of using experience and product knowledge to find the best options. If this sounds like a receipt of throwing your discounts down the drain, it isn’t.

Very few high street brokers will give you any discount but shop online with one of the specialist critical illness brokers and you’ll get full service and a discount. How do you find them? Well actually, you don’t need to look any further. This web site works with a specialist critical illness broker called ClickLife.

Why not get a quote now?

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Smokers have less money to burn that the rest of us – that’s because on average, smoking costs them £92,000 during their lifetime.

So the forthcoming ban on smoking in enclosed public places which comes into effect in summer 2007 is surely a great time to take your last drag! Similar smoking bans already in force in Scotland and Ireland, have persuaded thousands and thousands to give up.

Indeed, recent figures from the Health Development Agency show that smoking is the biggest single cause of illness and premature death, killing some 83,200 people a year in England alone! It’s not surprising therefore, that health considerations are the most persuasive reasons for kicking the habit – but there are some significant financial reasons as well!

As smokers and ex-smokers alike can testify, it’s far from easy to quit the habit – but along with the health dividend, the thought of extra spending money should provide a major incentive. Reformed smokers could put some of their newfound money into savings or pay off debts quicker, or even overpay their mortgage. Even more holidays come into play!

And life insurance is another area to make big savings. Smokers frequently pay up to twice as much for their cover than non-smokers and it seems as if premiums for smokers are still rising. That’s because for some years now the insurance companies have been locked in a price war fuelled by the Internet.

People searching the Internet for low prices, have forced the insurance companies to cut their standard rates – these are the rates they quote all their initial enquiries. But the insurers have had to recover some of their revenue in other ways. What we have seen is a tightening of underwriting criteria. This means that anyone who is not a lithe, fighting fit non-smoker will have to pay non-standard rates – to you and me, that means more! And as smokers expose themselves to a self imposed health risk, they get hit in the neck!

So giving up smoking is a really good way to save on your life and critical illness premiums. Most companies won’t classify you as a non-smoker until you’ve fully given up for a least a year - and some even want five years. But once you’ve passed the 12-month stage you need to contact your insurer and be re-quoted. And don’t be tempted to lie because that’s false economy. If you were subsequently to make a claim, the insurer is certain to seek confirmation from your Doctor that you were a non-smoker and if that was wrong, the claim would be thrown out under the policy’s non-disclosure provisions.

Once you have the re-quote you’ll see a big reduction in the premium but don’t accept it automatically. The odds are that you’ll still get a cheaper quote elsewhere on the Internet – and what better place to start than our web site!

Just a word of warning. If you do find it’s cheaper to switch, don’t cancel your existing policy until the new policy is confirmed and in place. That’s because it’s always possible that the new insurer will revise their initial quote upwards when they’ve seen your full application details and health record. Only cancel your existing policy when everything’s in place with your new policy.

And it’s quite easy to terminate a policy – simply cancel your direct debit! After a few weeks the insurer will contact you to find out why - just tell them you don’t need the policy anymore, and that’s that! There are no cancellation charges just more savings in the bag.

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In the last Budget, Gordon Brown put back the clock some twenty plus years by announcing that life insurance can attract tax relief. However, tax relief only applies to a particular new sort of life policy.

The initial response from life insurance professionals was subdued. That was until the full extent of the savings became appreciated. Standard taxpayers can save around 15% and higher rate taxpayers can save a hefty 30% off the cost of their life insurance premiums. And it now looks as if up to 50% of all new policyholders can make these savings!

These new policies are marketed under a number of names ranging from Level Term Pensions Life Insurance to just plain Pensions Life Insurance. But don’t be put off by the word “pensions” – you don’t have to buy a pension and neither do you have to have a pension already! The word “pensions” is there because the legislation which introduced the tax loophole for these policies is part of a wider change in tax legislation which relates to primarily to pensions and Inheritance tax.

You should be aware that not everyone will qualify for these tax savings and a Pensions Life Insurance policy will not suit everybody. That’s why these policies must be bought from a broker who will advise you. And because of the nature of these special policies, at the moment you can’t get a live quote on your computer screen – the broker will have to get competitive quotes and phone you back.

So what does Pensions Life Insurance do? It pays out a lump sum if the policyholder dies or is diagnosed with a terminal illness which will result in death within twelve months.

But there’s only one type of policy available: there can only be one policyholder (joint policies are not available but you could take out a policy for yourself and a separate policy for your partner), and the cover remains constant for the duration of the policy. Neither can you add critical illness cover into the policy.

