Life Insurance Search

An expert in life insurance fraud has said that he fears financial pressures in 2008 could lead to UK policyholders staging copycat faked deaths in the manner of infamous canoe man John Darwin.

Norman Wise, once a detective but now a senior lecturer in fraud and financial crime at Teeside University, outlined his life insurance fraud concerns.

“The temptation is always in the way when wages are falling, prices are rising and people have less disposable income,” he said.

He added, “Fraud is an easy crime to commit and in terms of the Darwin case, it was driven by an extremely high level of debt.

“I am aware insurance companies have paid out in suspicious circumstances, and have been left with no choice but to settle a claim.”

However, he also said that the six-year prison sentences handed out to John Darwin and his wife Anne may make people think twice about committing life insurance fraud.

He commented, “I hope people see that as a deterrent. It won’t be easy and for Mr Darwin. As a former prison officer, it will be particularly unpleasant.”

A study by Moneyfacts has revealed that the cost of life insurance has nearly halved over the past decade.

Surprisingly, falls in the cost of both decreasing term and level term life insurance over this period have come even though there have been rises in the costs of other types of insurance, such as home and car cover policies.

The fall in the price of life cover can be attributed to a number of market factors, not least the increased competitiveness of the sector, with a number of new players, such as supermarkets, entering the life sector.

Richard Eagling, editor of investment, life and pensions with Moneyfacts, commented, “Longer life expectancy coupled with increased competition in the term assurance market has driven prices down to all time lows, but for non-smokers there are signs that rates may have bottomed out.

“Consumers looking to take advantage of the huge savings on offer should proceed with caution as life insurance companies assess risk differently.

“Some policies are as much as five times more expensive, so why waste money needlessly?”

A new study by Sainsbury’s Finance has revealed that the impending school summer holidays will cost parents in the UK a combined £4.52 billion in outlays related to childcare, trips out, restaurants and pocket money. Yet, with 3.2 million parents not possessing life insurance cover, the company also urged parents to consider the value of such insurance.

Steve Johnson, head of Sainsbury’s Life Insurance, comments, “It's so easy to underestimate how expensive it is to look after a child. Kids depend on Mum and Dad for everything, not just during the holidays, but throughout their whole childhood.

“Parents need to consider how their families would cope financially should something happen to them, and nowhere is this more evident than in the cost of child care. life insurance can help provide peace of mind knowing that your dependants could receive a cash lump sum if you were to die during the term of the plan.”

Zurich Financial Services has bought 50% of general, pension and life insurance company Banco Sabadell. The 50% stake is believed to have cost Zurich 650 million euros, with a series of earn-out payments worth a further 250 million euros expected to follow.

Commenting on Zurich’s investment in the company, Zurich’s chief executive officer commented, “We have always said we wanted to increase our market position in this important market.”

Although Banco Sabadell will continue to own 50% of the company, it will hand over control of management operations for its general, pension and life insurance services to Zurich.

News of the purchase was welcomed by the stock market, with shares in the new general, pension and life insurance partnership rising by 7%.

The acquisition is the largest by Zurich since 2002.

A study into the credit and saving habits of over 50s carried out by the Post Office has led to its head of protection reminding this age group of the importance of life insurance.

The study found that the current climate of economic uncertainty is reflected in the over 50s age group’s use of credit cards, with 47% using them to make everyday purchases.

Other figures which show that many could benefit from having effective life insurance policies relate to savings. 33% of those surveyed said that they are unable to save at the moment, while 48% said that their incomes are only just meeting the cost of their expenses.

Post Office also advised consumers within this age bracket that now would be a good time to look at the value of their life cover, including policies for level term and mortgage protection policies.

Their head of protection made the following life insurance-related comments, “In an economic climate where living costs are soaring, over 50s are finding they can’t afford to save and are more reliant on credit.

“Thinking about the future and how the family will cope should the unexpected happen is an extra worry, but a simple life plan can offer peace of mind to those concerned about passing on funeral costs and debts.”

Two Taiwanese sisters have been united after forty years of estrangement. The long-lost siblings were on a business trip to the United States with their shared employer, Cathay Life Insurance, when a chance cup of coffee brought them together for the first time.

Although the two life insurance company employers have worked for Cathay for a long time, as just two of 30,000 employees their paths had not crossed before the business meeting in Los Angeles, which was aptly themed “Change Your Life”.

It was only when the two shared a cup of coffee on the company coach and they began exchanging their personal histories that bells began to ring. When it emerged they had both been adopted from a poor family of fifteen children, a colleague suggested that they might be related.

After telephoning family members to make some enquiries, to their mutual delight the two life insurance employees discovered that there could be no doubt of their consanguinity.  Once this had this had been established, the two embraced to the applause of their co-workers.

A 69-year-old German woman has been jailed for life over the murders of four elderly men. Callously, the former call girl would meet men through lonely hearts columns then murder them so that she could receive money from their life insurance policies.

The convicted woman, Lydia Lassen-Berge, would, with the help of a male accomplice, vet men to discover if they had significant assets or life insurance policies before making herself sole beneficiary and suffocating them so as to try and make it look as if they had died of natural causes.

Her accomplice was also sentenced, but to only 12 years imprisonment. It was only his coming forward to police with information that led to them discovering the macabre and murderous truth behind the 69-year-old’s seemingly ill-fated run of romances.

Lydia Lassen-Berge has been sentenced to life without prospect of parole over the life insurance-related murders.