If you haven’t got proper insurance in place for you, your family and your valuables, then you could be vulnerable if you faced one of life’s unexpected crises. Insurance cover doesn’t just pay out if you die, it can also give you the satisfaction of knowing that if you fall ill, have an accident or lose your treasured possessions, there would be a pay-out from a policy to help you deal with your financial loss.
We can help you find the cover that’s right for you.
Life is full of twists and turns, some of them good, others not so good. Protection policies are one of the best ways of ensuring your family is provided for financially, if unexpected and unwelcome events should happen. Policies can pay out lump-sums or provide an income to ease the financial burden at a difficult time.
It seems that the message that it’s important to have the right type of protection policy in place is being listened to. Recent data from financial software company IRESS, shows a positive trend in the sale of protection products in the first six months of 2018. Life term insurance and Income Protection saw the largest year on year increase in new business, up 35.1% in the first half of 2018 compared with the first half of 2017.
Insurers believe that this rise is due, in part, to greater health consciousness and a better understanding of the part that protection policies can play in keeping a roof over a family’s head and ensuring that household bills can still be paid if death or illness were to strike.
If you’d like advice on choosing the right insurance cover, do get in touch.
For many people, enjoying music is an important part of their lives. Owning a musical instrument or other related equipment like DJ gear can be a significant investment. Theft, loss or damage can often be a musician’s worst nightmare.
Whatever type of musical instrument you own, from a grand piano to a classic electric guitar, it’s important to have it properly insured.
Whilst many household insurance policies cover valuable items up to £1,500, this may not be sufficient to cover your instrument, or insure against the specific risks that you might want to include, like replacement hire if your instrument was lost or stolen, or public liability insurance if you’re asked to play in public.
There are many specialised insurance policies on offer that protect against a range of potential risks, and offer features like unlimited professional use, theft, fire and accidental damage, damage in transit, cover for accessories and depreciation after repair. You can also get cover for theft from an unattended vehicle, and combined personal accident and public liability.
If you’d like advice about the right policy, do get in touch.
We all experience life-changing events such as moving to a new home and taking out a bigger mortgage, getting married, having children, retiring, but how many of us remember to update our protection policies to cover the financial commitments these all bring to our lives? It’s easy to overlook the need to review your cover when your life moves into a different gear.
Do you have the right type of cover for your needs?
However, forgetting to review your cover could mean that your family wouldn’t have sufficient money to repay the mortgage and meet the bills if something unexpected were to happen to you. It could also be the case that the type of policy you currently have has been superseded and there may now be more costeffective options available to you.
Life insurance policies combined with other cover can protect your finances, your home, and your family in the event of incapacity, a serious illness, an accident or death, so it’s important to make sure that as your life changes, your cover changes to match your circumstances.
When making their Wills, many parents appoint relations and close friends who would act as the guardians of their children in the event of their deaths. Although anyone nominated to fulfil this important role would be gratified to be thought of as worthy of carrying it out, it’s important to remember that there could be all sorts of financial implications for both them and their families.
PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
If family members had to step in and look after the children, they would need to have sufficient financial provision in place to be able to do so. If, for instance, a guardian lives in a different part of the country, they might have to move both house and job to look after the children’s needs. As any parent knows only too well, raising a family is a life-affirming experience but it can also be very expensive.
POLICIES TO PROVIDE FUNDS
This is where life cover comes in. It can provide the funds necessary to ensure that a family’s needs are protected, and they can enjoy the sort of lifestyle you would have provided had you still been around. Life cover provides a payout on death that can ensure that families don’t face financial burdens at a difficult time. Critical illness cover provides funds if you are diagnosed with a serious illness. Income protection can enable you to pay off loans and maintain your standard of living if you have an accident or illness that means you can’t work.
