The Money Helper News

Unum makes tax-free claims easier on group life cover

2010-07-06T19:28:00.003+01:00

Group Life & IP specialist provider Unum has created a master trust which allows employers to pay out group life cover claims for their employees free of tax.

Usually the only way for claims to be paid tax-free involves setting up a discretionary trust.

Unum says it hopes the move will encourage more small and medium-sized firms to take out group life cover as the additional costs in setting up a discretionary trust are removed through this new method.

Commercial marketing manager Helene Gullen says: “In our experience, the need to set up a trust can act as a real barrier to firms introducing this form of financial protection for their workforce, particularly with SMEs. By using the master trust, for which there is no additional charge, our clients can ensure that they get all of the tax benefits with none of the associated time-consuming and complex administration.”

Unum has made a range of additional changes to its group life offering. These include an increase in the maximum free cover limit from £1.75m to £1.8m and an increase in its standard £15m travel restriction rule to £25m.

The time limit on late entrants, those joining more than six months after they are first eligible, has also been removed. Instead late entrants will fill in a short form for benefits in excess of £250,000 and below the free cover limit.

The maximum lump sum has gone from 12 to 20 times salary for schemes of more than 20 lives where there is no dependants pension on the group with Unum or another insurer.

Categories of three lives or more will be eligible for a free cover limit. Previously the minimum was set at five lives.

The changes are effective from Monday 5th July 2010.

To request a quote on group life cover for your employees call The Money Helper on 0845 003 0065 and an adviser will be happy to discuss your needs

Fortis Life Improves Cover Definitions for Heart Claims

2010-06-30T10:32:00.000+01:00

Fortis Life have announced further improvements to their already market leading Critical Illness Cover.

Fortis Life's Critical Illness Coverage now has 10 conditions which improve upon the definitions laid down by the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

Among these latest improvements, all of which are designed to make claims possible in more cases than before, is an improvement to the definition for Heart Valve Replacement or Repair.

Like most Critical Illness policies, Fortis' definition for Heart Valve Replacement or Repair claims had previously required the use of 'open heart surgery', where the breastbone is divided to provide access. With advances in medical science this type of surgery can often be performed without the need for this, and if a policyholder did have advanced techniques used for Heart Valve Replacement or Repair in many cases a claim could not be made under the policy as the definitions would not be met. The new definition has removed this requirement so that claims can still be accepted regardless of this aspect.

We think this is a great move forward and prevents the policyholders receiving advanced heart surgery from feeling short-changed by their insurer over non payment of claims resulting from seemingly trivial aspects surrounding circumstances which are otherwise the same, and most importantly, that have the same impact on the family regardless of this minor point.

If you have Critical Illness Insurance, or have thought about taking some out, perhaps you'd like to consider the potential differences that this small but important point in the definitions could make in the event that you need to make a claim one day, and whether you are prepared to risk a claim being rejected over small print like this.

If you'd like to know more or just have a chat with an expert just give us a call on 0845 003 0065 or visit our Critical Illness Information page

Fortis Life Improves Critical Illness Coverage Again

2010-06-28T11:01:00.002+01:00

Fortis Life have announced further improvements to their already market leading Critical Illness Cover.

Fortis Life's Critical Illness Coverage now has 10 conditions which improve upon the definitions laid down by the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

In addition to these latest improvements, which are covered in more detail in recent posts on this newsblog, Fortis have added yet another Critical Illness Condition to their already market leading product, taking the total number of conditions covered to 40.

The most recent additional condition covered under Fortis Life's Critical Illness Cover is 'Multiple System Atrophy' (MSA). MSA is a progressive neurological disorder that affects adult men and women. MSA is caused by degeneration of nerve cells in specific areas of the brain. This cell degeneration causes problems with movement, balance and automatic functions of the body such as bladder control.

According to information from The Sarah Matheson Trust, a registered charity focused on MSA, 5 people per 100,000 in the UK may suffer from MSA, which usually starts between the ages of 50-60 years, although it can affect people younger and older than this. MSA does not appear to be hereditary and is not infectious or contagious - it is a sporadic disorder that occurs at random.

We think that the addition of MSA to the conditions covered is a great move forward and prevents policyholders whose lives and livelihoods may be affected by MSA feeling short-changed by their insurer an inability to claim on their Critcal Ilnnes Policy in circumstances where they have clearly suffered a Critical Illness and the impact on their lives is comparable to sufferers of other conditions more commonly covered.

If you have Critical Illness Insurance, or have thought about taking some out, perhaps you'd like to consider the potential differences that this important point could make in the event that you need to make a claim one day, and whether you are prepared to risk being unable to do so if your condition turns out to be not covered under your policy.

If you'd like to know more or just have a chat with an expert just give us a call on 0845 003 0065 or visit our Critical Illness Information page

Fortis Life Improves Cover Definitions for Burns Claims

2010-06-25T10:50:00.000+01:00

Fortis Life have announced further improvements to their already market leading Critical Illness Cover.

Fortis Life's Critical Illness Coverage now has 10 conditions which improve upon the definitions laid down by the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

Among these latest improvements, all of which are designed to make claims possible in more cases than before, is an improvement to the definition for Third Degree Burns.

Like most Critical Illness policies, Fortis' definition for Third Degree Burns claims had previously been covered under 2 separate definitions, one relating to the face and the percentage of the surface area that would need to be affected as a minimum, and th other relating to the body and the minimum percentage of it's surface area affected. The new definition has simplified this into a single definition for improved clarity and ease of understanding, and makes claims possible if at least 20% of the surface area of the face or body is affected by Third Degree Burns.

We think this is a great move forward and helps to prevent policyholders from becoming confused by or misunderstanding the definitions of the cover under their policy, and potentially feeling short-changed by their insurer over non payment of claims in circumstances where they may have believed the cover in place to be different.

If you have Critical Illness Insurance, or have thought about taking some out, perhaps you'd like to consider the potential differences that this small but important point in the definitions could make in the event that you need to make a claim one day.

