Insurance Cover

Many people do not consider how they would cope if they or their partner fell ill or died. It is not something that most of us like to think about and so, too often, we take a chance. We might get away with it, but if we don’t, the consequences can have devastating effects on the very people we love the most.

Having the right cover is an essential part of adult life; not a luxury. No one wants to spend money on something they hope will never be used, but few of us would knowingly risk their loved ones falling into financial destitution because of a chance event.

Good cover needn’t cost much and we will always make sure that our recommendations are affordable.

We pride ourselves on our ethical approach and with an initial review free of charge, we are able to explain the different options and let you know how we may be able to help you before you are committed to any fees.

Following this, we will conduct an in-depth review of your situation, assessing liabilities such as outstanding mortgages, your responsibilities to partners and children and your aspirations for the future to determine the type and amount of cover you need. We will assess any cover you already have in place and build a recommendation taking this into account before assisting you to set the plans up.

Good advice not only sets up the correct cover but will also make certain that it reaches the right person as quickly as possible. Linked to achieving this are decisions on setting up your plans in sole or joint names, whether or not to place it under a trust and consideration of whether you have an up-to-date Will. The right plan for you might offer services to book online GP appointments, provide second medical opinions from leading experts and offer counselling to give you and your family support when it most needs it.

When done properly, good protection planning provides an enormous sense of relief because you know that if the almost unthinkable happened, your family would be able to move forwards without financial hardship.

Woods Mortgages offers independent protection advice, making a recommendation after we have assessed your needs and providing you with a fair and personal analysis of the available market for life cover, critical illness cover and income protection. We also advise on Business Protection including Relevant Life Plans, Director Share Protection, Partnership Protection and Key Person Cover.

Lastly, because family’s never stand still, nor should your protection planning. We offer a service to review your plans so that the cover you have in place is not the cover you needed several years ago but the cover you need now.

So, if you are looking to review your protection needs, please contact us using the form below or feel welcome to email jonny@woodsmortgages.co.uk or call us on 01962 656431

For full detail of how we work and the fees we charge, please see our Terms and Conditions for Mortgages, Equity Release and Protection including our charges.

The Cover we Offer

Life Insurance

Life assurance will pay out a set amount of money if you die. This is vital for paying off debts such as mortgages, but also to replacing the income of a deceased breadwinner and making sure that a family has sufficient money to cover its current and even future needs such as a child’s university fees.

There are many different types of cover including cover that lasts a set number of years or cover that lasts for the whole of your life. It might remain level or it could reduce or rather than pay out a single lump sum, it might pay out a regular income. We will advise you on the right cover for you.

Critical Illness Cover

Being diagnosed with a critical illness is going to be devastating but having no protection in place could be a financial disaster. The impacts on a family can be very similar to a person dying but because they are still alive, life cover has not paid out meaning that the family could suffer not only from a lost income but also with significant care needs and disruption.

Critical illness insurance is designed to provide you with a tax-free cash lump sum, on diagnosis of a specified definition of a critical illness, typically Cancer, Heart Attack or Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and many others.

Critical Illness plans have benefited from significant innovation in recent years providing many levels of cover including plans that cover over 170 different types of illnesses, ones that can pay out more than once and plans that incentivise you to lead a healthy lifestyle. You can also have plans that not only protect you and your partner but also your children.

Income Protection

Are you protected should your income stop?

How long would your family survive if you lost your income due to ill health or accident? For most families, the answer is only a few months and state benefits would be unlikely to make more than a small dent in the shortfall.

Income protection insurance is a long-term insurance policy designed to replace your lost income if you are unable to work due to long term sickness or accident.

These plans can provide cover from the day they go on risk up until your expected retirement age. At the start, you will select a deferment period, which is the length of time you must be ill for before the plan will start to pay the benefit. Once you have passed this period, your plan would pay the benefit until you either recovered, died or reached the end of the plan’s term. If you recovered, the benefit would stop being paid but if you were ill again, the benefit could restart providing invaluable reassurance throughout your working life.

Income Protection is another area that has benefited from innovation and now short-term Income protection policies are available at a lower cost.