HOW WE CAN HELP
We’re always on hand to help you choose the most appropriate protection policies based on your needs. We know the life insurance market well, and can save you hours of internet searching and calls to insurance companies for quotes. We help make the process far less stressful and time-consuming, and you won’t be charged a fee for this service; we’ll be paid by the companies whose policies we recommend.
This time of the year, it’s worth doing a few simple checks around your property to make sure it’s prepared for what winter might bring, so that any period of prolonged bad weather doesn’t take its toll.
EXTERNAL CHECKS
Winter wind and rain can cause severe damage, so check that your roof is in good repair. Are there any loose or broken tiles? Is the flashing around chimneys secure? Apart from the damage that can be caused by falling tiles, their loss can lead to damage to the fabric of the building. Make sure that your guttering is clear and free from obstructions like fallen leaves, moss and debris, as overflowing gutters can cause major structural damage to walls. It makes sense to drain or lag outside taps in case they freeze. Garden furniture and patio sets should be stowed away in a shed or garage to prevent winter damage.
Keeping walkways and paths clean and free from moss and algae will help ensure that they don’t become a hazard if they freeze. It’s worth keeping some de-icing salt handy in case of need. Check that outside lights and security lights are clean and working properly.
INTERNAL CHECKS
Central heating boilers and radiators need to be regularly serviced. If you have boiler cover, you may want to keep the emergency contact telephone number handy. Make sure you know where the stopcock is located, in case you need to turn the water off in an emergency. Pipes and tanks should be lagged and the tank should have a lid fitted.
Smoke alarms need regular testing to ensure the batteries are in working order, and burglar alarms need to be maintained and tested, especially as burglary rates increase during the dark winter months.
It’s worth checking your home insurance policy to see what cover you have for home emergencies, and keep your insurance company’s helpline contact number to hand.
Experts have long expressed their concerns for those who don’t have protection policies, fearing that millions of households could face real financial hardship if the main breadwinner was unable to work due to a serious illness, accident or unemployment. For those new to insurance, short-term policies can be a cost-effective way to get some cover in place.
Short-term policies
This type of policy, sometimes referred to as accident, sickness and unemployment insurance, is designed to pay out a monthly income for one or two years. It covers a percentage of your monthly income to help you pay mortgage and household bills.
If you claim on your policy, there is a waiting period before it starts to pay out, and you can choose how long you want this to be when you take the policy out. This is usually referred to as the ‘deferred period’ and can be from a few days up to two years. The longer the deferred period, the lower the premiums are likely to be.
Long-term policies
These provide a regular income if you are unable to work due to illness or disability (but not if you are made redundant) until you are well enough to return to work, or until you reach the end of the policy term, or die. Here, the premiums are likely to be higher because they cover a wider range of illnesses, including debilitating strokes and heart attacks not usually covered by short-term policies.
So clearly there is a choice, depending on how much you can afford in premiums, the length of time you want the policy for, and the risks you want to cover. Short-term policies often don’t require a medical so can be quick and easy to arrange and have lower premiums, especially if you take the policy out when you’re younger. Longer-term policies often provide protection right up to retirement, and offer much wider cover, but are likely to be more expensive.
Call us for a friendly chat on 01483 750575 or email: enquiries@oakhillifs.com
Oakhill IFS Ltd | 94 Kingsway, Woking, Surrey, GU21 6NR
For our individual email addresses, please see our about us page here.
Phone: 01483 750575 | Email: enquiries@oakhillifs.com
Oakhill IFS Ltd is registered in England and Wales no. 3864703. Registered office, 94 Kingsway, Woking, Surrey, GU21 6NR.
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Oakhill IFS Ltd is entered on the Financial Services Register https://register.fca.org.uk/ under reference 453119.
If you wish to register a complaint, please write to enquiries@oakhillifs.com or telephone 01483 750575
A summary of our internal complaints handling procedures for the reasonable and prompt handling of complaints is available on request and if you cannot settle your complaint with us, you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk or by contacting them on 0800 0234 567.