If you'd like to know more or just have a chat with an expert just give us a call on 0845 003 0065 or visit our Critical Illness Information page

Fortis Life Improves Cover Definitions for Paralysis of Limbs Claims

2010-06-23T10:41:00.000+01:00

Small Businesses Need to Improve Protection

2010-06-21T09:41:00.003+01:00

According to Scottish Provident, two thirds of small businesses believe the death of a key employee would have a severe impact on their business, yet suprisingly few have any key employee insurance.

Scottish Provident's research shows that 65% of small businesses fear a key employee dying, but only 18% have cover in place.

And over half (57%) also believe that their business would be significantly affected if a key employee was unable to work for more than six months due to a serious illness.

This gulf between acknowledged need and actual cover is even more surprising, given that nearly half (48%) predict that a key employee will suffer an illness over which they will be off work for at least six months in the future.

Jerry Bayman, national corporate sales manager at Scottish Provident, believes precious few small businesses seem to be acting to safeguard their company in the eventuality of a key employee's death or illness.

"The statistics are frightening," he says.

"In a business with four key male employees, there is a 29% chance one will die before retirement and a 68% chance that one will have a critical illness.

"However, worryingly, over half (52%) say they don't know what the probability is that one of their key employees will suffer an illness meaning they will be off work for six months or more.

"Our research shows that small business owners need to improve their knowledge of how to protect their business and their employees, in case illness or death should occur," he adds.

To speak to a business protection specialist call 0845 003 0065

FSA to become Bank of England subsidiary

2010-06-20T10:26:00.001+01:00

The FSA is to become a subsidiary of the Bank of England with a separate Consumer Protection Agency set up to regulate IFAs.

Chancellor George Osborne is set to reveal the restructure in his first Mansion House speech this Wednesday, according to a blog from the BBC’s business editor Robert Peston.

Peston says the Chancellor is also set to announce the separation of the FSA’s consumer protection activities into a new body called the Consumer Protection Agency, as proposed by the Conservative Party before the election. The CPA would oversee regulation of IFAs.

The FSA's enforcement activities are also set to be hived off to create a new Economic Crime Agency.

These reforms will mean that the part of the FSA that monitors banks, insurers and other financial institutions will become part of the Bank of England, though the existing FSA board is expected to remain in place.

The Bank of England will also set up a new Financial Policy Committee made up of executives from the Bank of England and senior representatives from the FSA.

The committee will be responsible for maintaining financial stability, and will use macro-prudential tools to prevent banks from offering credit when the economy overheats.

It had been thought that the FSA’s regulatory role would be retained following the coalition Government’s Programme for government document, which made no mention of plans for the FSA.

Despite the Conservatives long-held ambition to dismantle the FSA and hand power back to the Bank of England, the coalition’s Programme for government only referred to plans to “give the Bank of England control of macro-prudential regulation and oversight of micro-prudential regulation.” This was widely interpreted to mean that the FSA would be preserved.

Handing control back to the Bank of England would see a reversal of Gordon Brown’s decision in 1997 to take banking supervision from the Bank of England and merge it with other City regulatory bodies to set up the FSA.

PruProtect launches combined CI & Health Policy

2010-06-19T15:41:00.005+01:00

PruProtect is offering two new health insurance products - health cover and health cover optimiser, which it says will provide easier access to private medical insurance.

PruProtect's health cover pays for the cost of private care for a wide range of conditions, including day-to-day treatment, seeing a specialist or having an operation. PruProtect policyholders can add this cover to their existing policy, or include it when buying Life, Income Protection or Serious Illness Cover.

Instead of having to buy serious-illness cover and health cover separately, they can be combined in one package with a single application form, one direct debit and at a 5 per cent discount compared with buying the cover separately.

The products come in three tiers of cover - comprehensive, primary and heart and cancer cover - and are all supported by PruHealth.

Health cover optimiser allows clients to create a comprehensive package of benefits in one vehicle, saving up to 25 per cent on buying health cover separately from PruHealth.

The Money Helper director Michael Cooke says: “Health insurance and protection are usually completely separate, and often are not even handled by the same adviser, which seems a shame for the consumer. We welcome this initiative to more simply enable consumers to benefit from a wider range of advice without additional hurdles to overcome.”

Fortis Life Improves Cover Definitions for Coma Claims

2010-06-18T10:10:00.007+01:00

Life Assurance Protection Gap Reaches £2.4Trillion

2010-06-11T17:49:00.003+01:00

According to calculations by Swiss Re, the life assurance protection gap has increased for the first time since 2004 to reach £2.4 trillion.

The world's 2nd largest reinsurer has published its latest annual Term & Health Watch report which builds a picture of the level of new individual protection business written in 2009. Swiss Re says that the life assurance protection gap, measured in sums assured, hit £2.4trn last year, from £2.3trn in 2008.

It attributes this increase to a decline in the number of in-force policies despite the report showing that new whole of life business, new term assurance sales, and critical illness sales all rose last year, which can only mean that existing policies are being cancelled or allowed to lapse at a greater rate than new policies are being taken out.

New whole life business increased by 12.6% to 318,078 policies, new term assurance sales were up 4.1% to 1,507,685 policies, while critical illness sales rose 3.8% to 530,214 policies.

Meanwhile the income protection gap remains at £190m annual benefit, the same level as last year.

Overall, income protection sales fell 7.5% to 117,288 from 126,815 in 2008.

Ron Wheatcroft, co-author of Term & Health Watch 2010, says: “There are some encouraging signs that the industry is making progress through sales of more innovative income protection products, such as those which incorporate redundancy or unemployment cover or through shorter deferred periods.

“But the growth is modest when compared against the overall net decline in sales. As people find it increasingly harder to claim state benefits, the government can play a key role here too by setting out clearly to consumers that they need to take positive action to protect themselves against the risks they run.”

How's your Business Will ?

2010-06-01T13:35:00.001+01:00

Like most financially responsible people you’ve probably written a personal will. No doubt you did this to make sure that your estate goes to your chosen beneficiaries in the event of your death, rather than be decided by the intestacy laws.

But what about your business? What would happen if you or one of your co-shareholders died or had to retire through ill health?

Do you have a business will? Have you established a process that will ensure that the business shares could be bought by the remaining shareholders for a fair price?

If not, it might be worth thinking about what the consequences could be for you, your family or your business. Your Articles of Association may well dictate how shares are dealt with on death or retirement. They may also set out how your business will be valued in these circumstances.

