Life Insurance Search

Websites which allow you to compare the insurance market have transformed this area of personal finance, according to Insurancewide.

Chief executive officer James Harrison said for those people looking for anything from pet insurance to life insurance "this kind of service remains by far the best option for busy consumers and there is no viable alternative".

He stated insurance is a very complex product as every customer is different.

Mr Harrison added a well-designed site permits the customer to enter precise insurance needs and an accurate profile to ensure no false assumptions are made before directing them to the most appropriate insurers.

He claimed all a good comparison website needs to do is ask the right questions and provide a clear picture of what the customer can expect for their money.  This is a great way for people to find level term life insurance policies that suit them.

In other news, the Patient's Association has said those people looking to take out life insurance should do it as soon as possible.

Those people looking for life insurance should get it as early as possible when it should be cheaper and they should hang on to it when they change jobs, according to the The Patients Association.

A spokesperson from the group said: "Every time the 'meter' starts again with new cover, patients' health changes and age may well reduce the cover available or at least raise the premium."

She also stated that a healthy lifestyle can help keep life insurance premiums down.

Government statistics reveal that life expectancy for men and women once they reach 65 in the UK has reached its highest level ever.

If mortality rates remain the same as they were between 2004 and 2006, on average men who make it to 65 will live a further 16.9 years and women will survive another 19.7 years.

Males born in the UK live for an average of 76.9 years and females for an average of 81.3 years.  However, nothing is ever certain so it's vital to look into getting a level term life insurance policy in case the worst does happen. 

The majority of people over-estimate the cost of taking out life insurance, according to a new study.

The research by Legal & General found 65 per cent of those questioned thought taking out £150,000 worth of life cover would be more expensive than it is.

Karen Blatchford, commercial director for housing at Legal & General, said: "We're concerned that two-thirds of people are over-estimating the costs of protection."

She stated that £150,000 of level term life insurance over 25 years for a healthy, non-smoking man of 25 would cost £8 a month, while including critical illness cover would add a further £18 a month.

Ms Blatchford added the fact that only 38 per cent of the people surveyed had life insurance was a further cause for concern.

In other news, the Association of British Insurers claim company directors should carefully consider life insurance as many would not have an alternative source of income should they find themselves unable to work.

Life insurance is something all company directors should consider carefully, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

The group claims life insurance is particularly important for self-employed business bosses because they do not usually have an alternative source of income if they find themselves unable to work, Only Finance reports.

Self-employed workers in general are far more vulnerable as their job - and therefore their income – depends upon their health, ABI states.

Figures from ABI estimate that one in three people in the UK do not have life insurance (either level term life insurance or mortgage cover), while a further one in three could be underinsured.

Three years ago, insurer Swiss Re stated there was a £2.3 trillion protection gap between the expenditure of people in Britain and what was covered by life insurance.

In other health-related news, support group Huddersfield Heartline claims people need to take the early warning signs of a heart attack more seriously.

Life insurance is something everyone should think about, 3×24 claims.

Writing for the news provider, Todd Martin states it is worth taking the time to compare all your options before making a final decision on which policy to opt for.

He states that the main point of life insurance is to "reduce the financial stress that your family will have to face once you are gone".

Mr Todd claims that a good life insurance policy will make sure that your children are provided for and that mortgage payments are covered.

He adds that once you have chosen the policy that is right for you arranging payments is straightforward and hassle free.

Taking the time now to make sure you choose exactly the right cover will provide peace of mind that your loved ones will be taken care of financially should the worst happen, he concludes.  There are many different types of life cover available, with level term life insurance often one of the most popular.

In other news, a cancer charity single featuring 15 female pop stars, including Beyonce and Leona Lewis, is due to be released next week.

Less than half of adults in the West Midlands would opt for a traditional funeral, according to research by Post Office Over-50s Life Insurance.

The study revealed some 16 per cent of those questioned said they would like their ashes to be fired into space, while the same number again said they would like their ashes to be crafted into a firework, the Dudley News reports.

It also found that 47 per cent of respondents underestimate the cost of a funeral.

Commenting on the findings Duncan Caesar-Gordon, life insurance manager at the Post Office, said: "The options for a creative send off are growing all the time."

However, he added the cost of a funeral is often several thousand pounds and he advised taking out life insurance to that friends and family have the money required to pay for whatever kind of send off has been specified.

There are numerous types of life cover available, including the popular level term life insurance.

In other news, research by the Stroke Association has revealed the unhealthy ways in which marketers deal with stress could make them the profession most likely to suffer from a stroke.

A new report which may be of interest to those considering taking out level term life insurance has revealed that marketers in the UK are the professionals most likely to turn to alcohol and comfort eating to help them deal with stress.

The research by the Stroke Association found 71 per cent of UK marketers feel stress as a result of work and 59 per cent deal with the pressure by turning to drink, while a further 59 per cent resort to comfort eating, UTalkMarketing reports.

Excessive drinking and eating can lead to increased blood pressure, which in turn can lead to strokes which are the third biggest killer in the UK, the Stroke Association claims.

Joe Korner from the organisation said: "Stress clearly affects a great deal of the working population and while stress in itself is undesirable, responding to it in the wrong ways … can all lead to high blood pressure."

Meanwhile, a recent survey by the Post Office revealed 75 per cent of Brits do not have life insurance.

New research from the Post Office shows that most UK adults value their lives at £350,000. But while this figure represents the average self-valuation, the average life insurance policy will only pay out around half of this.

