Your Personal Insurance Questions Answered

Critical illness cover is a policy that is designed to support you and your family if you are diagnosed with a critical life threatening illness. Lots of different illnesses are covered by critical illness cover however cancer is the primary one that all insurers cover in some way or another. Normally these payments from the policy are expected to cover things like mortgage/rent payments and treatments. Again, your financial advisor will be able to help you choose what illnesses you want to cover with your policy and how much you want to cover.

Income protection policies are policies that are designed to give you a regular income for a period of time, if you find yourself unable to work and provide for your family. Normally they cover a loss of earnings due to long term illness or serious accidents that may stop you from being able to work for an extended period of time. When you are able to return to work, the payments normally stop. If you are unable to return to work at all, they will usually continue until you are due to retire.

Absolutely and categorically YES! Getting yourself the correct personal insurance policies in place is probably the most important and, if you have a family you support, selfless things that you can do. Of course, it is a personal choice to arrange insurance but we will always recommend that you speak with an advisor, even if it is just to explore your potential options. Covering your income so that you and your family don't have to worry when the next pay cheque comes in is very wise and shouldn't be ignored without careful consideration.

Speak to an insurance advisor. That is the easiest way to find out the best policy or policies for you. Rather than going on generic insurance comparison websites or going direct to one insurance company, a financial advisor will carefully talk you through your finances, your health, your family commitments, and then compare and contrast different policies from different companies.

They will help you to arrange a manageable monthly insurance payment and a benefit sum that will ensure financial stability for everyone involved. Because we at Oportfolio arrange mortgages and personal insurance, your advisor can build your insurance applications into the mortgage application process so that everything flows smoothly alongside each other and everything is arranged under one roof.

That really does depend on your own specific circumstances and how many policies you take out. If you are a high earner (high net-worth) you may want to cover a larger income than most people in case you die or are unable to work because of illness or injury. You may want to take out multiple insurance policies to cover different aspects of your income if you have different income sources. All of these things will be considered and advised upon by your mortgage advisor. Policy payments per month could literally range from £20 a month to a few thousand a month depending on what you are looking to cover and how much you can comfortably afford per month.

Luckily, most policies will pay out more or less immediately if your condition matches the terms of your insurance. For example, if you are diagnosed with breast cancer and your policy covers breast cancer, you need to get in touch with your financial advisor and they will make the insurer aware and you will start to receive the payments for whatever insurance you have taken out. The only reasons there may be delays to payments are if there are some discrepancies about whether or not your condition is technically covered by your policy or if the insurer needs to see something official from your doctor confirming your condition.