However if a business has just lost a key shareholding director, it’s fair to assume that it’s unlikely to have enough cash flow to be able to buy those shares. Borrowing funds from the bank is one solution, but in the current economic climate, how easy would that be?

Being unable to buy these shares, or having no agreement in place to manage this situation, could lead to expensive legal action, loss of control of the business and financial difficulties for the dependants.

The Money Helper are specialists in creating business wills. We look at your current arrangements and make sure that they allow for proper control of the business for the remaining shareholders at the same time as providing the funding that guarantees a fair value for the outgoing shareholder or his or her beneficiaries.

We can provide the legal documentation you need, or work with your existing accountants or solicitors.

Let the taxman help pay for your life insurance

2010-05-28T16:10:00.001+01:00

Are you a company director? Do you have life insurance in place to protect your family?
If so you could be paying an unnecessary tax penalty. If you pay for this cover from your own bank account you will be paying from post-tax income, and if you are paying from the business account you will probably be taxed on the payment as if it were income.

Larger companies can avoid this by introducing ‘group death in service cover’. This is a highly tax-efficient way of providing life insurance, but is not generally available for smaller companies.
However, recent changes in legislation have allowed small companies to benefit from this arrangement by taking out ‘relevant life policies’. These can be written on an individual basis so are available to all companies no matter how small.
The tax benefits are:

Payments are made by the company with no benefit-in-kind charge back to you
No National Insurance implications
Possible tax relief as a business expense depending on your individual circumstances
Tax-free benefits to your dependants

If you would like more information on how this valuable tax concession can be arranged then please contact me on 07900 101027

Intestancy consultation paper

2010-04-07T00:15:00.003+01:00

On 29 October 2009 the Law Commission published a Consultation Paper setting out proposals to amend the law as indicated above. The key proposals concern an increase in the statutory legacy for a surviving spouse and automatic entitlement for co-habitants in certain circumstances The Consultation Paper stems from a Government Consultation in 2005 which concluded that a wide ranging review of intestacy and family provision was needed in both England and Wales and in Scotland. A separate report on succession was published by Scottish Law Commission but this is outwith the scope of this article.

Given that the law regarding intestate succession dates back to 1925 and the rules allowing certain individuals to claim provision on death date back to 1975 (under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975) unsurprisingly the Law Commission´s view is that the inheritance law needs to be brought up to date to meet the needs and expectations of modern families.

Despite the fact that under English law individuals are free to leave their estate as they wish under their Will (there are no forced heirship rules such as those which apply in certain European countries as well as in Scotland), every year tens of thousands of people die without a Will.

Intestacy

The key proposals with regards to intestacy are as follows:-

It is provisionally proposed that where a person dies intestate survived by a spouse but no descendants, the whole estate should pass to the spouse, whether or not there are other family members living. This would mean that the surviving spouse would no longer have to share the estate with parents or brothers and sisters of the deceased.
Where there are also surviving children or other descendants, the Commission recognises that the position is more complex. However, given the current limits (ie the surviving spouse being entitled to everything up to maximum of £250,000 with the amount over this figure divided and shared with the children) in practice apparently at least 9 out of 10 surviving spouses inherit the whole of the estate and it is only in the wealthiest 10% of estates that children are likely to inherit anything. In view of this, one reform option that is suggested is to give the surviving spouse the whole estate in every case. However, when similar reform was recommended in 1989, it was not implemented because of concerns that some children would be disinherited, particularly where a parent had remarried.
The Commission recognises that there are valid concerns about children inheriting and therefore they suggest a number of options for reform on which they want to consult. The options are:-

no change to the current law;
reform to eliminate the need for the expense and complexity of life interest trusts; and
a reform that takes account of whether the surviving spouse owned the family home jointly with the deceased.

Co-habitants

The next set of proposals concerns co-habitants. At the moment, where a couple live together without getting married or forming a civil partnership and one of them dies, the survivor has no automatic right under the current intestacy rules to inherit any part of the deceased´s estate. This is the case no matter how long they have lived together and even if they had children together. In some circumstances a surviving co-habitant can go to court to challenge distribution of a deceased partner´s estate under the family provision legislation.

The Commission recognises that having to go to court will often be emotionally and financially draining. They therefore propose to reform the intestacy rules so that in some circumstances a surviving co-habitant can share in a partner´s estate without having to go to court. The Commission poses the questions which co-habitants should qualify for inclusion under the proposed rules and what they should receive. The provisional proposal is that couples who have had a child together, or have lived continuously as a couple for more than five years, should have the same rights on intestacy as spouses.

The next proposal considers childless relationships of less than five years. The provisional proposal is that where a couple have lived together for more than two but less than five years, the survivor should be entitled to half of the share of the estate that the surviving spouse would have received.

Other areas highlighted for potential reform include:-

trusts for children on intestacy and the effect of adoption on the child´s entitlement
family provision claims by adult children
the distinction made in the intestacy rules between full brothers and sisters and half brothers and sisters
the criteria to be met by dependants applying for family provision, and
family provision claims where the deceased did not have his permanent home in England or Wales

Comment

It is surprising that in this day and age there are still huge numbers of people who have not made a Will and who believe that on their death their spouse would inherit everything. Whilst there is no substitute for a well drafted Will, it is encouraging that the law makers are considering reform of the existing rules.
The full set of documents can be found on http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/intestacy.htm

This article is believed to be accurate but is not intended to provide a basis of knowledge upon which advice can be given. Neither contributing or sponsoring organisations, Technical Connection Ltd, the CII or the PFS or any of the officers or employees of these organisations accept any responsibility for any loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of the material included in this bulletin. Any opinions expressed are those of the author or authors and not necessarily those of the CII or the PFS.

Source:
This article was originally published at http://www.cii.co.uk/knowledge/pfsprotection/2009_12PROTF.php

Your Most Important Asset?

2010-03-30T16:17:00.005+01:00

Like most people you probably insure your possessions - replacing them could be extremely expensive. Your personal belongings, the contents of your home, your car, your house, are probably all insured. But what about your most valuable asset?

