Life Insurance Search

Members of the British armed forces have been encouraged to take out life insurance policies, regardless of their age.

Younger armed forces members have received particular encouragement, being reminded that policies are cheaper when a person is young.

William McCartney from Apple Insurance Brokers comments, “When you’re 18 years old you’re very, very cheap to insure so for anybody considering joining the army I would advise taking out a nice life insurance policy there and then.”

“My advice to any soldier would be to get your life insurance cover sorted, and the sooner they do the better.”

The need for life protection among members of the armed forces is increasingly reflected in the UK insurance market, with many insurers now offering policies specifically tailored for soldiers, whether they are seeking decreasing term policies, level term life insurance policies or critical illness cover.

An AXA study into the willingness of customers to reveal embarrassing personal details when taking out life insurance, as well as other kinds of policies, has returned some interesting findings.

According to the study, customers are more willing to disclose difficult personal details when speaking with an advisor over the telephone. Surprisingly, at 1.23%, the rate for non-disclosure was even lower than it was for both paper and electronic applications, at 5.78% and 3.48% respectively.

The study is thought to be particularly relevant to the life insurance side of protection, with prospective policyholders obliged to disclose important details about their health and lifestyles.

Mike Taylor, AXA’s chief underwriter for protection, commented that speaking over the telephone was “far less intrusive than being asked sensitive health and lifestyle information face-to-face.”

All figures from within the life insurance industry are expected to follow news of the study with interest.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has revealed that a moratorium on consumers having to provide details of predictive genetic tests when applying for life insurance will be extended until 2014.

There are some exceptions to this. The calculation of premiums for life insurance policies worth more than £500,000, critical illness cover worth more than £300,000 and income protection policies worth more than £30,000 a year will take predictive tests into account, but only those that are approved by the government.

There is little indication as to whether life insurers will continue this moratorium post-2014, but it is clear that they will allow consumers who have obtained favourable results from predictive tests to include this information.

Prospective policyholders will still be required to submit information about significant family health problems.

Stephen Hadrell, Director General of the ABI commented on the announcement, "It means people can insure themselves and their families, even if they have had an adverse result from a predictive genetic test.

"The moratorium has proved effective since its introduction in 2001 and can now continue.”

The life insurance industry will review their stance again in 2011.

This June is Male Cancer Awareness Month, during which time male cancer charity Everyman will seek to raise public awareness of the cancers that affect men. Inevitably, such a month also has the effect of getting men thinking about the value of life insurance.

And judging from the fact that most men underestimate the incidence of male cancers by around 100%, some insurers have concluded that if men new the true extent of prostate and testicular cancer risk, they would be less likely to think twice about taking out life insurance and critical illness cover.

Krista Eleftheriou, spokesperson for the Male Cancer Awareness Campaign comments, “It's shocking that there is such ignorance about such a prolific disease. The number of men who die from prostate cancer every year is almost comparable to the number of women who die from breast cancer, yet it remains a taboo subject that is rarely spoken about.”

While a spokesperson for a prominent life insurance company spoke of the importance of both sexes being protected against serious illness. She said, “It's shocking that there is such ignorance about such a prolific disease. The number of men who die from prostate cancer every year is almost comparable to the number of women who die from breast cancer, yet it remains a taboo subject that is rarely spoken about.”

Everyman is hoping to raise upwards of £500,000 during its awareness month. Anyone wishing to get involved can find out more here.

All of us in the UK with families, especially those of us with mortgages to pay, will understand the need for life insurance cover. After all, even though it may sometimes seem a macabre thought, there is no guarantee that we will be here from one day to the next. 

So spare a though for the UK aid workers who have been deployed to the world’s war and disaster hotspots in 2008. There are currently aid workers from the UK working in places like earthquake-hit China, war-torn Darfur and cyclone-ravaged Burma. 

Almost all workers with non-governmental (NGO) aid organisations will have some form of life cover to offer financial insurance to their families in the event that they should suffer some kind of fatal accident. 

Tim Prifti, accident and health underwriter at Kiln, comments, “Insurance is sometimes seen in a negative light, but this is a very good example of where insurance can make a positive difference.”  

Robin Williams, chief executive with Banner, who also specialise in offering insurance to NGO workers, comments, “War zones are difficult, but yes, we can nearly always get personal accident, travel and emergency medical cover for aid workers.” 

So while most of us will not face the same number of potentially fatal hazards as aid workers in disaster areas, the fact that NGOs consider life insurance to be so crucial can serve as an acute reminder to all of us of just how important an assurance investing in this kind of cover can be.