Protection

Why do you need protection?

Life can be unpredictable. No one knows what the future holds for them. Imagine how your family would cope if you were to die prematurely or be diagnosed with a critical illness?

A life assurance protection plan can provide for your family if you die or become terminally ill but the need for protection doesn't stop there. Advances in medical science mean that where previously people died from all types of serious illnesses, such as stroke, cancer and heart disease, more and more are surviving. And not just for a few months - often several years.

Surviving a serious illness can have just as big a financial impact on you, your family and your finances. Not only do you and your family need to come to terms with your illness, but you still have the mortgage and all those other household bills to pay. And if you're off work, you may not have a salary coming in each month.

While many of us recognise the need for protection should we die prematurely, we often overlook the fact that we also need protection should we live.

Income Protection

The fundamentals of protection are simple:-

• you insure your car, no doubt taking out fully comprehensive cover
• you insure your house and contents
• but do you insure your income?

Why, well the average car is say £10,000, the average house costs £160,000 yet your income could be £1.89m over your lifetime (say if you earn £25k per annum between 25 and 65 with 3% pa pay increases).

Consider this, if your income was cut by 75% would you household bills and mortgage do the same? Unlikely.

We believe, Income Protection should be the cornerstone of your financial plan. The best place to start is to review your contract of employment and working out what is essential to cover on a monthly basis.

Main types of financial protection cover?

• Life assurance - providing (usually) a lump sum on death of the life assured 
• Income protection insurance (IPI) - providing a regular income when the insured is unable to work due to accident or illness
• Critical illness cover (CIC) - providing a lump sum if the life assured is diagnosed as suffering from one of the listed critical illnesses.
• Mortgage payment protection insurance (MPPI) - providing a regular income to cover mortgage repayments if the insured is unable to work due to illness, accident, redundancy or unemployment
• Personal accident and sickness insurance (PAS) - providing a lump sum or income benefits if the insured suffers an accident or falls ill.
• Accident, sickness and unemployment insurance (ASU) - providing a lump sum or income benefits if the insured suffers an accident or is unable to work due to sickness, redundancy or unemployment
• Long-term care insurance (LTCI) - providing cover towards the costs of long term care due to old age or infirmity
• Private medical insurance (PMI) - providing cover towards the costs of private medical treatment.
• It is worth pointing out that it is possible for different types of cover to be provided by one single contract - eg term assurances can include critical illness cover as an option.

Braemar Wealth Management (NW) Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Braemar Wealth Management (NW) Limited is entered on the FSA register (www.fsa.gov.uk/register/) under reference 425022. The FSA does not regulate some forms of tax planning and investment structures.
Registered in England & Wales, number 05328421.
Registered office – 38 Woodlands Parkway, Altrincham, Cheshire WA15 7QU