The source of our income is probably the most important asset that we all possess. Without it, our entire lifestyle is at risk. And one of the biggest threats to our ability to work is our health – something that most of us take for granted.

Yet the likelihood of suffering from a long term illness or injury is more likely than you might imagine, and could have serious consequences for your Business – and the security of those who depend on you.

As a business and personal protection specialist I believe it’s vitally important that for individuals that run their own businesses that they look to protect their earning ability through income protection.

In most cases income protection is setup by the individual however you can get your company to take out the cover for you and make the contributions, setting it up this way will achieve the following benefits.

Premiums can be offset against corporation tax; benefits are taxed as a trading receipt

Cover can be arranged for up to 80% of the employee’s gross earnings, including an average of dividends paid in the last three years, where directly linked to the employee’s own performance

Benefit is paid direct to the employer. It can then be passed on to the employee through PAYE or retained to support the business

If anyone wishes to get more knowledge on protecting their income then I would be more than happy to email across a Consumer Guide to Income Protection or simply answer any further questions.

michael.cooke@themoneyhelper.co.uk

If you’re still not convinced then here are some facts and figures.

Over 2.4 million people are currently claiming State Incapacity Benefit *1

Over 2.1 million claimants have been claiming for over 6 months and 81% of those claimants have been claiming for over 2 years *1

Claimants between the ages of 35 and 44 account for the greatest number of claimants and new claimants *1

Musculoskeletal disorders and stress were the most commonly reported illness type in these cases *2

According to the Health and Safety Executive an average of 3,000 people per week begin a period of sickness that will last at least 6 months *2

According to the Office of National Statistics the average family spends £456 per week *3

Most claimants on the new Employment and Support Allowance will be expected to receive £89.80 per week *4

*1/ Department of Work and Pensions – February 2008
*2/ Health and Safety Executive – 2005
*3/ Office of National Statistics – Family Spending Survey 2007
*4/ Department of Work and Pensions – November 2008

It's Not Just First Time Buyers Who Can Save on SDLT costs...

2010-03-30T15:03:00.006+01:00

In his 2010 Budget, Mr. Darling announced a temporary holiday for 2 years in respect of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on homes purchased by First Time Buyers (FTB's) up to the value of £250,000. Great news for this sub-set of property buyers, but not of much use or interest to any other buyers. However, a little known tax planning method regularly used by the wealthy exists to save on SDLT for properties above £250k and not only for FTBs...

Through a properly constructed and legal SDLT Mitigation Scheme, all buyers of all types of property above £250k can save a significant amount of money. Provided the right type of scheme is used, this is perfectly legal and legitimate Tax Planning; after all, Lord Tomlin stated in the case of IRC vs Duke of Westminster (1936) 19 TC 490 - every man is entitled, if he can, to order his affairs so that the tax attaching under the appropriate Acts is less than it otherwise would be.

There are of course always going to be schemes 'out there' which are not legitimate, and which are likely to get you into trouble with HMRC if you use them, usually involving offshore companies and the like, but how can you know if a scheme is legitimate or not?

It's difficult I know, but I suggest you bear in mind that if it sounds or feels to you like it may be dodgy then listen to your instincts.

At The Money Helper, we use schemes with confidence for our clients' tax planning in this area, and the aspects that deliver this confidence are just the sort of things any prospective purchaser considering using a SDLT Mitigation Scheme should be looking for from a scheme arranger, such as:

The Scheme should have the support of Counsel's opinion. The Counsel must be an experienced tax Barrister of Queen's Counsel - Our Schemes have the support of the Counsel's opinion at the highest level Reg Nock (leading UK stamp duty authority and author of ‘stamp duty land tax’), Patrick Cannon (author of ‘Tolley's Stamp Taxes’ and ‘Tolley's Disclosure of Tax and VAT Avoidance Schemes’) & Rory Mullan, specialist SDLT lawyer at Tax Chambers, London.

The Scheme should be unlikely to attract negative attention from HMRC - Our Schemes are all pre-approved by HMRC and have a disclosure number which is quoted on the SDLT 5 forms submitted to HMRC with every completion.

The Scheme should be low risk and non-aggressive - Our Schemes do not need either the vendor or the lender’s involvement in the transaction or affect either their title to the asset or ability to realise funds from the sale of their property.

The Scheme should not be a 'punt' on the part of the purchaser - Our Schemes are all (except one rarely used and particularly complex one) on a no-win-no-fee basis and require no upfront payment whatsoever, fees are only payable at the point that the SDLT savings are taken by the purchaser.

Tax Planning strategies such as SDLT Mitigation are traditionally viewed as the preserve of the ultra-wealthy only, and it is true that those who have the greatest potential benefit are surely the most likely to use these to do so; however the same proportional savings can be and are enjoyed by any of our clients buying property from £250k upwards with a minimum saving at this level of £3,681.

The savings on higher priced purchases know no limits, for example The Labour Party saved £210,000 in SDLT when purchasing their London HQ building through the use of one of the Schemes we utilise, if you're interested in this story you can read more at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labours-tax-dodge-on-sale-of-hq-saved-163210000-stamp-duty-427849.html

Useful Links:
SDLT Calculator - calculate the Stamp Duty Land Tax payable on any UK property Purchase

SDLT Rates - Information on the current Stamp Duty Land Tax rates & Thresholds

SDLT Mitigation Schemes - Information on Stamp Duty Land Tax Mitigation Schemes

The Need For Business Protection

2010-03-23T13:50:00.005Z

The statistics speak for themselves:
The business protection gap now includes:

* Corporate debt gap of just under £300bn
* Shareholder protection gap of over £400bn
* Key person protection gap of over £400bn

In order to calculate these figures, we conducted research amongst 1000 members of the British Chamber of Commerce in April 2009. The study showed that 45% of business owners say that their business would fold within 12 months of the death or critical illness of a key person. However, only 4% of business owners questioned said they have shareholder protection in place and one in two (48%) do not have any formal agreement to establish what would happen in the event of the death of a business owner.

51% of the businesses surveyed have corporate debt yet just 38% of these businesses have life or critical illness policies in place to cover that money owed.

With these figures in mind we at The Money Helper have launched an independent Business Protection Solution. I will be posting various solutions to these problems that business owners face in the coming weeks.

