Talk Money Week - 3 things to think about during the cost of living crisis

Talk Money Week is all about having open conversations with family and friends about money, and getting support wherever it might be needed. One in three people are said to be worried about their financial situation, especially now more than ever.

Quite often when people are having money worries, they might look to cancel some of their outgoings, one of which could be protection insurance. We think having protection insurance in place can be super important, so we’ve come up with 3 things to think about before cancelling a protection insurance policy.

1. Review your policy

It could be that your circumstances haven’t changed since taking out your policy, and it will still be the best option for you. But on the other hand, your situation might have changed and it might be worth finding a new policy to more suit your needs. 

For example, you might have previously received a diagnosis of a medical condition and as time has passed, you may now be able to get better terms for a policy. Another example could be that your mortgage has changed, or you have more or less dependents than you did previously.

It might be that you have £100,000 of life insurance and it costs you £15 per month, but now you only need £50,000 and you can reduce the sum assured to match your new needs. This will reduce your premium too. It’s always worth speaking with an adviser before you make a decision like this.

2. Would cancelling your policy really make your money worries vanish?

Cancelling your protection insurance policy might save you a little bit of money each month, but would that little bit of money really make all of your money worries go away? Once you’ve cancelled your policy, you may then have different money worries as you will no longer have the all-important financial protection in place for if anything was to ever happen.

Some insurers can offer payment holidays if you’re struggling to pay your premiums, it could be worth asking the insurer about how this works, before you cancel your cover.

Remember that quite often the reason that you took out a policy like life insurance and income protection, there was a specific reason. If that thing that was worrying you hasn’t stopped, then cancelling the cover isn’t always the best choice. We don’t want to be the ones that say cancel your Netflix subscription or season tickets at the football club, so that you can afford your insurance (they’re way more fun than insurance), but it’s worth having a really good think.

3. You will lose value added benefits

A great thing about protection insurance is that many policies now come with value added benefits. These are things which are provided for free by the insurer, examples are:

• 24/7 online GP – access to a GP 24 hours of the day, 7 days a week. This can be great for those who work 9-5 or have other commitments which don’t allow for a regular appointment. These appointments are often by phone call or video call.
• Mental health support – support staff are readily available to provide support and treatment. They will assess your situation and provide you with some guidance and most importantly, they will listen to you.
• Rehabilitation services – support in returning to work at a pace that suits you. This means that you don’t rush back into work before you are truly ready to.
• Second medical opinion services – a second opinion on your medical case or diagnosis, who can also recommend suitable treatments. A leading expert in your health condition will look through your medical reports and tests, and double check that everything has been thoroughly assessed for you.
• Wellbeing services – access to nutritional plans, fitness programmes and online health checks.
• Parent and child cover – protection for if your child was to be diagnosed with a medical condition or needs to have an operation.
  
  

We know first hand that these really can make a difference. For instance if you’re on holiday and come down ill, you don’t have to worry about finding a nearby doctors surgery and being concerned about language barriers etc, you can use a 24/7 GP instead. If your policy is cancelled, you will automatically lose access to these.

Cancelling your protection insurance policy may seem like a good idea, but there are definitely several things to think about before actually cancelling. If you are struggling to pay your monthly premium, the instinct is to cancel anything that isn’t necessary, you just need to decide what is essential to you. If you’re looking to have your policy reviewed, we have a number of experienced advisers on hand to help and make sure you have the most suitable policy, at a price that is within your budget.

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