Life, critical illness and income

Cover that keeps the roof on

Protection is not an add-on sold at the end of a mortgage. It is the answer to a simple question: if your income stopped, how long could the household carry the mortgage without it?

What we advise on: Life cover, critical illness cover and income protection.
How we are paid: We may receive commission from the insurer if you take out a policy. We will tell you before you apply.
Reviewing existing cover: We look at what you already hold, including cover from an employer, before recommending anything new.
No pressure: If your existing arrangements are adequate, the right advice is to leave them alone, and we will say so.

Life cover

A sum paid out if you die during the term of the policy.

Most people take life cover alongside a mortgage so that the loan can be cleared if they die, leaving the family with the house rather than the debt. Cover can be arranged to reduce broadly in line with a repayment mortgage, or to stay level, which suits interest only borrowing and anyone who wants a fixed sum for the family rather than only the loan cleared.

Where it goes wrong: the amount is set to the mortgage and nothing else. If the household would lose an income as well as gain a debt, clearing the mortgage may not be enough. It is also common for cover to be written without a trust, which can mean the money forms part of the estate and takes longer to reach the people who need it.

Honest disclosure at application is the single most important thing. Non-disclosure of a medical condition, smoking, or alcohol consumption is the most common reason a claim is questioned. A policy priced on incomplete information is not a saving.

What we look at

Decreasing or level cover, single or joint lives
Writing the policy in trust so it pays outside the estate
Reviewing existing cover before replacing it — older policies are sometimes better left in place

Critical illness

Critical illness cover

A sum paid out if you are diagnosed with one of the conditions the policy lists, and you survive it.

Critical illness cover exists because serious illness is financially disruptive even when it is survivable. Treatment and recovery can stop income for a long period while the mortgage, the bills and the family carry on.

Where it goes wrong: people assume any serious diagnosis pays out. It does not. Every policy defines the conditions it covers and the severity required, and those definitions differ meaningfully between insurers. Two policies with the same monthly cost can behave very differently at the point of claim, and the cheaper one is not necessarily worse — but you should know which definitions you are buying.

This is the product where advice earns its keep, because the comparison that matters is the wording, not the premium. We will show you what a policy actually covers, including what it excludes.

What we look at

Comparing condition definitions, not just monthly cost
Children's cover, which many policies include
How pre-existing conditions may be excluded or loaded

Income protection

A regular replacement income if illness or injury stops you working.

Of the three, income protection is the one most often skipped and the one most likely to be claimed on, because being unable to work for a period is far more common than dying young. It pays a monthly amount rather than a lump sum, which is what a household budget actually needs.

Where it goes wrong: the definition of incapacity. A policy that pays only if you cannot do any work at all is a much weaker promise than one that pays if you cannot do your own occupation. The waiting period before payment starts also matters, and should be matched to any sick pay from an employer and to your savings, not chosen at random.

Employed applicants should check what their employer provides first. If sick pay is generous and long, the cover can be arranged around it rather than duplicating it. Self-employed applicants usually have nothing behind them at all, which changes the priority considerably.

What we look at

Own occupation, suited occupation or activities of daily living definitions
Waiting periods set around employer sick pay and savings
Whether the payment period runs to the end of the term or for a limited spell

How we advise

We start with the budget, not the products

The useful conversation is about what would actually happen. What comes in, what must be paid, what an employer would provide, what savings exist, and how long they would last. Once that is on paper, the products almost choose themselves and the priorities become obvious.

Where a budget will not stretch to everything, we would rather arrange the cover that addresses the biggest risk properly than spread a small premium thinly across three policies that would each pay too little to matter.

We will also be clear about what protection does not do. It does not pay out for redundancy unless a specific policy is arranged for that, it does not cover conditions you already have unless the insurer agrees to include them, and it does not pay if the information given at application was not accurate.

Policies should be reviewed when life changes — a move, a new mortgage, a child, a change of job. Cover set up years ago is often no longer the right shape.

Not sure what you already have?

Send us what you hold, including anything provided through work, and we will tell you where the gaps are. If there are none, we will tell you that too.

Speak to an adviser