Surprisingly Flexible Lending Criteria Still Available...

2010-02-10T13:25:00.002Z

Amid all the doom and gloom in the UK mortgage & loan market, you'd be forgiven for thinking that there is very little facility to borrow unless your credit file is squeaky clean or you have stacks of equity in your home, or even both. But in recent months more and more lenders have been 'coming back' to the non-conforming market wanting to lend and offering increasingly flexible criteria opening up some of the space that has been closed since the credit crunch began. For many borrowers or would be borrowers, this news will come as a great relief finally opening the door to borrowing solutions that have been wanted or needed but unavailable for some time.

Some examples of the kind of loan deals that are 'back on the menu' are:

Self-Cert
- up to 65% LTV on a pure self certification basis
- up to 75% LTV with accountant's referance and bank statements

Adverse Credit
- up to 65% LTV available even with unlimited adverse
- up to 80% LTV available for 'medium' adverse

Prime
- up to £100,000 secured (max 80% LTV) or £15,000 unsecured loans available
- rates from just 10.4% APR

In addition to these examples, many other scenarios exist in individual circumstances and many lenders are more flexible than has been the case in recent months so solutions can often be found where they previously could not.

To find out more, visit www.theloanhelper.co.uk or call 0845 003 0065.

Aegon Scottish Equitable reduce premium rates

2010-01-28T11:19:00.002Z

Aegon Scottish Equitable today announced that from 1st February there will be a reduction in the premium rates for new policies covering Life Only and Life or Earlier Critical Illness.
According to information received by The Money Helper directly from Aegon, the changes will apply to policies where guaranteed premium rates have been selected (where the premium payable is guaranteed for the entire term of the policy - up to 40 years) on both level and reducing term options.

On average, premiums will be 0.9% lower than current rates, meaning that if you were planning on taking out a 40 year policy that costs £50.00 per month today, the savings to be made over the policy term based on the new rates available next week would amount to over £200.

Helping Businesses Survive The Recession

2009-11-11T11:09:00.002Z

Every week the roll call of the latest failed businesses echoes across news and blog sites making depressing reading for us, but this is nothing compared to the devastation going on in the lives of those working in or owning those businesses who have lost their incomes and livelihoods and in many cases much more.
For the employees of these failed businesses there are a number of aspects which whilst important, are not the subject of this post, but which I will address at another time.

This article focuses on the the business owners and what effects the failure of the business can have on them, what can be done to reduce the pain in the event of the business failing, but most importantly, some things that may help to reduce the risks of the business failing in the first place.

First and most important for the current climate is to maximise the protection that a business has against what is probably the highest risk of the moment - delayed payment of invoices or worse, non payment including that resulting from the failure of a debtor.

The effect of either of these on the cashflow of any business can be catastrophic at the best of times let alone during the current climate. You see there is a domino effect taking place behind the scenes and whether or not you realise it, your business is a domino standing among other dominos working away at what it does as best it can without any real awareness of which other dominos are falling and if, how or when the chain reaction of these falling dominos will affect your business and cause it to fall also.

Creditors in businesses, mainly the banks, have much more awareness of this than most of the businesses which depend on them via the loans and/or overdrafts provided by them and for this reason they are much more nervous than they have been in recent years regarding their exposure to businesses and the losses they will suffer in the event of the failure of any business to which they have extended credit. Sadly, it is often the case that as a result of these fears, banks have been increasingly been known to revoke overdrafts to reduce their exposure in the event of a business failing, but it is this action which causes the business to fail through cashflow failure.

Banks however are not the only creditors in businesses, all suppliers which offer credit in the form of 30 day (or longer) invoicing terms are effectively providing a facility very much like the bank does with an overdraft, and they too are concerned in case a business customer fails with outstanding invoices and are highly motivated for their own survival to reduce their exposure leading to reductions in invoicing terms or changes to advance payment terms instead.

Both these types of creditors provide a vital buffer of cash which most business depend on and without which they could not survive and the very real risk of losing this buffer must be recognised and addressed if the business is to protect itself from it.

In addition to the risks presented by creditors, there is the more obvious risk posed by debtors. Most businesses have more debtors in the current climate than in recent times for all the reasons we know or can guess about, but in addition to these and the problems in both lost revenue and the lost time and cost of recovering it there are your potential debtors - those customers to whom you offer invoicing terms but who may fail whilst you are exposed to unpaid balances.

These are the most visible and common risks to businesses in the current climate, but in addition to these there are other risks that are always present and which can also cause the failure of a business and which should never be overlooked even when as currently, more visible risks seem more likely or important to take care of.

A risk which can devastate a business, usually through loss of confidence others (mainly creditors) have in the businesses ability to survive, is the loss of an individual viewed as key to the business. Whether it is the sole business owner, a partner a director or a manager, if there are key people in your business who are viewed a crucial to it's ability to trade or even survive then there must be a contingency in place to ensure that the business can continue to trade effectively in the event of that person being removed from the business through serious illness or even death. This is important on two levels - first and most obvious is to ensure the business can indeed survive such an event and continue. Second and possibly even more important is to give comfort and confidence to the creditors (banks & suppliers) of the business so that they do not react with fear and withdraw the credit facilities on which the business depends.

Probably the most important risk that a business owner faces is where personal guarantees have been provided to creditors, be they banks or suppliers. If a business owner is a sole trader or a partner (excluding limited liability partnerships) then by default the business debts are automatically also personal debts and creditors can take any personally held assets to cover the debts of the business. Likewise in the case of a limited company or LLP, if a shareholder, director or partner has provided a personal guarantee the same applies.

So, in the case of a business failing in these circumstances the business owners will be forced to liquidate any assets owned including even their family home to settle the debts of the business. Refusal or procrastination on this will usually lead to bankruptcy.

These are a lot of risks, all very real and all very often not addressed properly by businesses which is a contributing factor to the daily business failures we currently read about.

There are you'll be pleased to hear solutions to all of these which can be implemented by businesses and business owners to give themselves greater protection against them and thereby reducing or removing the likelihood of suffering the devastating results which could otherwise occur.

