How to get the all important protection insurance that you need

How to get the all important protection insurance that you need

It could be that you have insurance for your car, house, phone, pet, the list goes on. But why go without protecting the one thing they all have in common, yourself?

A lot of people haven’t taken out protection insurance because they aren’t sure where to start, they’re not sure if they need it or they simply just haven’t got around to it. If the first two apply, then this blog is just for you.

Where to start?

Seeing a possible need for protection insurance is the first step. There are many reasons why a person might need cover, but ultimately it’s to provide financial security to you and your family. There are different types of personal cover, the ones which we at Cura can help you with are: 

• Life insurance
• Critical illness cover
• Income protection

   

Trying to suss out which cover you need can be difficult at times, as you might think there’s a crossover between what they do. To put it simply:

Life insurance will pay a lump sum of money to your chosen beneficiary in the event of your death.

Critical illness cover will pay a cash lump sum of money, if you are diagnosed with a medical condition that is listed in the insurer’s claims set, for example cancer, heart attack, stroke.

Income protection pays you a replacement of your monthly income, if you’re unable to work because of ill health.

What do I need to know?

In order to take out protection insurance, it’s important to know what type of cover you need, how long you might need it for and how much cover you need. There are some guidelines which people often follow, such as taking out a life insurance policy covering them for their mortgage liability and for the number of years left of their mortgage, or taking out income protection for however many years would take them to their retirement age. 

It’s also worth thinking about what your budget is, as you don’t want to be in a situation where you have to consider cancelling your policy because of the monthly cost. 

Protection insurance can be much cheaper than people think. In some cases, it might just mean sacrificing one takeaway or two coffees a month. In the long run I definitely think it’s worth the peace of mind you will get in return for having protection.

How do I get it?

There are many routes to getting protection insurance and whichever you choose is down to personal preference. 

You might like the process of looking at your circumstances and researching what you need. From doing that, you could then choose to use an online comparison website to compare the prices of suitable products. You might also go directly to an insurer that you have in mind and submit an application with them. 

These are called non-advised routes, meaning that you’re not offered any advice on what products you should purchase or what might suit your needs the most. You can also use a non-advisory insurance broker, who might look at the options available which meet the requirements set by yourself. Again, they won’t be able to offer any advice.

Alternatively, you can choose an advised route, which is what we would usually recommend. Going down an advised route means that somebody else can do the difficult part for you. An example of an advised route would be to use us at Cura. We speak with you, find out all of the relevant information, do a whole of market research and then recommend the product that we think is best for you. As well as recommending a product, we can also recommend the amount of cover and how long you might need it for.

A benefit of going down an advised route such as using an adviser at Cura, is that you can have expert advice without having to pay us a fee. If you were to take out a protection policy using one of our advisers the insurer will pay a commission to us, rather than you having to pay us for our services. 

Both can be good for different reasons. Non advised and advised routes will be explored in more depth in one of our upcoming blogs, keep an eye out for it!

How does the process work?

After finding the product you want, you will then submit an application form. The application form will ask some basic questions such as your name and address, and will then go onto some more important questions. The insurer will want to know about any past or existing health conditions. 

Depending on your answers, the insurer might have a few more specific questions, such as when did you receive a diagnosis? Do you take any medication? It is quite common for an insurer to request a medical report from your GP if you have indicated any past or existing health concerns. The report is paid for by the insurer (no added cost from you). We actually also think this can be quite a good thing, as the insurer will then have a clear picture of your health and there shouldn’t be any future confusion if there is a claim. 

There will also be a few questions about any hazardous hobbies that you might have, such as skydiving or motorbike racing. This is followed by a couple of questions about your travel habits. The insurer isn’t usually too interested in the average holiday to the South of France or Costa Del Sol. They are more interested in your travel to more risky destinations or travel over a certain number of days.

After the application has been completed, the underwriters will then assess your application in line with their guidelines. From this point, you should receive a decision. This could be in the form of terms for a policy, or a postpone or declined application. Though this might sound daunting, this again can be where an advised route can be beneficial. The adviser can then step in to advise on what steps to take next or find another option. In some cases, the adviser might challenge this decision with the insurer and have the decision overturned.

Hopefully after reading this you feel one step closer to starting the protection insurance journey, or at least a little bit more confident. Over the next few months, we will be looking into different topics in some more detail to help you along the way.

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