Are you Adequately Insured?
Many take out life assurance to protect their families and loved ones from financial loss in the event of their deaths, especially if they have mortgages. However, they do not consider the financial implications if they or another family member suffered a serious illness.
Statistics show that 50% of those born after 1960 are likely to be affected by cancer at some point in their lives and the three major causes of death in the UK are cancer, strokes and heart disease. A survey from AIG Life found that 18.3 million people were living in what it termed ‘illness denial’ and failing to accept they could be at risk of a serious medical condition in the future, with only 22% of those questioned believing that they may be affected by cancer in the future.
Although heart disease is likely to cause more than a quarter of all deaths, only 17% believed it would affect them and only 7% thought they could potentially suffer from a stroke, despite it being a leading cause of death and disability in the UK. These figures coincide with the findings from SwissRe, which calculated the protection gap as being more than £2 trillion (the difference between the level of cover held by consumers compared to the amount of cover they would need to be fully covered).
Research shows that 77% of adults would experience financial difficulties if they developed a serious illness in the next six months, demonstrating that the UK population is significantly under protected. Would you be able to pay your mortgage in the event of a serious illness?
The UK population is living longer and this may mean we could live in poor health for longer. Critical illness policies are available to protect against such eventualities. These plans provide a lump sum in the event of a critical illness to help alleviate financial worries and assist with the cost of any medical treatments. This type of plan can be expensive although there are variations which can be chosen to reduce the cost, such as decreasing cover which can tie in with retirement. Of course, the younger you are when you take out such a plan, the less expensive it will be.
How Can We Help?
If you are concerned that you are not adequately insured and wish to consider the range of protection policies which are available and assess if they are affordable to you, please contact the office and speak to one of our highly qualified Advisers who will be able to assist you further.