To discuss the size, impact and solutions to any or all of these risks you can call 0845 003 0065 for a free initial consultation or read more and complete and online enquiry form at www.theinsurancehelper.co.uk

Internet Use Doesn't Make You An Expert...

2009-11-05T12:20:00.003Z

In the internet age, many people quite rightly gather information on a topic of immediate interest as part of a decision making process. This is great!

What often happens next is that after undertaking some research and gathering some knowledge you may feel sufficiently enlightened on the subject matter to go right ahead and make that decision on the basis of the knowledge you have now garnered. This is also great!

There is however a danger that the information and knowledge you have collected is not actually detailed enough or substantial enough for the 'right' decision to be made.

There are many areas where if the wrong decision is made it doesn't really matter too much, other areas where it would cause a bit of an issue and some where the consequences of a poor decision could be disastrous.

Financial Services is one of these areas.

You see, whatever you do for a living; Doctor, Firefighter, Lawyer, Telephone Engineer (the list is endless but you get the picture) - you have probably received substantial training both before and during the job and if I (your humble author) were to attempt to do your job for a day either from my current ignorant position or after a day or 2 of internet research, chances are I would screw it up and depending on the job in question the consequences could range from inconvenience to fatality.

Financial Advisers are pretty qualified and experienced at helping people make correct financial decisions. Even the humblest 'Insurance-only' adviser will generally hold qualifications such as CF1, which involves some 60 hours study and the passing of a 2 hour exam. Mortgage Advisers will also hold CF6 or similar, which is another 70 hours study and exam.

An IFA will need at least CF1 to CF5 or equivalent which is a total of 280 hours of study and 5 exams, although most also hold CF6 and an increasing number either hold or are working towards attaining Diploma status which requires a minimum further 400 hours of study across 4 additional exams.

In addition to all of the hours of study and exams detailed above, all authorised advisers are required to accumulate a further 56 hours of 'Continuous Professional Development' each year to ensure they stay on top of their game - this is in addition to actually doing the job every day.

The amazing thing is the number of people who decide that they know what financial products they want or need and through a little or a lot of online research find it and buy it.

So, unless your knowledge and experience in financial matters is at least as robust as that of a professional, wouldn't it be insane to make such important and potentially life-changing decisions yourself?

Cheapest Life Insurance?

2009-08-28T09:57:00.007+01:00

These days it's increasingly popular for internet savvy consumers to 'self-advise' with simpler financial products such as life insurance, and there are many portals and websites which claim to offer price comparison facilities for this purpose.

Some sites do this well, others less so but the thing that many consumers often overlook is that aside from the lowest price there are other key considerations which are worth bearing in mind which are actually even more important than the lowest price.

Today I'm going to detail just one, which is that most if not all life insurance policies also include terminal illness cover (not to be confused with critical illness cover - these are VERY different to each other!) - terminal illness cover will pay out the sum assured on diagnosis of terminal illness, usually where one or more medical experts believe that the insured has less than a year to live.

What is not very well known is that most policies cease the terminal illness cover in the final 12 months of the policy, and some in the final 18 months, whereas a select few keep this cover in place and able to be claimed right up to the very last day of the policy.

Small details like this can fly completely under the radar for consumers shopping around for the lowest premiums and in a worst case scenario a few saved pennies each month could end up costing hundreds of thousands if such a situation arises.

Why is this important? Well, just imagine, you've bought life insurance thinking one policy is basically the same as the next and saved some money by shopping around for the lowest premium. You're now comfortable in the knowledge that your loved ones will not suffer financially if they lose you. Then at some point in the future the worst happens.

You fall ill and are hospitalised, tests are done and a diagnosis made.

Your illness is terminal; you and your family are forced to come to terms with the fact that you are going to die in the near future.

It's highly emotional and amongst all the different aspects of your thoughts and emotions you think about how those you love are going to cope financially without you.

Your thoughts turn to that life insurance policy you took out years ago, you remember that it was taken out for this very reason.

Your brain races and checks itself to confirm that yes, you are still paying those premiums every month, the policy is still in force and when you die your family will receive the proceeds and their future will be financially secure.

Then you remember that the policy includes terminal illness cover, you realise that you can make a claim now and use some of the money to make your final months more comfortable and see things out spending quality time with your family.

You retrieve the policy documents to check it out, you find that the policy term still has some months remaining, you find the section on terminal illness and...

Your heart sinks as you read that this benefit has already ended a year before the end of the policy term - you no longer have terminal illness cover and no claim can now be made until you actually die.

But the policy only has months remaining, if you don't hurry up and die before it expires your family will be left in the lurch financially and you will have completely let them down.

You are financially incentivised to hurry up and die quickly for their benefit.

You are financially disincentivised to take your meds, to try, to strive for life, to beat this thing (yes, some have overcome the odds in the past) - you actually feel that have nothing to live for.

How different would things have been if you'd only known that for a few pence per month more each month you could have had a policy where the terminal illness cover remained in place to the very last day.

Whatever you do in your job, you probably know it well, you know how things are and how they need to be in the areas of your own expertise, you know the pitfalls to avoid and you know the benefits to be gained by doing things the right way. You also know that someone without experience in your field could not possibly be expected to do what you do as well as you can because they don't know what you know, and you may well scoff at the idea that an untrained person would even think about trying.

Well, ask yourself - are you an expert in insurance products or any other area of financial services? If the answer is no, then please consider speaking with an expert in the area concerned, because when it comes to the selection of financial products self-advice and self-selection can easily lead to inappropriate or at the very least 'less good' product selection than you are likely to receive from a professional in that field.

Scottish Provident to extend CI coverage

2009-07-22T15:20:00.003+01:00

Scottish Provident, a pioneer in UK Protection and now part of Royal London Group, have made further improvements to their long-standing Critical Illness product to keep it at the forefront of this ever changing sector. From July 27th Scottish Provident's Critical Illness cover will include 3 new conditions:

primary pulmonary hypertension – of specified severity;

pulmonary artery graft surgery – with surgery to divide the breastbone;

structural heart surgery – with surgery to divide the breastbone.

This means that Scottish provident will now cover an extended range of critical illnesses totalling 34 should you fall seriously ill.