Most people calculated this average by considering the value of their assets, including their homes, as well as their salaries. Bearing in mind the fact that the home is usually a person’s main asset, it is not surprising that Londoners, where property prices are highest, placed a higher valuation on themselves than those in other areas. Londoners thought themselves worth an average of £500,000, which was significantly more than for those in the East Midlands, who said they were worth £300,000.

And since most older people will generally have to pay more for level term life insurance cover than younger members of society, it is not surprising that they gave themselves a higher self-valuation than other age groups, with retirees valuing themselves at an average of £500,000.

Duncan, Caesar-Gordon, Post Office’s head of protection, commented, “Regardless of the average UK adult valuing their life at £350,000, which is over double the average life insurance policy, it is worrying that so few people have taken measures to protect themselves' commented Duncan Caesar-Gordon head of protection at the Post Office.

“Whilst it is encouraging that people can successfully identify the key stages of their life when they should consider life insurance, it is concerning how few people then actually go on to take it out.

“What is interesting is the calculation that people make when working out how much their life is worth. What people need to consider is a lump sum of money that will help their loved ones pay towards something like a mortgage, should the worst happen.”

A piece of research by AON Consulting has highlighted concerns that some people in the UK may be paying out twice for life insurance.

This is because many, 77%, were in the dark about whether their employers had life insurance cover policies for them. However, it is believed that around 40% of UK employees do actually have life cover through their employers, either decreasing term or level term life insurance, meaning that many are forking out unnecessarily for protection they already have.

Paul White, AON’s head of risk benefits, commented, “Employers have long recognised the value of offering life assurance as part of the overall benefits mix to attract and retain the best talent.

”Corporate life assurance rates are currently very competitive, often significantly lower than the rates that can be obtained by an individual.

”This provides the employer with the opportunity to give and communicate a cost effective, tax-free benefit that employees really want and indeed will often pay for themselves.”

Life insurance giant Norwich Union has revealed that an alarming number of UK citizens, 20 million, don’t have any form of life cover or protection at all.

It also revealed that the major reason for UK people failing to take out life insurance protection was complacency; with 37% saying they’d not sought any kind of protection because they simply hadn’t thought about it.

Norwich Union said that those who failed to take out either decreasiong term or level term life insurance cover were flirting with future of economic ruin for both themselves and their families.

Darren Dicks, head of protection marketing at Norwich Union, said, “These findings are cause for concern as they suggest many people are taking an it won't happen to me' approach to protection. Around 52% of UK adults have no life cover at all and the remainder are either underinsured or unsure about what type of cover they hold.

He also commented that now was always a good time to purchase life insurance, saying, “There is currently a £2.3 trillion protection gap in the UK which leaves a large proportion of the population vulnerable. Many people wait until they have a particular event in their lives, such as a house purchase or the birth of a child before they purchase life cover, but people shouldn't take the view that they need to wait.”

General and life insurance company AIG, perhaps best known in the UK for being the sponsors of Manchester United, has announced a massive second quarter loss for 2008.

The New York-based life insurance company, who offer both decreasing and level term life insurance cover, revealed a loss of £2.75 billion for the three months between April and July. This compared unfavourably to the same period in 2007, when the insurer posted a profit of nearly £2 billion.

While around half of the loss is believed to be attributable to losses on mortgage-backed assets, much of it is thought to be attributable to losses on insurance policies, including those in the life insurance sector.

The chief executive of AIG, Robert B. Willumstad, commented, “Our second quarter results were adversely affected by the severe conditions in the housing and credit markets and a very difficult investment environment.

”These results do not reflect the earnings power and potential of AIG's businesses and it is clear that we have a lot of work to do to restore AIG's profitability to where it should be.”

Life insurance company Prudential has announced that it will seek to further expand into the US sector, despite the gloomy economic predictions associated with the credit crunch. The move is thought to be partly motivated by signs of slow-downs in its Asian operations.

It is said that the company’s US life insurance arm, Jackson National Life, has around £1 billion to spend on stepping up its US operations.

The head of Jackson National Life commented, “We've just gone through the worst financial crisis since the great depression and we are telling you that against that the US business has had a record first half.”

While the chief executive of the UK’s level term life insurance giant commented, “We are continuing to monitor the market for … targets that meet our target returns, in particular, life back books that would suit our scaleable platforms.

“In current conditions there are an increased number of sellers and, with the prices of assets now at more realistic levels, we see more potential here than we have for a number of years.”

HSBC is celebrating 20 years of offering protection such as critical illness cover, decreasing term cover and level term life insurance cover to its customers in the UK.

Although when it began operations in 1988, the life insurance company could count just 50 employees it now boasts staff of 750 and offers life policies to some 850,000 people in the UK.

It once had a single office – in Bristol – but now has working centres in London, Southampton, Bristol and Hyderabad.

Clive Bannister, Managing Director of HSBC’s Group Insurance, commented on the birthday, “Twenty years of a successful life business in the UK marks an important milestone for us as, over the medium term, we seek regulatory approval to roll-out similar businesses in markets around the world.”

Robert Lang, CEO of HSBC Life said of the life insurance company birthday party, “Insurance has come a long way in the UK over the last 20 years and we're delighted to have been able to help so many of our customers with offerings that cater for their changing needs. Our strong product portfolio together with our global resource and in-depth customer knowledge means that we are able to offer customers exactly what they need, when they need it.”