Being diagnosed with hepatitis or any other serious illness can be incredibly distressing for anyone. And, knowing how to move forward from such news is difficult.

However, the most important thing when it comes to existing life insurance after being diagnosed with hepatitis is not to be too hasty.

Though rumours will tell you that people with hepatitis cannot be insured and that your existing policy is now void, this is not necessarily the case. Furthermore, those with existing policies when they are diagnosed could well be in a better position than they first thought.

The hepatitis disease affects the function of the liver and can be either a temporary or permanent condition. Many people will carry hepatitis for years without actually ever having symptoms, while others will require constant medication.

Just as the condition varies greatly, so do the implications to your life insurance policy. Only by carrying out the following steps can you ensure that you get the most from the policy you already have.

1. Get Your Facts Straight
The first thing to do when you have been diagnosed with Hepatitis is to understand the facts. There are three distinctive types of hepatitis and ascertaining which strain you suffer from is key to the way you move forward.

Once you have found out whether you have hepatitis A, B or C, then the next step is to establish your specific severity and what can be done to alleviate the symptoms. In addition, you must understand the likely duration of the illness and what, if any, implications there are on your long term health.

2. Start Talking
The sooner you can start talking to us about your new medical situation the better. Not only are you required by law to advise your insurance company of any changes to your personal circumstances, but talking with us will help make you understand how you can move forward.

If you have a temporary form of hepatitis which was contracted through the process of a normal, healthy lifestyle then it is likely that there will be only minor changes to your life insurance policy, if any. Some companies may adjust the exclusion clauses within your contract or may reassess your premiums. However, the policy will still be in place.

If you have more chronic symptoms or a potentially life threatening form of hepatitis, then the insurance company may not be as willing to renew your contract. However even this isn’t the end of the road. There are still other companies who specialise in offering life insurance to hepatitis sufferers that will be able to help.

Your insurance company may require further information from your medical records or via a medical. If you can, always agree to such investigations. It will help the insurance company gain a clearer understanding of your situation and ensure your life insurance policy is tailored to your individual situation.

3. Get Some Advice
If there are any changes to your policy or your insurance company fail to provide continued protection, then please contact us for advice. Talking to one of our experienced protection advisers that specialises in life insurance for hepatitis sufferers will help you understand your options.

We can help you understand the implications of the changes requested and highlight any alternative policies that could offer better terms for the future.

Above all, do not cancel your policy until you have further cover in place. If your existing life insurance policy has been in place for some time it may still be the best solution moving forward even in your new situation.

Whatever the situation, the key to maintaining effective life cover is not to panic. Keep calm and think clearly and you will find that things may not be as bleak as you first thought.

If you would like a friendly, no obligation chat with one of our advisers then please call us on 0800 799 9330 or fill in our online enquiry form.

For further information about hepatitis please visit the NHS website here: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hepatitis/Pages/Introduction.aspx

The aim of income protection for self employed people is to ensure that, should you be you be unable to achieve your current level of income due to illness or disability, the cover you hold will compensate you.

In general an income protection policy will cover 65% of your total income. As this is a tax free payment, such a level is seen as equivalent to the gross income you should receive under normal circumstances after all deductions are made.

How to Calculate Your Income
Even for self employed people, income protection policies are designed to protect the income of the individual, as opposed to the company. This means that the level of income that you should declare is not the turnover of the company itself but the level of remuneration that you take home.

For a sole trader, subtracting business costs from the company’s turnover will usually provide the figure that you require. However, as the company finances become more complex, further adjustments may be required.

It is usual for an insurance provider to take an average of the last twelve months income to calculate a fair salary for your work. However, if your remuneration fluctuates greatly over a longer period, this can also be taken into consideration when making the calculations.

As with any type of insurance product, it is essential that you are completely open and honest about your level of income when applying for the cover. Though you may feel that it would a good idea to inflate your takings so that the level of benefit you can claim could be higher, your income will also be assessed at the time of the claim. If your salary is seen to be dramatically different from that which has been previously disclosed, the validity of your entitlement could then be in dispute.

