1 in 3 people in the UK will be diagnosed with a Critical Illness…this was the headline in an article I read recently, and it sent a shiver down my spine.

It is vital that when we select a Critical Illness provider for our client, we not only choose a company that provides good value for money, but we also choose one with a good claims performance and one that takes a human approach to some of the less straightforward claims.

I have been in the unfortunate position this year of having to process a number of critical illness claims for our clients, and whilst it isnt a pleasant experience, it is one made far more tolerable for the client knowing that they are covered and will be receiving a lump sum of money to be able to either take time out of work without worrying about money, modify their home, or repay some / all of their mortgage.

Not everyone has attractive sickness benefits at work, and in fact a good deal of employees in this country have very little over and above basic SSP, and then of course, there is always the self employed!!!

Key statistics:

• 1 in 3 people will be diagnosed with a critical illness between the ages of 40 and 70
• Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK
• Prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in men in the UK
• Every year, around 150,000 people in the UK have a stroke. That’s one person every five minutes.

I have heard many comments over the years from clients worried about insurance companies and whether in the event of a claim they would actually get paid, Well, in my opinion times have changed, and with tight ABI definitions, and thorough underwriting, the situation is far clearer.

Here are some statistics published on IFAOnline in recent months:

• Last year Aviva paid out almost 95% of critical illness claims totalling over £136m and 99.6% of those resulting from death totalling over £272m. Non disclosure accounted for only 1.6% of total claims declined, and 3.7% for not meeting ther conditions.
• Last year Zurich paid out 91% of claims totalling over £60m, with only 1% of claims declined for non-disclosure of facts. Cancer typically accounts for almost 50% of claims, followed by heart attacks (12%), strokes (7% and MS (3%)
• Scottish Widows have paid out over 90% of CI claims in 2010, and have paid out over £1bn in claims since 2000, and the average age of a claimant was on 55 years of age!
• Scottish Provident has paid out over 90% of all the CI claims in 2010 totalling over £88m with Cancer accounting for 63% of toal claims made.

As Independent Financial Advisers, we can give advice and make recommendations on this and many other aspects of your protection arrangements, from simple life cover and mortgage protection, through to income protection and key person / shareholder protection for business.

Please contact me if this is something you would like to discuss in more depth.

Shane Beardsley
Managing Director / Independent Financial Adviser

tel: 01482 658989
email: shane@kirkellainvestments.co.uk
web: www.kirkellainvestments.co.uk

e.g. Private aviation, Scuba Diving etc

The last couple of weeks have seen me quoting an above average number of Life Protection and Business Protection terms for individuals that participate in hazardous pastimes including flying helicopters and scuba diving.

Contrary to popular belief amongst participants in these activities, there can actually a very real risk of injury with some activities, and many participants have previously struggled to obtain life cover and critical illness cover because of this. In fact some clients have simply not bothered trying because they did not believe they would be able to obtain cover full stop.

Well, this simply isnt the case! there are obviously cost implications for certain hazardous pastimes, but by asking the correct questions and getting the correct underwriting assistance there is still a very competitive market within certain mainstream life insurance companies.

The benefit of our being independent means that we are able to approach the medical underwriters of all the life insurance companies to secure fair rates! Different companies treat hazardous activity loadings in differing degrees and sometimes it means researching several companies before submitting applications, or even submitting multiple applications, and sometimes avoiding what may appear at first glance to be the best value.

Allow us to do the leg work for you! so if you or any of your contacts have had problems in the past, or simply havent tried, then please pass on my details and I will see what I can do.

Shane Beardsley

I read an interesting article recently about the improvements to certain providers critical illness definitions, and it started me thinking about critical illnesses in general, I mean, if someone is diagnosed with one of the many terrible illnesses listed on all the documents that arrive in my offices each day it must feel absolutely awful, and I cant belittle it in anyway, but if you actually analyse them, there are many of those illnesses that whilst they will probably render you unable to work, at least for a while, and in some cases render you unable to work again, how many of them will actually kill you? the answer is not many! for example loss of sight or hearing, loss of limbs, third degree burns to mention a few.

Someone once said to me that getting a critical illness was actually worse than dying! I cant say I necessarily agree with that statement, but, how long would an employer actually pay your wages for if you were taken ill with a serious critical illness? and if you have a mortgage protection plan that only pays on your death, but you dont die; what will you do when your savings run out? and with a massive proportion of the country having less than 500 GBP in savings the outlook can be quite bleak.

So for the sake of what can often be a small monthly outlay, why burden yourself and your family with that worry?

If you feel that you would like to review this, please contact us on 01482 658989, or email me on shane@kirkellainvestments.co.uk and I will arrange for an adviser to contact you.

Shane Beardsley
Managing Director / Independent Financial Adviser

I will be posting quite a lot on this subject over the coming weeks; as a business we have seen recent examples where the lack of this type of cover has brought companies to the brink of failure, and all due to events completely out of their control.

As business people, we often spend hours and hours in meetings discussing strategies and business progression, but one aspect often overlooked by company directors isnt the insurance on their cars, or public liability, but on the people themselves.

I read an article recently that suggested that less than 5% of companies in this country have any form of Key Person Insurance (previously referred to as Key Man Insurance) versus 25% in the USA.

If this causes you concern, or you think a review of your companies position would be beneficial, then please contact us on 01482 658989.

Shane Beardsley
Managing Director / Independent Financial Adviser