Jan 27

I have worked in the same company as my partner for a number of years. In fact we have both worked there for longer. However we only started dating after a number of years and yes, I should have made a move earlier but I didn’t. Nor did she, so we are equally to blame for not starting the rest of our lives earlier. Still, as they say, you can’t change the past so I’m not going to beat myself up too much; suffice to say, I wish I had. Society would describe me as a professional, like my partner and we live a pretty comfortable life with a number of holidays and have savings to fall back upon should the need arise.

Financially I have always tried to keep a tight ship and regularly review my spending, keeping abreast of any new savings policies that have been released, trying to utilise my tax free allowance that the chancellor allows in the budget. I have spoken to both my parents and my partner’s parents about possible inheritance tax liabilities and the best ways of mitigating any potential liabilities there are, given the increased likelihood of their deaths before ours. However, where I feel I do make most of an impact on things is to keep an eye on where we have arrangements for our regular outgoings. Clearly our major outgoing is our joint mortgage and fortunately we have a tracker mortgage which has allowed us to enjoy relatively low monthly payments for some years now. I also keep an eye on the comparison websites such as Permanent Health Insurance to check on the cost of gas and electricity providers and telephone and broadband providers.

Source: http://www.permanenthealthinsurance.uk.com/blog/2012/01/27/i-use-permanent-health-insurance-website-see-if-im-paying-too-much/

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Dec 16

I have used the same insurance broker ever since I had my first car and I needed to arrange cover. They always seemed to work very hard trying to get me the most competitive premiums and the process seemed to take an hour or so and I would always walk away with a hand written cover note and a feeling that it was very expensive but I had the best deal I could get. Looking back on those days, the trust I had in the staff in that office was based on nothing other than blind faith combined with the hope that if I thought it sounded absurdly expensive I might try the insurance broker along the road. Although having already taken an hour or more to get the insurance sorted out, the last thing I would want to do is to go through the entire process again and waste my entire day off. These days of course, like virtually everyone, I no longer use an insurance broker. I use the online comparison sites and the rest of the population probably use the telephone. The online process is so advanced these days that, rather than taking half an hour, the time need to obtain a quotation is now down to 10 minutes and every form and cover notes are generated on a PDF file which arrived in your inbox within seconds. Whilst you’re on the website the system provides the facility to obtain other financial products as, from the comparisons site point of view, why stop with car insurance? Within minutes you make a Life Insurance Comparison, arrange travel insurance and arrange a hire car to pick you up from the airport. The freedom the system allows is key, as you can access for your self a list of premiums and see for yourself how much cheaper one insurance company is over another.

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Nov 14

When I met my wife to be she was a tenant living in a friend’s property. We hit it off immediately and I knew that she was the person I was looking for. Fortunately for me she felt the same and we were married the following year. Since I remember both my parents had educated me about money, the need for saving, insurance and above all the need to get a career that would provide an income sufficient that would be able to support a family. My father had always dealt with a financial adviser and he was the man who arranged our critical illness cover that was very reasonably priced as I was taking it out at quite an early age. In recent years my wife and I have had a couple of children and my own business has flourished allowing me to delegate many of the mundane tasks to others allowing me to enjoy the fruits of success that I had planned for all those years ago. Clearly the education I received has enabled me to make the right decisions I have needed to or at least provided me the tools to know to spot an opportunity when it occurs.

Source: http://criticalillnesscover.uk.com/blog/2011/11/14/critical-illness-cover-product-which-should-be-compared-illnesses-covered/

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Sep 19

Critical Illness Insurance was developed in South Africa in 1983 to mitigate the costs associated with medical treatment and the concept was soon exported around the globe.  Nowadays it plays an important role in many markets, particularly in the UK, Canada and the Far East.  It has been adapted in various countries to meet customers’ needs, regulatory obligations and market nuances.

In the UK market, to aid the development of the product, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) prepared a Statement of Best Practice that is designed to ensure that customers and intermediaries understand the product and are able to easily compare the various offerings from market providers.

While CI cover sales have ebbed and flowed over the years, mainly because the product is inextricably linked to the mortgage market, the “best fit” line shows a downward trend in sales year-on-year.  Another less obvious factor that has affected product design and sales has been the reinsurers’ view of the guaranteed element of the product, which led to an overnight reduction in reinsurance capacity.  Put simply, demand outstripped supply leading to an increase in premium rates.

So what are the likely future developments for CI cover?  Will there be more of the status quo, or a move towards complex severity-based products, which will pay out set percentages based on the degree of impairment resulting from the condition?

Although we cannot predict the future, it is likely that there will be a range of CI products, and at the heart of most of them will be the desire to meet our customers’ perceived needs, based on the nature of the claims we receive.  Conditions may be tweaked as medical advances develop, or when providers review their claims’ portfolios to see if they can meet and offer wider coverage.  Recent enhancements, for example, have meant that ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and low grade prostrate cancer are now covered.

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