Protection
Life assurance
Everybody who earns an income should consider Life Assurance; a loss of your income is a loss to the household. If you died prematurely, would your family have the money needed to pay for their financial needs, for their food, household and utility bills? Would there be sufficient money in place to clear loans, bills and funeral expenses leaving your family debt free following loss of a loved one? Would there be financial protection to support your partner or your family against financial struggle until your children are fully educated? Considering this, is Life Assurance your No.1 priority?
It has been sketched in our minds, that only the main earner in the household needs to have life cover, we at Complete Financial Solutions believe that both the main earner and spouse are equal in terms of providing for the family. However, all this has changed now, and our thinking must change with our lifestyle today.
Partners working both inside as well as outside of the home, while caring for their family, need life assurance too. The death of a partner may result in you yourself having to give up work to care for any children and the household, or having to fund for home help, if you still need to continue working. Nobody wants to even imagine how hard life can be emotionally, let alone financially, with the loss of a partner; though on a financial level this is something we do not plan for and often a daunting experience for those left behind, in the absence of Life Cover. There are many options to choose from to suit each individual needs and requirements.
How much will I need?
Your life cover benefit is estimated on 10-times your salary. A full review of your circumstances, requirements and disposable income will establish what is realistically required. You may have savings already put aside and the age of your family will be an important aspect of your requirements. Do you have very young children, or a special needs dependent to provide for or do you need to provide funding for school or college fees? Have you covered the cost of an outstanding mortgage or long-term loans? What about the provision of funeral expenses? The average funeral ranges from €3,000-€7,000. Would you have that at your disposal now and if not, how would your family have it at their disposal, if this was not already in place in the form of Life Cover?
How much will it cost?
Cost is on an individual basis and is based on the following:
Extra Optional Benefits will also add to the cost:
Rider Benefits in the form of Hospital Cash benefit, Accident Cash benefit, Surgical Cash benefit
Level Term Life Assurance
This provides a lump sum payment to your family in the event of your death. This is the most popular form of life cover, providing a fixed benefit with a fixed premium over a specified number of years. The cost and sum assured remain the same for the entire term of the policy. If there is no pay out during the term of the plan, the policy ceases. Although there is no cash-in value and only pays out on death of the individual during the specified term of the plan, it provides peace of mind to you and your family that you are financially protected.
Convertible Term Life Assurance
Like Level Term, this provides a lump sum payment to your family in the event of your death. The benefit and premium will still remain the same throughout the chosen term of cover. A convertible option allows you to continue your policy after the initial policy term for another specific term or to change it to a whole of life policy, both without having to provide further medical evidence. This is very advantageous, if your health deteriorated over the initial term, then the availability of continued cover is still guaranteed. The extra cost for convertible term compared with level term is very minimal for what it provides (typically about 5-10%) depending on age and smoking status.
Index Linked Cover
This is an optional facility designed to increase your benefits & premiums on an annual basis to protect against inflation - in keeping in line with the cost of living. The increase is normally at 3% or 5% pa, depending on the company, with the option to stop the facility during the term of the policy.
Single, Joint or Dual Cover
Single cover insures one person only. Joint cover will pay benefits on the first death of either joint insured person, paying out once on death during the term of the policy. Dual cover will pay benefits on the death of both insured persons during the term of the policy. Payment to one person on the policy does not affect the benefit of the second person for dual cover, almost as if they each had single policies.
Serious Illness Cover
No one needs the added financial, practical and emotional problems that a serious illness can bring. Life is complicated enough when you are fit, well and have a steady source of income. No matter a person's age, health is something that should not be taken for granted. We realise thinking of serious illnesses is distressing. But preparing for the future will ensure you will be able to cope if you or your family becomes seriously ill.
Serious illness insurance entitles you to a lump sum amount if you suffer from one of the specified illnesses covered on your plan. Spending your lump sum on maintaining your standard of living or helping your family cope financially during a difficult time can be brought into effect after an individual is diagnosed with a common illness.
Choosing the amount of cover you need and how you use it, is up to you. Meeting mortgage and loan repayments or everyday bills and expenses, are just some examples of how our clients choose to use their serious illness pay-out. Depending on your policy, an amount will be payable to you if you suffer any of the illnesses listed in your policy.
