Critical illness cover helps to support you and your loved ones financially if you’ve been diagnosed with a specific condition.

You’ll receive a lump sum payment to help cover the costs of treatment, or to help pay the bills, if you’re not able to work.

This form of insurance usually doesn’t payout if you pass away. This is where life insurance comes in.

In most cases, life insurance only pays out if you pass away during the term of the policy. It’s designed to help your family to maintain their lifestyle after you’ve gone, like covering mortgage payments or children’s university fees.

Designed to support extra costs if you fall ill, you might want to consider such cover if:

• You depend heavily on your salary to support you and your family
• You don’t have enough savings to live on if you were to become seriously ill or disabled
• Your job won’t cover you for a long period off work due to sickness (employee benefits package)

You’d be most more likely to need income protection if you were self-employed or employed and not having the employers sick pay provision to fall back on. If illness occurs, resulting in the inability to pay the bills, you should consider income protection insurance. Regardless of whether or not having children or other dependents.

Some instances you might not need this kind of insurance could be:

• If you could get by on your sick pay. i.e, if you have an employee benefits package which gives you an income for 12 months or more.
• If you could survive on government benefits. But they might not be enough to cover all your outgoings.
• If you have enough savings to support yourself. Remember that your savings might need to see you through a long period.
• If you could take early retirement. If you’re near retirement age, perhaps you could afford to retire early. If you’re unable to return to work you might be entitled to take your pension early.
• If your partner or family would/could support you. Perhaps your partner has enough income to cover everything the two of you need.

Life insurance provides a way of helping your family cope financially when you die. This type of insurance cover is intended to provide help to your loved ones when they can’t rely on your salary or income any longer.

The pay-out it provides can be used to clear debts, pay off the mortgage or just cover everyday expenses. It could even pay for your funeral if you haven’t set anything aside for that.

First, you’d need to consider exactly what you want the insurance for. It could be that you want to make sure the policy lasts as long as your mortgage repayments. Or, wish to link it to your children’s age, so it won’t expire until they have finished school, turned 18 or finished university, or both or more reasons.

Needless to say that your own age will have an impact on your decision.

If you are single and there’s nobody else being dependent on your income, then it could be viewed that you’d probably do not need life insurance.

On the other hand, you have a partner or family who would potentially struggle to cope financially, then life insurance could offer the help they’d very much need at such a very challenging time.

This would very much depend on your personal circumstances. As the amount of cover, (often referred to as the ‘sum insured’), can be different for each family situation.

Should you be married, have a large mortgage and a number of children. Chances are you’re going to require more cover than a single parent living in a two-bedroom flat with one child.

Much of the time, the best rule of thumb recommends a level of life insurance being that of 10 times annual salary or income. Obviously, however, a more detailed calculation needs to be made to ensure you’d be adequately covered.

Mortgage protection insurance is an insurance policy that pays off your mortgage if you or another policyholder dies during the term of the mortgage. By law, your lender must ensure you have this type of insurance cover in place when a mortgage is taken out with them.

It is more commonly known as Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance (MPPI)

In short, Yes, but as life insurance premiums rise with age, older people will almost certainly pay more for cover.

It is still possible to take out life insurance when you are in your 50s, and some firms will accept you without medical or health questions.

Over ’50s Life Insurance is not a savings or investment product and has no cash value unless a valid claim is made.

Normally, you’d usually pay a monthly fee and then as and when make claims for any eligible private healthcare you receive whilst covered by the policy. Such insurance would cover some or all of the costs of private treatments, and may even give you cashback for stays in NHS hospitals (dependant on the policy terms taken out).

Private healthcare can offer a number of benefits over using the NHS, including:

• Treatment. You’ll have a wider choice of treatment options.
• Waiting times. You’ll be able to bypass long waiting times.
• Comfort. You’ll get access to better hospital accommodation.

Term policies, the most common type of life insurance, only payout if you die within the duration agreed in the policy. For example, if you take out a term life policy for 25 years, your family can claim if you die during this 25-year period.

However, if you were to die after this term then there would be no pay-out.

Most policies run for between 10 or 25 years, but you can specify how long you’d like it to be

Yes, this form of cover is called life assurance or whole of life insurance. Your family can claim for your policy no matter when you die, as such unrestricted by a policy term.

In short, YES. this is because a pay-out from this type of insurance policy is certain.