It is becoming more common for companies to try and reduce the monthly premium if you are applying for more than one cover at a time, for example if you and your wife or husband are both looking for a life insurance policy you could take out two single plans and receive a monthly policy discount where the insurance provider does not charge a plan fee on the second plan or even third or fourth plan if you wanted a number of policies. If taking out a joint policy the benefits of the insurance will only be paid out once and can only be claimed for once and the cover will cease once the claim has been paid. If a company however does not accept a claim for a reason such as non disclosure then the policy would again cease and any premiums paid would be refunded. When a life insurance application is submitted to an insurance company some of the factors that they typically take into consideration and use to underwrite your application are things like:
• The gender of the applicant, generally males have a shorter life expectancy (however this will change in 2012).
• The family medical history, if your family have history of for example diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attacks, cancer etc the insurance company may consider you to be at a higher risk of developing something similar.
• Tobacco usage. If the applicant is a smoker they may be more susceptible to developing a major illness as apposed to a non smoker.

Would your company be able to continue without you and your financial input? If it could not continue, would your employees be suddenly left without an income? Have you ever looked through this situation and made plans with them and your accountant?

If you have not considered any of this, then perhaps it is time to get out your life insurance documentation and check to see if your cover includes how it will pay out (or indeed if it will pay out) for your own business.

It can actually be seen as a great workforce incentive to tell them that they have been taken into account in your own life insurance policy. This will actually show them that you care for them, and having a boss who cares is a great way of getting a workforce on your side in driving up trade.

No-one likes uncertainty in life and so the same applies to your staff. If they feel insecure in their position, their focus is more likely to be directed towards finding employment, which has a better level of life security.

In such instances it is always a good idea to map out your life plan and to see how all parts of your life are covered. You may already have sorted out the future well-being of your family and friends – now it is time to do the same for the people who help you produce an income.

Consider talking to your insurance broker about elements of a policy, which would mean that a named cause would get a slice of your wealth on your demise. Such a charity can be bought and identified as a primary beneficiary of the policy. This means that you can help others in vulnerable situations around the world or even close to home long after you are no longer around yourself.

Many great causes benefit from such giving. It could be an idea to discuss this with the actual charity that you have in mind. It might be running a specific project, or helping out in a particular country that you have ties to. Such causes rely a great deal on such generosity and kindness. Many will welcome such a gift by keeping you up to date with their work while you are still alive. You can form a real relationship with the charity whilst alive in the knowledge that once you die – that relationship will continue in a very real and worthy way.

Not only does a life policy pay out should the policy holder die but having the combined benefit that should the policy holder develop a critical illness that is specified by the insurance company that the benefits could potentially be paid out also. The insurance is typically described as death or earlier critical illness, so should someone suffer a critical illness this would then subsequently stop the policy, as it would either pay out on death or critical illness. If you can afford to pay for the extra amount that it would cost for the critical illness then it is of course worth while you taking it out. However on the other hand if you are over stretching your budget then there is no point because in the end it may resulting in you cancelling the whole policy and having no cover in force at all. Taking out this sort of protection insurance ensures that both the insured party and the remaining family are covered financially should it ever be needed. This can be beneficial in more ways than one and in some cases more than you could have first thought.

It could be used to clear debts or even cover the costs of any potential treatment needed by the sufferer of the critical illness. Depending on how you wish the money to be spent and your family’s financial status at the time the money could even be used to help with your children’s education or some may even think of putting some money aside to help buy their own home in the future. It is becoming harder and harder for young couples for example to buy their first home, a large deposit is needed to be able to get a suitable mortgage. Therefore some of the money could be used for that purpose along with any other wishes of the insured. Insurance products are regulated and monitored by governing bodies to ensure that both the consumer and the provider are treated fairly. Should there be any discrepancies or complaints to be made they would be informed and the matter would be investigated. There are a number of critical illnesses automatically included in a critical illness insurance policy. However they must meet the minimum standard set by the Association of British Insurers (ABI), but each individual insurer could if they wish increase the definition which would be classed as ABI plus.

There are a number of stories that always float around but it is your decision as to whether or not you believe them, for example a provider’s claims history might have been a question when taking out insurance, and whether or not if you were diagnosed would they definitely pay out the claim. There have been lots of discussions about this topic and companies are starting to print their claims history reports on an annual basis to prove they are trust worthy company who will do their best to pay out any claim. Some people may say that personal insurance is a form of gambling and others swear by it, a reason why people may say it is a form of gambling is because it is very much like gambling on the horses. By this I mean that you never know when or what is going to happen to them at any point and you could be paying for a product which you may not get any benefit from. On the other hand you could end up being better off and be paid out a sum of money.

As with life insurance, critical illness cover and combined policies, this can be pretty much the same. To pay for an insurance policy when you could effectively live a healthy and peaceful life health wise without having any major ailments throughout your lifetime is your choice. What ever the reason for you taking out a personal protection plan, there is always going to be one out there which will be suitable for you but the cost can differentiate depending on the chosen plan and the length you want it to cover you. In most cases a financial adviser can find you the best policy; this can save you a lot of ringing around and also stress knowing you have bought the right policy.

A financial adviser will have access to a variety of literature to ensure you can read over the key facts of different providers to make sure you choose a contract you feel comfortable with. Once a policy is in force your insurance claim will be paid out if it meets a certain definition which is decided by the claims department. Products are now being rated with a star rating so you can look quickly at what products are better than others, the more stars a contract has the better the contract. They take many aspects into consideration when rating and are reviewed on a regular basis. One company that adopts this rating system is defaqto which is a financial research company.

However a critical illness with life contract has so many variations from one to another that the price can vary as the cost is normally that bit more expensive and therefore more tolerance in being able to adjust the price to get you the best deal. Typically life insurance is one of the most popular types of cover that the majority of people decide upon taking out. It is a basic type of protection insurance but it is there to serve a purpose, you can decide upon a figure that you want to be insured for, an example being £100,000. The amount that you decide upon can be based on whether you are insuring against existing debt or if you want the money to be left for your family. With this type of policy only covering and offering protection financially against the death of the policy holder it can sometimes be less appealing to people.

This may be because they want other aspects covering as well. Life insurance can be bought and taken out in several different ways. It can be set up in both a single or a joint policy or it can be taken out against a mortgage or on a level basis. If you took a joint policy out the benefits will unfortunately be only paid out once upon the first death. The policy will automatically cease once a claim has been submitted. If you can afford to it may be of an advantage to take out two separate life policies as it sometimes does not cost that much per month to have the insurance pay out on both lives if something happened. Regardless of the way and the reasons behind taking it out it can be a very useful way of protection your family against what could be a large financial loss. There is however a certain limit to just how much personal insurance that you can have and this depends on your financial circumstances. The more you are insured for and the longer the term of the plan the more the insurance will cost so it would be in your best interest to cover what you need and not pay for cover that you do not necessarily need.