Why Do I Need Serious Illness Insurance?
Serious illness insurance is beneficial if you are unable to work as a result of becoming seriously ill. Maintaining you and your family's standard of living while you are recovering will relieve financial and emotional pressure. Serious illness protection can be accelerated to your mortgage protection in the event of a serious illness. This means some or all of the outstanding amount on your mortgage can be paid off to release the burden of mortgage repayments while you are recovering.
Please note, mortgage protection does not cover your actual mortgage repayments if you cannot work due to sickness or redundancy. In this instance, you would need mortgage repayment benefit available from your lender, which can be built into your mortgage repayments.
How Much Will It Cost?
Cost is on an individual basis and is based on the following:
A Little Goes A Long Way
If you need €2,500 every month (€30,000 in a year) to cover your household expenses, serious illness insurance is relatively inexpensive. The table below shows how far even a small amount of cover could go and the associated monthly cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
This will depend on the lump sum you receive as part of your serious illness cover. For example, if you were to receive €30,000 in a year, monthly premiums can be as little as €17.48
Health is something we can all take for granted. But no matter your age or current state of health, planning for your future and relieving potential emotional and financial stress is an action we would strongly recommend to clients.
Income Protection
Your income is your most important asset. Protect it and you will be able to meet your financial needs.
If you were unable to work due to an accident, sickness or disability, do you have another source of income to provide for your financial needs? Would your income stop if you were unable to work for a prolonged period of time? If so, what would you and your family depend on? Your employee or social welfare entitlements may not last as long as you may expect them to. If you are self-employed, you may have no illness benefit at all, unless you put this in place yourself in the form of Income Protection.
It has been sketched in our minds, that only the main earner in the household An Income Protection policy provides you with a replacement income, in the event you are unable to work due to an accident, sickness or disability, paying you up to 75% of your monthly income. This payment is paid after a deferred period, which is the waiting time between being unable to work and commencement of payment of the benefit, normally 26 weeks. Benefits are then paid until either you can return to work, to the end of policy term (normally retirement age) if you are never able to go back, or death; whichever is sooner.
Why do I need Income Protection?
Income Protection is beneficial if your work or social welfare entitlements may not last as long as you may expect them to. It is essential if you are self-employed and have no other form of unearned income, that you have Income Protection in place, as you may have no entitlement to social welfare benefit.
How much will it cost?
Cost is on an individual basis, mainly structured to the Deferred Period and your Occupational Class as well as the following:
Extra Optional Benefits will also add to the cost:
Benefits of Income Protection
Your benefit pays a regular monthly income after a deferred period if you are unable to work for a long period of time. Tax-relief is refundable on your monthly premium at your marginal rate of tax; this is a great advantage to your premium costs. The benefit is payable on any illness, accident or disability, with no exclusions apart from any pre-existing conditions or exclusions in relation to your own circumstances on implementation of your policy. Optional indexation may be chosen, which allows the benefit (and premium) to increase each year in line with inflation. The provider used by Complete Financial Solutions pay your premiums while paying a benefit during the claim period, so your payments are always up to date.
Deferred Period
A period of 4, 8, 13, 26 or 52 weeks may be chosen, depending on how long an individual is paid by their employer while on sick leave. The longer the deferred period the lower the premium will be.
Occupation Class
Categorised from Class 1 (non manual or office based) to Class 4 (manual work to high risk occupation), dependent on the risks involved. Cover that is arranged on an ‘any occupation’ basis is payable if the individual is unable to carry out any occupation which would be considered reasonable given their education and training. Cover arranged on an ‘own occupation’ basis is payable in the event that the individual is unable to carry out their normal occupation, and would carry a higher premium due to the restriction of work task that can be carried out to return to work.
Income Protection has been an under rated type of insurance due to the difficulty in qualifying to obtain this type of cover, and because of the restrictions on occupational class and claims. However, this is a very beneficial policy, and one that certainly should not be overlooked when consideration to a quality annual income is currently enjoyed.