Making a Claim
When making a claim on an insurance protection policy for a self employed person, the entire benefit that you are able to receive is calculated to a level which will ensure your income does not fall below the pre agreed level, which is usually 65%.

This means that if your illness or disability is reducing the level of your income rather than eradicating it altogether, your claim will be adjusted so that you achieve full benefit up to this amount but do not exceed it.

In the same way, if you hold more than one income protection policy, you will find that the full benefit you can receive across all policies will be limited to your maximum protection level, irrespective of how many premiums you pay. For this reason, it is usually more cost effective to have one comprehensive self employed income protection policy, rather than several small policies which can cost more.

Self employed income protection insurance provides a level of economic certainty that is just not possible without such a product.

By having all the facts before you start, you can ensure that you get the cover that is right for you.

Call us today on 0800 799 9330 for a no obligation chat about how income protection cover can help you or compare quotes here.

The need for life insurance in today’s society is obvious to most. Thanks to the ever increasing cost of living, many dependents simply cannot survive if they are not adequately provided for within the appropriate insurance arrangements. But for many, affording life insurance can be a challenge, especially if the insurance companies themselves are reluctant to take you on.

The Effect of Smoking on Life Insurance Premiums

One key sector of individuals that insurance companies are particularly wary of are smokers. When cigarettes were first invented they were actually marketed as a health choice and adults of all ages were actively encouraged to start smoking. However, we now know that smoking is not only unhealthy but can actually increase your chances of contracting some serious illnesses and decrease your life expectancy, which is why a lot of insurance providers are looking the other way when a smoker wishes to apply for life insurance.

For those companies that still do provide life insurance for smokers, the cost of the premiums can be exceptionally high. One study carried out in 2012 showed that life insurance companies can charge individuals who smoke up to four times as much for the same life policy, simply because of their habit. But there are ways to ensure you are getting the best value for money.

How To Reduce Premiums On Life Insurance For Smokers

Obviously a smoker can easily reduce their life insurance premiums in the long term simply by stopping smoking. After only 12 months without cigarettes there is the potential to see great improvements in an individual’s overall health which means less risk to the insurance company and therefore lower premiums.

Though a past smoker may never reduce their premiums to the same level as a consistent non smoker, once you have given up for more than 12 months it is worth contacting your insurance company and negotiating an improved premium based on your new situation.

However, as a smoker, you don’t have to wait a year to start improving your life insurance premium costs.

The first step is to shop around. Don’t settle for the first policy that you find. By using an online life insurance brokerage such as ourselves to compare the range of policies available, it may be possible to significantly reduce your premiums immediately. Remember, if you are changing your life insurance provider, you must ensure your new policy is in place before you stop your existing cover to ensure that you are continually protected.

Furthermore, if you are asked to go for an insurance medical, always agree. The risks of smoking on your health and life expectancy are considerable but they do vary from person to person. If you feel that your level of health is above a normal smoker, providing evidence of this could reduce the level of perceived risk that the insurance company have to take to insure your life and therefore may reduce the overall cost.

Above all be honest.The major reason life insurance claims are declined is because the information provided by the applicant was inaccurate. Even if you get the cheapest smoker’s life insurance possible, if your dependents cannot benefit from your investment, then any premiums you pay will all be for nothing.

For further information please visit our smokers life insurance page.

There are many situations when a joint life insurance policy can be cheaper than paying out for two separate policies, making it seem the most attractive option.

However, before taking out a joint life insurance policy consider the following points and ensure that you make the decision that is going to be right for you.

1. Who Should Be Protected

Though joint life cover is held in the names of both individuals, it is only valid on a ‘first death’ basis. This means that as soon as one policyholder has died, the insurance provider will issue a payment and the cover will immediately expire. This leaves the second policyholder with no protection at all, even though they have been paying premiums for years.