New product literature revised to reflect these new definitions will be available from July 27, you can request a copy via our website.

Further improvements to the Critical Illness Cover include changes to the HIV definition, now making the definition ABI Plus.
The new Scottish Provident Critical Illness definition for HIV has been extended to include countries outside the EU. This new definition now goes beyond the standard ABI definition for HIV and takes the number of Scottish Provident CI definitions that are ‘ABI plus’ to seven.

As leading early proponents of Critical Illness cover in the UK Scottish Provident strive to deliver quality protection products that meet clients' needs. This is a changing world Scottish Provident understand the need to react by having a range of products that reflect today’s society and help to meet clients' changing requirements.

Commenting on this latest improvement, Michael Cooke noted: "Whilst the number of conditions covered is by no means the only consideration when choosing a Critical Illness policy, it is an easy to understand and simple element that consumers can use to compare products against one another; and Scottish Provident should be congratulated on bringing their total up to 34, equalling the number of conditions covered by rivals AXA, Legal & General & Friends Provident.

"Whilst these products are still bettered by the 35 conditions offered by Scottish Equitable, the 37 offered by Fortis Life and the 38 conditions graded by up to 154 degrees of severity from Prudential they all completely outshine the policies offered by many other insurers with the number of conditions covered as low as 25 with Aviva and the absolutely shocking cover pushed by Halifax to their poor unwitting customers which includes only 13 conditions.

I would urge any clients thinking about buying Critical Illness cover to understand what a policy actually covers before taking it out as these figures show, you cannot assume anything in terms of what you will be covered against under a Critical Illness policy."

Debt Scam Advertising on the Rise

2009-06-24T18:48:00.005+01:00

As reported by the BBC yesterday, there has been a surge in adverts which suggest people can get rid of their debts or loans simply by selling them.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has warned borrowers to ignore these misleading adverts, confirming that debts cannot legally be sold without a lender's permission. Consumers who are worried about their debts may understandably be attracted to the idea of getting rid of them in this 'easy' way, but as always, if something seems to good to be true it probably is.

The first step in tacking the issue of debt is to establish exactly how serious the issue is, what options are genuinely available and which of these is likely to deliver the most suitable result for your individual circumstances.

The Debt Helper offers a quick and easy way of doing all of this with it's online Debt Analyser. It's free to use and only takes 2 minutes to enter your details and get an initial evaluation.

Businesses failing through increased customer defaults

2009-06-22T15:38:00.004+01:00

Businesses worldwide are suffering financially and in many cases actually failing themselves through the domino effect of their business customers defaulting on credit terms, often as a result of their own customers in turn failing to pay up or even going bust. In a vicious spiral default on credit terms between businesses are rippling like dominoes through the business world causing further defaulted payments and in some cases businesses are being forced into administration being unable to continue without the vital cashflow all businesses need to survive.

Whilst defaults have always been a risk when invoicing business customers on credit terms, the risk as it has been in recent decades has in the global recession changed fundamentally for a number of reasons:

1. in the current economic climate, most businesses are experiencing reduced sales, turnover & profits compared to recent times, leading to in many cases extended settlement of bills and invoices to their suppliers and in some cases insolvency or administration of the business.
2. businesses with customers in the above circumstances suffer delays or total failure in the expected and crucial receipt of payments for goods & services provided which in turn adversely affects it's own cashflow and ability to pay it's own invoices due.
3. traditional 'bail-out' solutions such as overdrafts or other assistance from it's bankers have increasingly been reduced or withdrawn.

Michael Cooke, Business Risk Consultant at The Insurance Helper comments: "It's very frustrating to see an otherwise solvent and sound business suddenly dragged into financial difficulties or even into administration through no real fault of their own as a result of unpaid invoices, especially when it's as a result of the domino effect and they had used appropriate due diligence in setting credit limits for customers but those customers then default due to unforeseen external factors.

"Many businesses we work with feel protected through their use of initial and ongoing credit checking of customers and the setting of appropriate credit limits combined with the option of pursuing debtors through the courts for unpaid debts or the use of debt collection companies to resolve bad debts; however, it's a sad fact that with the withdrawal or reduction in short-term funding from banks to cover the funding gap while debts are recovered, some businesses are simply unable to survive long enough without the crucial cashflow in the business to actually recover the debt, and just go bust themselves before recovering the monies owed.

"It's because of these aspects that Trade Credit Insurance is more vital for businesses today than it has ever been. The global downturn and resulting business failures and associated Trade Credit Insurance claims have led to some of the smaller and less sophisticated Trade Credit Insurers frantically reducing cover and increasing premiums, however we work with specialist providers which through the use of unrivalled business information databases and extensive knowledge of this risk type are able to continue offering quality cover and speedy settlement of claims to our business clients at very reasonable premiums."

UK Business Protection Gap Reaches £1.1TN

2009-06-15T16:26:00.004+01:00

The UK's business protection gap has now reach the dizzy height of £1.1tn, reveals Legal & General following their recent research into this heavily over-exposed sector.

According to L&G, this gap includes a corporate debt exposure of just under £300bn, a shareholder protection shortfall of over £400bn and a key person protection gap of over £400bn.

As part of this survey Legal & General quizzed members of the British Chamber of Commerce. The survey results show that 44 per cent of business owners believe that their business would fold within 12 months of the death or critical illness of a key person. However, disturbingly only 4 per cent of business owners questioned had shareholder protection in place and 48 per cent had no formal agreement to establish what would happen in the event of the death of a business owner.

Of the businesses surveyed around half have corporate debt, but just 46 per cent of these businesses have any cover in place to enable the debt to be paid off if the business suffered the absence of a key person through death or critical illness.

The Insurance Helper's head of specialist protection Michael Cooke commented: “This data from L&G, whilst useful in clarifying the precise numbers involved; and L&G should be commended for clarifying them, again underlines the size and risks of the huge protection gap that we have been tirelessly closing with our business clients for a number of years now.

"It's disconcerting just how few businesses are prepared to survive potentially disastrous events such as the death or critical illness of a key person or business owner, which will always trigger fear uncertainty and doubt among the staff, suppliers and creditors of the business and it is usually the actions resulting from this that will cause a business to fail.

