Insurance World

How can any one know what’s around the corner? It’s probably something you’d prefer not to dwell on, but accidents and fatal illnesses can happen, with the result that your family could be left to look after themselves. Apart from the shock and distress suffered by them, there is the financial aspect. Could they deal with the financial commitments and any debt without your income? This is where life insurance can give you and your family peace of mind that, should the unthinkable happen, at least they could cope financially.

The good news is that the cost of life insurance has become much more affordable than it used to be, particularly the most common form, which is “term insurance”. Term insurance is designed to pay a cash sum if you die within a certain period or term. This is specified at the outset of the insurance and can cover you for whatever period you specify. The policy will have an expiry date and if you survive to that date, the policy ends.

Quite simply, a level term policy is one which pays the benefit on death. The benefit remains constant throughout the term. This type of policy is often purchased to cover mortgage or loan repayments, quite often in conjunction with interest only mortgages. These are becoming increasingly popular, but as they don’t reduce over the years, this type of cover is worth considering as your mortgage is always covered.

Then there are the increasing and decreasing term insurances. With an increasing term (or indexed) policy, the amount paid out will rise in line with the rate of inflation, although this may be reflected in the cost of the premium.

With a decreasing term policy, the amount of benefit which would be payable on death reduces annually, until there is a zero amount left at the end of the term. Often this would be used in conjunction with a repayment mortgage, where the capital value is reduced over the mortgage term. The cost of a decreasing term policy is likely to be less than with a level term one.

There are two ways in which policies pay benefits – either by one lump sum paid out to your beneficiaries or alternatively as a family income benefit. With the family income benefit your dependants receive a set amount per annum until the end of the original term.

Family income policies are often timed to coincide with the time when the youngest child is expected to become independent. The premiums tend to be lower than with a lump-sum policy due to the fact that should the insured person die towards the end of the term, the insurance company would only have a relatively short number of years in which they would have to pay out the annual sum.

It’s worth checking that you’re not already covered by your employer for some form of life cover. Some companies provide death in service benefits. These could pay out two to four times your basic salary.

When doing your sums on the amount of cover you’d need, it’s usual for an average family to cover both parents for around Ј150,000 per child, assuming there is some death-in-service benefit. If you’re planning on a family income benefit, then it’s suggested that you go for Ј20,000 plus per child per year.

It is recommended that couples should take out individual life insurance. There is little difference in cost, but where a joint policy pays out only once, on the death of the first partner, with an individual policy each partner is covered.

The benefits of life insurance are invaluable to your family. If you’re no longer around to care for them they’ll be guaranteed financial stability.

Do give this some thought. Find out just how much these various types of cover are going to cost, you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised. There’s never been a better time for bargains. There are on line insurance brokers who will offer policies to suit all budgets and family needs. They’ll do all the searching for you and come up with the right policy for you.

When insurance brokers look out into the world they see two types of prospective customers. Every individual person fits into one of the two categories. They are either smokers or non-smokers.

Someone who occasionally smokes socially and someone who smokes everyday can end up in the same insurance category. He will pay even more if he smokes more than 20 cigarettes a day. Often premium rates for smokers can be up to three times the rate non-smokers pay. This is because insurance companies believe that smoking amplifies the risk of untimely death.

The financial penalties of smoking extend far past the price of a pack of cigarettes. In addition to the nickel-and-dime of a pack of smokes every time he runs out, the smoker endures costly consequences to lighting up.

Homes and vehicles that retain the stench of cigarette smoke lose resale value. Smokers can also be penalized when shopping for a new home because insurance companies believe smokers are more likely to burn down the house.

Smokers will also pay more for health insurance, dry cleaning and yearly teeth cleaning appointments. All of these costs add up quickly to put a hefty dent in a smoker’s wallet.

It isn’t simply what a smoker pays in extra an expense that reduces funds, but being paid less in the first place can cause his bank account to suffer as well. Studies have shown that smokers earn up to 11 percent less than non-smokers. These figures not only take into account time wasted on smoke breaks, but first impressions as well. Smokers may be perceived as less attractive and therefore passed by for jobs.

Insurance costs aren’t the only money matters smoker’s have to worry about; however, it is a huge issue. A smoker literally burns his money away. That nicotine rush can cost thousands of dollars a year more in insurance premiums.

While saving money on insurance premiums may not persuade him to quit smoking, a smoker may not be conscious of how much the habit is actually costing him. He may even lose his job. There have been several companies in the news recently who have fired employees who smoke simply because they pay more insurance on smokers than non-smokers.

It begs the question, is it worth the cost?

But, the high cost of smoking doesn’t necessarily only affect the smoker himself. Documented studies have shown that Americans spend over 60 billion dollars a year treating smoking related illnesses. Women who choose to smoke during pregnancy cost the country another 3 billion dollars a year. It also causes the deaths of 2,500 unborn babies a year and results in low birth weight and life-long complications in countless others.

Fires set by smokers who fall asleep or are otherwise careless with their habit, cost the government 500 million dollars a year. The human cost is great, as fires started by cigarettes take the lives of more than 2,000 people a year.

Smokers with group life insurance push up premiums for smokers in the same pool by 4 billion dollars a year.

Smoking is by far the most prevalent cause of untimely death in the United States today. More than 400,000 people a year pay with their money and their lives to light up a cigarette.

That quick fix can not only be deadly, but greatly reduce quality of life as well. Be it human life, depreciation of property, health factors or jacked-up life insurance premiums, the decision to smoke cigarettes is costly.