Such a policy could be ideal for those with a mortgage that simply want to pay off their debt and have no further funds available to them. However, if such a policy has been taken out to provide protection to children or other dependents, then the benefit of joint life cover can be severely lacking.

Furthermore, if a remaining policyholder then decides to take out a single life insurance policy, they will find that their increase in age and possible deterioration in health may mean future premiums could be significantly higher. Therefore the benefit of paying joint cover for years has amounted to nothing. Only by having separate policies is it possible for every individual to have the personal cover they require.

Please note that here at Insuranet we can arrange a ‘second death life insurance policy’ which would pay out on the death of the last remaining partner. If you are at all unsure which type of policy is best for you then please feel free to speak with one of our friendly adviser who can talk you through all of the options.

2. The Level of Cover Required

An individual life insurance policy is based on the cost of replacing your contribution to the home, should you no longer be able to provide it yourself.

However, for joint life insurance policies, the level of cover provided is equal for both parties and is usually calculated on the amount required to replace the income of the higher wage earner.

This means that the partner that requires a lower value of life insurance will pay premiums for a level of cover that is simply not needed. In addition, if the main breadwinner adds extras such as critical illness to his policy, both parties will be charged for the same additions, creating further unnecessary expense across the policy as a whole.

Always assess the level of cover required for each individual policy and ensure no on is paying for more or less cover than they need.

3. The Level of Risk

The cost of life insurance premiums is calculated in direct proportion to the risk associated with protecting the life of the applicant. However, in the case of a joint life insurance party, the level of risk is calculated jointly rather than in terms of each individual person.

Should one partner have a lifestyle that is deemed risky or, have a medical history that puts them in a higher risk category, both applicants will be priced according to this maximum level.

When it is clear that the risk associated with one life insurance applicant is significantly higher than the other, separate life insurance policies may turn out to be considerably cheaper and provide better all-round protection.

Author Bio:  This article was written by Steven Keogh who has worked in marketing within the financial sector for many years now. For further details please visit his Google+ page.

Making sure that you and your family have a roof over your heads, particularly during the bad times, can be one of the biggest challenges we all face.

Though we know that times can get hard, especially with the current economic crisis, having a home to come back to can make all the difference.

However, knowing which form of mortgage protection you should choose depends specifically on your own personal circumstances and your needs for the future.

Benefits of Mortgage Life Cover

A mortgage life insurance policy is essential to ensure that your loved ones are relieved of the financial burden of the mortgage if you are no longer there to support them.

It will repay the outstanding amount of the mortgage upon the death of the policy holder as one single lump sum.

Such a policy only benefits those that are left behind. It does not pay out during the life of the policy holder and provides no benefits if you are unable to meet your monthly repayments whilst you are alive.

If the mortgage is repaid during the life of the policy holder, the cover traditionally expires with zero end value.

Benefits of Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance

For cover that will help you meet your mortgage repayments when you are unable to work due to an accident, illness or unemployment, MPPI (Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance) can be a more appropriate product.

This policy holds no value on the death of the holder and will not repay the outstanding monies that become due. This insurance is designed to meet monthly mortgage costs when the insured is unable to meet them himself due to illness, accident or unemployment.

Similar to standard ASU (Accident, Sickness and Unemployment Insurance) MPPI is designed to keep you financially secure if you are unable to work, however an MPPI policy is specifically designed to cover the mortgage.

This insurance will provide repayments on a regular basis for a set period of time which is usually between 12 and 24 months.

Whether you are unable to maintain your current employment due to ill health or an accident, or if you have been made unemployed through no fault of your own, this type of insurance cover can give you the peace of mind to protect you against loosing your home.

Such a policy can offer the breathing space to be able to find suitable new employment and takes away the pressure to simply jump into the first new job that will meet your bills. It gives you time to refocus and can offer the space to relax and recover after an illness or accident.

The essential difference between these two products is the type of cover they offer. Both provide significant benefits to the future security of your home. The decision between taking up either policy, or a combination of the two, depends entirely on how you intend to protect your mortgage against the challenges that you could face in the future.