“It is the responsibility of the owners, partners or directors in businesses to protect the business from failure by ensuring that it's staff, it's suppliers and it's creditors remain confident that the business will survive such challenges through putting in place the appropriate insurances to provide adequate funding to meet the challenges that such events are likely to present.”

Business owners or directors wishing to discuss their exposure and how business protection can most cost effectively be utilised to protect their businesses can contact Michael Cooke on 0845 003 0065 or via www.theinsurancehelper.co.uk

Hitachi Capital Closes UK Insurance Operations

2009-06-09T18:14:00.008+01:00

According to information received today from a leading administrator of Hitachi Capital Insurance Europe Ltd's PPI business, Hitachi Capital has decided to close down its UK insurance operations and as a result will no longer be offering Payment Protection Insurance.

Hitachi Capital stopped accepting new business through it's direct to consumer operations in Q1 this year and subsequently also stopped new business via intermediary channels in Q2.

At the time of writing there is no information about this on Hitachi Capital's website, but we understand that all existing policyholders will be written to on the 12 month anniversary of their policy start date and given 60 days notice that their cover will cease. We have been assured that this will not affect any policyholders currently in claim or who might make a valid claim prior to their policy being cancelled.

Michael Cooke, Insurance Expert at The Insurance Helper, comments: "Over the past 6 months a number of PPI providers have either hiked their premiums, reduced the quality of their cover, pulled products from the market or withdrawn from it entirely; Hitachi Capital are just following suit in order to protect their margins from the deluge of claims that have already poured in to PPI schemes and which, if you look at the greater economic outlook, will probably get even worse.

Any clients who have a PPI policy with Hitachi Capital need to consider, with the trend of products either increasing in cost, decreasing in quality or disappearing altogether, should they wait until their policy is cancelled before finding a replacement and take whatever if anything is available at that time, or act now while there are still some decent products available to be sure that they are not left without a seat when the music stops?"

The Insurance Helper offers a range of PPI policies to suit all clients circumstances whether they have a mortgage or not and with cover of up to £2,000 per month irrespective of income, mortgage or rent amounts. You can discuss your needs and get a free no-obligation quote by filling in a secure online quote request form or by calling 0845 003 0065.

Rents dip 6.1% from last year, 0.4% down in April

2009-06-05T10:23:00.003+01:00

Average rent levels fell 0.4% to £635 per month for Your Move’s tenant clients in April.

Rents declined 6.1% compared to one year ago, from £677. Tenants signing up to a lease in April 2009 are saving an average of £1,050 a year compared with those who took up a new lease at last year's peak of £723 in July.

According to the data available from Your Move, the cheapest areas for rental property are in the North West of England and Yorkshire & the Humber, where rents are averaging £467 and £494 per month respectively. By contrast, rents in the North East and East of England have increased by 10.6% and 11.3% respectively in April, to £608 and £729.
Your Move's Managing Director David Newnes commented: “Stock levels are still relatively high in many areas of the country, giving tenants more choice and compelling landlords to compete on price. But interest in the sales market is picking up and reluctant landlords who were forced by the chronic lack of buyers to let their properties in the short term are now beginning to put properties back on the market, so supply is very gradually dwindling.

“Tenants had a lot more leeway to negotiate on price six months ago when the sales market was worse.”

One of the possible reasons for this decline, which corresponds with Your Move's own 1.2% decline in new tenant registrations, is the recent new-found opportunity being grasped by many first-time buyers who for the first time an some months are able to afford to buy properties as a result of the downturn on house prices. Were it not for the ongoing limitations in mortgage availability & criteria which still keeps many would be first time buyers from getting on the housing ladder, it is likely that rents may have dropped further still.

L&G increase MPPI premiums by 20%

2009-06-04T16:28:00.002+01:00

Legal and General has joined numerous other providers and increased its mortgage payment protection insurance premiums by around 20 per cent.

The increases, averaging 20 per cent, are part of L&G’s ongoing review and analysis of the MPPI market.

A L&G spokeswoman says: “It was a result of looking at the current risks with the changes in the current economic situation. We felt, unfortunately, that we had to increase our prices to reflect what else is happening in the market." The premium increase will vary depending on whether the policy includes accident, sickness and unemployment cover, and over what term the policy has been in force.

Michael Cooke, director at leading insurance broker The Insurance Helper comments: "The MPPI marketplace has seen unprecedented turmoil in recent months, and this is yet another example of the rate hikes we've witnessed."

It's not all doom & gloom though, as Mr Cooke continues: "Fortunately for our clients, we continue to have access to some great MPPI products at very good premium rates, with Unemployment cover from £2.50, Accident & Sickness from £1.26, or ASU from just £2.75."

MPPI quotes can be requested on 0845 003 0065 or via the website.

Bank of England Maintains Bank Rate at 0.5% and continues with £125 Billion Asset Purchase Programme

2009-06-04T12:19:00.004+01:00

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today voted to leave the Bank base Rate unchanged at 0.5%. This record low rate has remained unchanged since it was first reduced to this level in March, and is expected to remain for at least the rest of this year.

The Committee also voted to continue with its 'Quantiative Easing' programme of asset purchases totalling £125 billion financed by the issuance of central bank reserves.

The Committee expects that the announced programme will take another two months to complete. The scale of the programme will be kept under review.

The minutes of the meeting will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 17 June.

The previous change in Bank Rate was a reduction of 0.5 percentage points to 0.5% on 5 March 2009. A £75 billion programme of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves was initiated on 5 March 2009. The programme was increased to a total of £125 billion on 7 May 2009.

Information on the Asset Purchase Facility can be found on the Bank of England website at http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetarypolicy/assetpurchases.htm
Purchases of almost £80 billion have been made under this facility since its use for monetary policy purposes was first announced after the Committee’s March meeting.

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

2009-05-14T17:36:00.017+01:00

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

BT announces a further 15,000 jobs to go

2009-05-14T15:02:00.007+01:00

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

Car Insurance Quotes now live

2009-05-11T11:54:00.006+01:00

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."

MPPI Premiums doubled but solutions available

2009-05-08T13:46:00.006+01:00

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.

Free Life Insurance offer

2009-05-08T11:53:00.002+01:00

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.