The right insurance cover can be there to save you whenever you need it

Insurance cover falls into the category of purchases you’d probably rather not use but still want to have around in case you do actually need them.  It may not be glamorous and it is highly unlikely to be free, but it can be a whole lot more attractive and cheaper than having to manage a difficult situation without it.  Here are some ideas as to how the right insurance cover can benefit you.

Health cover While the NHS is an institution, the fact is that there are a lot of demands on it, which means not only that the waiting time for treatment may be longer than you’d like but that treatment may be limited to what you need rather than what might be optimum.  Health insurance can make it possible for you to get the treatment you need more quickly and may support you in getting the treatment you want.  Even if you’re not convinced about the need for full health cover, you might want to consider dental cover as anyone can have an accident which damages their teeth and dental bills can be expensive.

Wealth cover Even those in paid employment are recommended to think about how they would meet their financial commitments if they became unable to work for a time.  You may find that a combination of work-related benefits and state benefits will suffice, but you may not and you will only know either way if you check.  The self-employed may be eligible for state benefits but will need to arrange their own insurance cover if this is insufficient. Those in employment might wish to look at payment protection insurance to cover financial commitments such as credit cards and loans, including mortgages.  While this type of cover is (still) in the news due to the historic mis selling scandal, it is important to remember that the scandal related to inappropriate sales practices rather than an issue with the product as a whole.  For some people it is a very useful form of cover. Income protection insurance is available to both the employed and the self employed.  As its name suggests, it is intended to replace income lost if an illness makes a person unable to work for a period of time.  This has obvious relevance to the self-employed but may also be of relevance to the employed.  Similar comments apply to critical illness cover, which, as its name suggests, pays out if you are diagnosed with one of an agreed list of critical illnesses.

Life cover From the perspective of the insured person, the main benefit of life insurance is knowing that you have taken care of those who survive you.  Because of this, it’s important to review any policy on a regular basis, such as once a year, to ensure that you have the right level of cover for your current situation.  You should also review it in preparation for or immediately after any major life events such as births and marriages.  Life insurance can be written into a trust to keep it separate from your main estate, which not only reduces the value of your formal estate (thereby potentially reducing your family’s inheritance tax bill) but also allows a claim to be processed immediately and the money released to your beneficiaries (long) before probate is completed.  This can help them to move on with their lives.  As a final point, because life insurance is treated separately from the rest of your estate, you need to make any updates to the policy (e.g. change of beneficiary) through the insurance provider rather than by means of changing your will.