 

This article was kindly provided by Steven Keogh

There are many advantages of Critical Illness Cover as a form of Life Insurance, however, it’s important to understand why there’s the need for an additional private healthcare insurance policy in the first place. In the UK many people rely on the state to look after them in the event that a health issue arises. A person also hopes that an employer understands, should an illness suddenly develop, and that their position in the company will remain open.

Once an illness is diagnosed, especially one that is life threatening, many will worry about the illness itself rather than having to pay the bills or trying to stay in work. The stress of a sudden diagnosis can affect people mentally but it’s the financial strain that many forget to insure against. Indeed it’s said more people have insurance for their pets rather than critical illness cover for themselves.

Both aspects of life insurance cover and critical health insurance are a form of protection for you and your family. Whereas the former pays out a lump sum of money should you pass away and will help your family financially. The cover won’t help you in the event anything occurs before you die. This leaves the policy itself a little wanting.

The Benefits Of Critical Illness Cover
The benefits of having specific insurance cover should you be diagnosed with a serious illness far out weigh any reliance you have on the goodwill of an employer, or that of relying on the state to keep you and your family financially secure in the short term. Critical illness insurance provides for a cash pay out when an illness as described in the policy details is ascertained.

Life cover is a hidden reality of the modern age. The important part of any insurance policy is to ensure it benefits you or your loved ones when required. Statistics suggest that one in three people will be diagnosed with a type of cancer. The cover also pays out on heart attacks, stroke or kidney failure. It’s worth comparing illness insurance, some insurers pay out only on severity, others a percentage of the lump sum due depending on a sliding scale.

While not many wish to consider becoming ill and claiming, the ability to pay the bills, the mortgage, receive an income for the duration will obviously be of help and that’s exactly what critical illness cover aims to achieve. There’s surely a kind of irony that one would only insure one’s self against death and not an illness which you may well recover from and live several years after any serious illness diagnosis is given.

Critical health insurance can be merged with other insurance policies to provide better cover for your situation. While a lump sum is typical, an insurer can also payout an income over a given period or pay an amount to reflect the decreasing term on a mortgage. Once again, life insurance only pays out a lump sum on your death, a critical illness insurance policy helps you and your family get through a tough period while you fight to stay alive.

There is however, one more point when considering an insurance policy to cover serious illness and it stands out as a reminder to always read the terms and conditions of any policy. Some critical illness insurance policies only payout if you survive 28 days after diagnosis. In which case, there’s an argument for having both types of insurance running simultaneously.

A recent announcement by the Children’s Mutual has stated that the friendly society is planning to move all of it’s savings into it’s Canadian owned rival Forester Life.

This will result in almost 1 million Child Trust Fund holders having their funds transferred across to the rival society without having a say on the matter.

It has been rumoured that the Children’s Mutual have been looking for a buyer for quite some time now. It is believed that the cost of running their CTF accounts is unmanageable and the scrapping of the child trust fund by the government compounded their misery as this was their main source of new business.

Formerly known as ‘Tunbridge Wells Equitable Friendly Society’, The Children’s Mutual Society has said to have ‘entered into exclusive negotiations’ with it’s rival Forester Life.

Currently, more than 927,000 customers hold a child trust fund with the society, a majority of them by taking advantage of the government vouchers but there are fears that CTF accounts will perform poorly from now on due to investment providers concentrating on the new Junior ISA Accounts which where launched back in November 2011.

Many people now believe that customers should be able to transfer their Child Trust Fund to a Junior ISA and take advantage of the larger investment options potentially open to them and this news will only strengthen the call of many people and organisations.

However, Forester Life have announced that the takeover should be beneficial for it’s new members as they hope to drive down the cost of managing the funds by economies of scale and it is also worth noting that the money already set aside my the Children’s Mutual for managing the funds would be released to help boost the final or terminal bonus of the Child Trust Fund.

