Life cover
Cover designed to provide money to family or other beneficiaries if the insured person dies.
Find help protecting income, family and business.
Protection advice is about what happens when plans go wrong: illness, inability to work, death or the loss of someone financially important to a family or business.
Protection is not one product.
The right specialist depends on who or what needs protecting and the financial consequences if something goes wrong.
Income protection
Cover aimed at replacing part of income if illness or injury prevents someone from working.
Critical illness
Cover that may pay a lump sum following diagnosis of specified serious conditions, subject to policy terms.
Business protection
Planning around key people, shareholders or owners where illness or death could affect the business.
Understand the advice and how it is paid for.
Which providers can you consider?
Understand whether the specialist can compare a broad range or is restricted.
How are you paid?
Protection advice can involve commission from insurers, direct fees or different arrangements depending on the service.
How do you deal with medical history?
Ask whether the adviser has experience with how insurers assess medical conditions and decide what cover to offer.
When should the cover be reviewed?
Life, income and business circumstances can change materially over time.
Check scope, service and how the adviser is paid.
Protection advisers may be paid differently from investment or pension advisers. Ask whether you pay a fee, the insurer pays commission or both.
Explore protection and insurance
Do you need an adviser for income protection?
When an independent financial adviser or specialist broker may help with income protection insurance and how they can be paid.
Read guide →How to choose a business protection adviser
What business owners should compare when looking for advice on key person, shareholder and other business protection needs.
Read guide →Life insurance in trust: prepare the trustees for a claim
Putting a life policy in trust changes who owns and administers it under the trust's terms. Completing the form is only the beginning. The trustees need to know that the…
Read guide →Increasing life insurance: compare the rise in cover with the rise in premiums
Increasing life insurance can raise the insured amount over time, often using an inflation-related formula. The premium can also increase, and its formula may differ from the…
Read guide →Increasing life insurance after a life event: check the existing policy first
A new child, larger mortgage or changed household income can increase the amount of protection a family wants. Some existing policies contain an option to increase cover after…
Read guide →Family income benefit: the monthly payment and the policy end date
Family income benefit is a form of life insurance designed around regular payments after a qualifying claim. It can help address a household's ongoing spending needs, but the…
Read guide →