27 Million UK adults walking the high-wire with no safety net

According to data published by Scottish Provident today, 73% of British adults believe they have to make their own provisions to ensure their standard of living is maintained if something was to threaten it, such as a serious illness. However only 15% of those questioned currently have a critical illness plan. This is just one of the findings of research carried out by Ipsos MORI on behalf of Scottish Provident - the results point to some interesting conclusions. All over the UK people are balancing on a high wire with no safety net to protect the income that provides for the basic things in life, not to mention those little luxuries!

Every increase in a household’s spending raises the financial tightrope its members walk to an even dizzier height.

The Credit Crunch
We've all heard the doom & gloom in the media and many of us have witnessed it's devastating effects first hand, yet the protection gap increases demonstrating that many are still burying their heads in the sand and taking for granted the standards of living they have enjoyed in recent years. This is at the very time when most acknowledge that both the State’s and their own provisions will probably not be enough to catch them if they fall.

The Safety Net
Scottish Provident commissioned IPOS MORI to carry out research in December 2008 and the results point to the same conclusions. Some of the headlines are:

* Outlook for the future is less optimistic than 5 years ago
* Family seen as most popular source of advice for personal finances.
* Price still perceived the major barrier for those who don't have insurance to provide in the event of a critical illness, sickness, accident or disability.
* People are less willing than 5 years ago to give up subscription tv to save money

The research shows that 60% of the adults surveyed feel having savings is important for a reasonable standard of living. With interest rates at a record low, growth of these savings is hampered. And if they were to lose the ability to earn through illness or unemployment, how long would these savings last?

It seems that the growing gap between the income they enjoy and the protection they are prepared to buy, the High Wire Generation are surely setting themselves up for a pretty nasty fall.

Ironically, the cost of putting protection in place to safeguard against the worst is a lot more affordable than many people realise.

Thanks to innovators in the protection industry, such as Scottish Provident among others, things like unemployment and short-term or long-term illness or accident can be insured to deliver a replacement income for as long as it is needed at very reasonable premiums; additionally, more serious event such as suffering a serious or critical illness or even death can have their impact softened with a lump-sum payout and/or an ongoing income sufficient to cover things like a mortgage balance or remedial care, again at very affordable rates.

So if want to find out more about getting that safety net in place to make your future tightrope walking a little less terrifying just call 0845 003 0065 or click for a no-strings discussion and a free quote
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BT announces a further 15,000 jobs to go

BT has announced it will cut about 15,000 jobs this year, mostly in the UK, amid reported annual losses of £134m.

This cut is on top of the 15,000 jobs shed in the past year, which was 5,000 more than had been expected. BT's woes centre on its global services unit, which handles the network systems of large firms. BT said it had taken a near £1.6bn charge at this unit. BT said it would make £525m of pension contributions in each of the next three years to help cut the scheme's deficit. It also cut its dividend significantly from 15.8 pence to 6.5p. BT chief executive Ian Livingston said "Three out of four of BT's lines of business have performed well in spite of fierce competition and the global economic downturn,". "However this achievement has been overshadowed by the unacceptable performance of BT Global Services and the resulting charges we have taken." This latest cut at BT and the equally devastating cuts over the past year, combined with the now estimated 2.2m unemployed underlines once more the serious need for all working adults with dependent families, mortgages or both to have adequate unemployment insurance in place to provide a replacement income in the event of being affected by this ongoing wave of job cuts.

This story continues at http://news.bbc.co.uk read more....

Car Insurance Quotes now live

The Money Helper has now added instant online car insurance quotes to it's website and stable of discounted insurance products.

The online quote system takes just a couple of minutes of basic data entry to deliver dynamic quote results from over 80 insurers instantly, enabling users to quickly establish the cheapest premiums available and also compare policy features.

Michael Cooke of The Money Helper comments:
"We've been working on delivering a solution to our customers for some time which is both quick to use and inclusive of a large number of insurers in order for our customers to enjoy low premiums with minimal fuss, as with all of our services."
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MPPI Premiums doubled but solutions available

Over the past week, many new enquiries at The Money Helper have been as a result of clients receiving notification from their existing insurer of their premiums increasing to almost DOUBLE the current cost.

Feedback from our clients indicate that it is predominantly where cover has been arranged through British Insurance that the price-hike letters are being received.

Mr. A from Chorley has seen his premium rise from £24 per month to £47 - we were able to source new cover for him at £30 instead.

Similarly, Mr. L from High Wycombe received a letter notifying him that his premium was about to rise from £34 per month to £64, instead he took out a replacement policy at just £30.25 per month with improved cover!

It is no laughing matter though - many insurers offering this type of cover are nursing serious losses in the current climate forcing them to make drastic changes to their products or in some cases withdraw them from the market altogether.

Here at The Money Helper we still have a good range of options available for this type of cover at competitive premiums, so there is an opportunity for all clients who are facing these increases right now to get a cost-effective alternative.

Quotes can be requested via our website or by phone on 0845 003 0065 anytime.
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Free Life Insurance offer

For a limited time, for any customers who take out up to £2,000 of Unemployment Insurance, we’ll include £10,000 of Life Insurance with a guarantee that the total cost of both covers will still be lower than any other Unemployment Insurance policy available in the market. Conditions apply.

To request your free quotation call on 0845 003 0065 or visit the website today. Terms of offer:

• offer is open to UK residents only.


• applicants must be below the maximum age of 55 at the point of policy commencement.


• policy comparisons must be on a like-for-like or ‘no worse’ basis with regard to policy excess, waiting period, initial exclusion period etc.


• guarantee applies to applicants with standard risk profile only; although every effort will be made to extend this offer to applicants with higher risk occupations, hobbies or medical circumstances where possible.

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