How ever you look at it, surely the coalition government must look more closely at the possibility of allowing CTF holders to transfer child trust fund to a Children’s ISA?

Please note that this article was provided by www.JuniorISAs.org

The ongoing cost of both health and life insurance could rise by up to 30% in 2013 as a set of newly created tax rules are fully expecting to hit insurance profits.

For the first time in over an estimated 10 years, the cost of life insurance is expected to rise significantly.

Because of this, many financial advisors and insurance brokers are advising people that if they need cover then they should buy it before the prices rise.

It has been widely reported that new European legislation which is due to come into force at the end of this year will make it compulsory for all insurers to offer unisex rates on all types of insurance including critical illness cover. This is expected to significantly increase the cost of insurance for women as their premiums are usually less as they are more likely to not die early and therefore make a claim on their insurance policy.

Well it’s that time of year again when investment providers are tripping over themselves trying to sell their ISAs. The reason being is that this years (2012) ISA deadline is fast approaching (the 5th April 2012).

So what does this mean to you?

Well basically, if you didn’t already know, an ISA (Individual Savings Account) is a savings account where you pay no tax on any interest, dividends or bonuses earned from your cash/investment held within the account. Each year you can invest a maximum ammount and if you do not use up this allowance by the 5th April then you will lose it as it cannot be carried over to the next year.

For the tax year 2011/2012 the ISA allowance is:

• Stocks and Shares ISA – £10,680
• Cash ISA – £5,340

You can hold both a cash and a stocks and shares isa in the same year should you wish but if you do subscribe to both types of isas then the total combined allowance is £10,680.

A Cash ISA invests in cash which is held within the account. These types of ISAs appeal to many investors as it pays a fixed percentagerate so you know exactly how much your ISA will earn you. However, the downside to investing in cash is that it is vulnerable to the eroding effects that inflation can have.

A Stocks and Shares ISA is where you invest your money into funds and depending upon how well these funds perform will determin how well your ISA will perform. Many stocks & shares providers offer a range of funds with which you can invest in.

For example, Sensible Investments Ltd offer a choice of three different funds which are all managed by Prudential. Their range of actively managed funds include cautious, balanced and adventurous portfolios and depending upon the type of investor you are will determine which fund appeals to you. However, when opening Stocks and Shares ISA account through Sensible Investments Ltd, you can mix your funds. For example, should you invest £10,680, you could place half of your money into the Cautious fund and split the other half between the two other funds like below:

£10,640 total investments in a Sensible Investments Ltd Stocks and Shares ISA

• 50% (£5,340) into Prudentials Cautious Fund
• 25% (£2,670) into Prudentials Balanced Fund
• 25% (£2,670) into Prudentials Adventurous Fund

By splitting your investment into different funds helps spread the risk and you can change your subscriptions at any time (if one fund performs particularly well then you could pool all your money into that fund to try and maximise performance).

For further details about Sensible Investments Ltd range of ISAs please visit their dedicated stocks and shares isa site at www.stocksandsharesisa.org.uk

Since the Junior ISA was officially launched in November 2011 we have seen a steady flow of providers offering their own version of the investment. It seems that the stocks and shares Junior ISA is a much more popular product than its cash version and this is reflected in the amount of providers offering a stocks and shares version when compared to the amount of providers offering a cash version.

The stand out providers are ‘The Children’s ISA Ltd’, ‘Family Investments’, ‘TaxFreeJuniorISA.co.uk’, ‘The Children’s Mutual’, ‘Jump’ and ‘Scottish Friendly’.

A lot of providers offer very similar accounts but your money goes into different fund(s) dependent upon the provider. The government have also confirmed that you cannot transfer a child trust fund to junior isa which many parents feel is unfair as they feel that their children are now stuck in an unsupported and inferior investment.

There are also some Junior ISA comparison sites cropping up with www.juniorisaproviders.org being the most notable one. Here you can compare many different Junior ISAs from a wide range of the UKs leading providers.