Is Your Policy Still Fit For Purpose?
posted 23rd April 2019
I started driving almost 20 years ago. I remember my first car well - it was an F Reg beige mini. I know what you're thinking, form an orderly queue ladies...
The picture above is exactly what mine looked like, and although it wasn't much, it was mine.
I remember having to pull the choke out to start it in the mornings, change the spark plugs every so often when it wouldn't fire up, and call the breakdown recovery service pretty much every time it rained (which living in Wales is more often than not). I got my money's worth out of that policy for sure.
But it was fit for purpose at the time; it got me from A to B, sometimes to C, rarely to D.
Many of us get complacent about our insurance policies, especially Life Insurance, Critical Illness cover & Income Protection. For those that take the first steps in putting a policy in place, we think "Well that's that sorted!" and never really think to look at it again. I can almost guarantee that if I had this same thought about my car, and didn't review or change it in line with my needs, I'd be walking by now and the car would have been scrapped a long time ago!
The reality is, times change. Our circumstances change and we need to ensure our insurance policies follow suit.
Marriage, divorce, the addition of children, increase or decrease in our mortgage borrowing, a potential Inheritance Tax liability, the list goes on...
It could simply be that there is better cover available for us which will give a better chance of being able to make a claim than our current policies. But how do we know what we should have in place?
Critical Illness cover is a prime example of this. All insurers cover different medical conditions to different levels of severity. Which is best?
At Vita, we use a helpful tool called 'CI Expert' which will review all insurers policy wording and calculate which one would give you the best chance of being able to make a claim for a person or your age, gender and smoker status. We can even compare it against your existing cover and see how new policies compare in their definition and policy wording.
A prime example of how insurers can differ is on diagnosis of a 'Benign Brain Tumor'. Covered by most insurers you may think that getting diagnosed with it means your policy will payout, right? Wrong.
Some insurers will pay upon diagnosis, others will only payout if the tumor is fully removed (which only happens in around 28% of diagnosis').
It's really important that you get advice from an Adviser about the differences in the cover that's available. Cheapest doesn't always mean best. Our Advisers can carry out a full assessments of your family set up to ensure the policy is tailored to your needs to give you the best chance of being able to make a claim when you may need it most.
If you have a policy in place at the moment, let us review it for you and make sure it's still fit for purpose. Changes in your family set up, your residential status, occupation and financial situation will all have a bearing as to the cover you need.
As much as I loved my little mini, it wouldn't be suitable for me now that I'm married and have three children. I still live in Wales. It still rains a lot. Make sure your cover is still fit for purpose - get it reviewed.
For a no obligation chat about your requirement, request a call back, or call us directly on 0800 988 36 37.