That means that a Pensions Life Insurance policy will not be the cheapest way to protect a repayment mortgage unless you’re happy to buy more cover than you actually need to repay the mortgage. If sadly, there is a payout, then with a Pensions Life Insurance policy, your mortgage would be repaid and any the surplus could go to your family. However, if you want the cheapest way to protect a repayment mortgage, then a low cost Mortgage Life Insurance policy with decreasing cover will almost certainly be the best solution – but you won’t get tax relief on your premiums!

Now you may be wondering why the savings you’ll make are less than the value of your tax relief. It’s because on average, Pensions Life policies are some 15% more expensive than a like for like conventional life policy. The insurance companies are charging more for them because they have more work to do to reclaim the standard rate tax relief.

If you’re a higher rate taxpayer, you’ll get the standard rate of tax deducted from your premium by the insurance company but you’ll have to reclaim the difference between standard and higher rate tax via your Annual Tax Return. Once you’ve entered this on your Return, H M Inland Revenue will continue automatically to award the relief for the policy’s duration.

By now you will have begun to appreciate why we believe that you must get advice before you buy one of these tax relief policies. If you aren’t already convinced, consider the some more elements which the Chancellor of the Exchequer threw in!

You cannot have a Pensions Life Policy if your pensions contributions plus your life insurance premiums are greater than £215,000 per year. That shouldn’t worry too many people!

Then you have to factor in that if the value of your pension fund plus the payout from the policy exceeds £1,500,000, then you will be taxed at 55% on the excess! (Conventional life insurance policies are excluded from this calculation.) Again this restriction shouldn’t concern too many people - but you have to be aware of it.

So in summary, the information we are receiving indicates that around 50% of people will find that Pensions Life Insurance is the cheapest solution for their life insurance needs.

But, we repeat, do not buy it without expert advice.

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The latest figures from the insurance companies continue to show large numbers of rejected claims. Whilst the figures do vary between insurers,
On average they work out at around 1 in 5 claims are rejected. (see below).

Critical illness insurance pays out a tax free lump sum if the policyholder is diagnosed with one of a long list of qualifying illnesses and conditions included stipulated on the policy.

The biggest reason for claim rejection is that the insurer has identified that the policyholder failed to fully disclose their medical condition when they originally applied for the insurance. This always results in conflict between the insurer and the policyholder so our best advice is always disclose everything, no matter how small or insignificant you think it may be.

If you do make a claim, your insurer will always search through your past medical records to satisfy itself that you had disclosed everything at the time you made your application. Then if they find that you did omit medical information, they have a valid contractual reason for refusing your claim.

In some people’s eyes this makes critical illness insurance the least reliable form of insurance – but we disagree. We say if you’ve disclosed everything about your medical history, no matter hoe small, then there should be no problem.

Having said that the rejection figures from the insurance companies do vary, so it may be that some are more stringent than others.

Rejection rates published by UK insurers

Insurance Company Percentage of Critical Illness Insurance claims rejected

The other factor that affects the rejection rate is that more recently issued policies tend to have higher claims and higher rates of rejection. So if an insurer has not been in the market for a long time, or it has had a major sales campaign on critical illness insurance during the last few years, then it’s rejection rates will be higher.

Our advice is buy the critical illness policy that suits you best and on your application form, fully disclose everything about your health. Don’t miss anything out. Then you’ll be OK

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Weight and the way people want to see themselves, convinces lots of people to go on a diet and others to deceive themselves that they’re on a diet. The loss of a pound or two occasions delight and celebration, whereas the same two pounds going back the next day remains unannounced. Ring any bells for you?

Well normally, a porky or two about your weight doesn’t harm anyone other than perhaps yourself. But now life insurance companies are taking a much closer interest. They suspect that lots of people are carrying their creative assessment of their weight and height onto their life insurance application forms.

One of Britain’s largest life insurers, Scottish Provident, is tightening up its application procedures because experience has shown that applicants often lie about their weight. Now, as well as asking them their weight, they’ll be asked when they last weighed themselves. It’s a move to encourage them to answer more accurately rather than pluck a figure out of the air.

A spokesman from Scottish Provident said, “We know that people normally understate their weight, mainly because they are in denial about the subject, although there are also some people who will lie just to get cheaper premiums”.

The British are now the second most obese nation in Europe – second only to Greece. 21% of British adults are now classified as obese and a quarter of these do not want to lose weight despite the risks to their health according to a survey from by Cancer Research UK.

The British Medical Association considers any one with a body mass of 25 or more to be obese but most insurers are now using 30 as their limit. Above that figure and you’ll find that they will load your premium. Someone who is overweight may well see their premium loaded by 50% and extreme cases will be refused life insurance cover.

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