Mortgage Protection
Buying a home is one of the biggest financial commitments you will ever make. Placing the right cover to protect your home is essential, and it is a requirement by your lender to have protection in place on your home. Mortgage Protection is a form of life cover, tailored to pay off the outstanding balance of your mortgage in the event of your death during the term of your mortgage loan. Is your mortgage protection cost effective and meeting your needs?
Repayment Mortgages
This is a mortgage where the amount of loan decreases over the term of the policy through the payments of capital and interest on the mortgage loan. Mortgage Protection is a low cost life cover benefit which decreases each year in line with the decreasing value of your mortgage, with the premiums remaining the same throughout the term of the policy. It is suited to those whose principal concern is to ensure the mortgage is paid off in the event of their death. Although, Mortgage Protection is cheaper than Level Term Life Cover, individuals with other commitments, and those with a family normally opt for a more substantial form of life cover, where affordability allows it, to cover the financial needs of their family.
Interest only Mortgages
With an interest only mortgage, the amount owed to the lender never reduces as only the interest owed is repaid every month, with the capital paid at the end through an endowment policy or secured on another property (ie; holiday or rental home). If you have an ‘Interest only’ mortgage, a Level Term Life Cover policy should be considered rather than a mortgage protection policy, as this pays a fixed rather than a decreased benefit, ensuring there is always enough cover to clear the mortgage in full, in the event of the death of the policy holder.
Mortgage Top-ups
To ensure continued financial security in the event you consolidate your loan through a mortgage top up or indeed extend your mortgage term for financial affordability, you will be required to restructure your mortgage protection policy. Your new premium is likely to be higher as you extend your cover over a longer term and because you may be older than when you took out your original cover, all of these factors need to be protected.
Serious Illness Protection can be accelerated to your Mortgage Protection, that in the event of a specified serious illness some or all of the outstanding amount of your mortgage (whichever amount is chosen) can be paid off to release the burden of mortgage repayments while you are recovering.
It is important to note that mortgage protection does not cover your actual mortgage repayments if you cannot work due to sickness or redundancy. In this instance, you would need ‘mortgage repayment benefit’ available from your lender which can be built into your mortgage repayments.
How much will Mortgage Protection cost?
As with Term Life Assurance, the cost is on an individual basis and is based on the following:
Extra Optional Benefits will also add to the cost:
It is a statutory requirement by your lender to have Mortgage Protection or some form of Life Cover in place structured to cover the amount of your mortgage loan. Under the Consumer Credit Act 1995, while your lender can insist you get mortgage protection insurance, they cannot insist that that you purchase it from them. You are free to shop around with financial product providers to obtain competitive premium costs.
Accident Cover
Buying a home is one of the biggest financial commitments you will ever make. Placing the right cover to protect your home is essential, and it is a requirement by your lender to have protection in place on your home. Mortgage Protection is a form of life cover, tailored to pay off the outstanding balance of your mortgage in the event of your death during the term of your mortgage loan. Is your mortgage protection cost effective and meeting your needs?
Why do I need Income Protection?
Income protection is essential because it provides financial security if you cannot work due to illness, injury, or disability. Here's why you might need it:
Replace Lost Income: It helps replace a portion of your income if you're temporarily or permanently unable to work due to health issues.
Maintain Your Lifestyle: Income protection ensures you can cover living expenses such as rent/mortgage, bills, and groceries while you'reoff work.
Peace of Mind: It reduces financial stress, allowing you to focus on recovery without worrying about paying bills.
Long-Term Coverage: Many policies offer long-term support, ensuring you're covered for months or even years if necessary.
Protection for Self-Employed: For freelancers or business owners, income protection ensures you're not left financially vulnerable if you can't work.
Income protection is a smart way to safeguard financial stability, allowing you to handle unexpected situations confidently.
How much will Accident Cover cost?
Cost of income protection is on an individual basis and is based on the following:
Benefit (amount chosen – up to 75% of your gross income, less any other income, sick pay or welfare benefit)
Term (retirement age chosen)
Occupation (Grouped into classes as some occupations are riskier than others effecting your premium costs)
Age
Gender
Smoker or Non Smoker
State of health