INSURING YOURSELF

If you have no one dependant on you and your income, there is little sense in taking out life assurance. However, if you have children or a spouse depending on you, or a business partner, you might wish to take out life assurance.

The simple form of life assurance – term assurance – can be very inexpensive. Do feel free to ring us for a quote. We do not charge for providing quotes and, if you then wish us to arrange the life assurance, normally there is also no charge for doing that.

CHEAP LIFE ASSURANCE

The most inexpensive type of life assurance is called term assurance. It is life assurance for an agreed amount of cover over an agreed term of years at a fixed price. For example life assurance of £100,000 over 25 years for a 30 year old would only cost about £6.00 per month and for a 40 year old only about £9.00 per month.

If you would like an estimate of the cost of life assurance for you, just call or email us. Let us know your date of birth, whether you are a smoker or non-smoker and how much life assurance you would like to have, and we can reply with an illustration from the open market within an hour or two. We do not charge for this service and, if you want us to arrange the life assurance for you, there is usually no charge by us to you as the life companies pay commission.

USING OUR EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE

“Service is, as ever, unbelievable.”

Mr CE of Crawley

“Very professional and helpful service.”

Mr JG of East Grinstead

USING OUR EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE

“Thank you so much for all your help with these pensions.

We couldn’t have done it without you.”

Mr & Mrs KC of West Sussex

“Friendly and accurate advice.”

Mr AO of East Sussex

WHAT IS THE VALUE OF A PARENT?

Research has been done on the financial value of a parent based on what it would cost currently to replace the activities they do in raising a family.

 Taking into account cooking, cleaning, transport, childcare, etc., it works out as an average of £631 per week for the parent at home and £448 for the parent who is working. Over half of the parents contacted in the survey had no financial protection in place. The cost of taking out simple life assurance is not huge. A woman or man aged 30 can insure themselves for £200,000 for under £10 per month each, or under £15 per month for a joint policy (non-smokers and without major medical complications).

We can speedily provide you with quotes.

CHEAP PROTECTION

One of the cheapest financial planning and protection tools is still term life assurance. The amount that is insured will be paid out on death at any time during the agreed term of years. It really is a must for young families where husband and wife can be covered by a single policy and get substantial cover for less than £10.00 per month.


We would be happy to provide quotes by return of e-mail. Contact us on 01342 313302 or info@sovereignfinance.org

STRIVING TO MEET EXPECTATIONS

By survey what our clients value, and why they continue to come back to us, is our independent and unbiased advice on financial matters and mortgages, utilising our extensive knowledge and know-how gained over the last 35 plus years.

Here are a few recent client comments:

“Thank you so much for being super quick and efficient and guiding us through this. I have already recommended your services to 2 of my friends and am sure we will have some more work coming your way in the near future.”  – Mr RW and Ms NF of Kent

“Many thanks for all your patience, guidance and expertise in arranging this for us, your help is much appreciated.”  – Mr & Mrs PL of Redhill, Surrey

“Usual thanks and best wishes for excellent service.” – Mr IB of Leeds

“As ever your advice is clear and constructive; we will certainly come back to you as and when we decide to take the next step.”   – Mr & Mrs AM of Uckfield, East Sussex

 

FINANCIAL BASICS

It is worth keeping a check on your Financial Basics:

• M ost important! – ensuring more money comes in than goes out

• Building up some cash reserves in case of an emergency (putting this cash into an ISA

   is a good plan for most)

• Life assurances kept at an adequate level (basic life assurance is inexpensive for most and

   we are happy to provide quotes)

• Build up some long range savings or investments, e.g. pension, property, stocks and

   shares (there are many options; feel free to discuss the options with us)

• Keep your credit in good shape by always making payments on time (setting up a Direct

   Debit helps ensure you do not forget)

• As you move into your 60s, look into taking out a Lasting Power of Attorney

• Make a Will

LIFE ASSURANCE AND PUTTING THINGS IN ORDER

Unfortunately we do not live forever. To avoid leaving behind a confusion that family or friends have to sort out, there are some basic actions that should be taken:

1. Write to any company that you have a pension with and notify them of who you want the money to go to on your death. This is in addition to having a will. By letting the pension company have written notification, that money can be made available to the beneficiary(s) immediately. It does not have to wait for Grant of Probate, i.e. when your whole estate is valued up and your will reviewed. Such a notification would keep the pension funds from being included in your estate and possibly being subject to Inheritance Tax when you die.

2. Make sure you have an up-to-date will. These are not expensive.

3. In the event of illness or something else happening that affects your mental capacity – either for a short time or a long time – it is a good idea to look into doing a Lasting Power of Attorney. This is a written document that appoints someone to make decisions about your affairs in case you are not capable of doing so. There are two parts to this – one to deal with health issues and the other to deal with property and finance. In setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney you can do one or both parts. This is not inexpensive, but what it might save you in the long run might well be far more than the cost of getting one of these done.


4. Review your life assurance needs. If you have people who depend on you financially – whether a spouse, or children or business associates – having adequate life assurance is a good idea. Basic life assurance is generally inexpensive. We can provide quotes very quickly. Just give us a ring.

Can You Afford To Take The Risk?

You have to insure your car and you have to insure your house, but you are not required to insure yourself or your spouse despite the possible consequences!

Life Assurance does not need to be expensive and we can generally provide a quote within an hour or less.

WHY USE US?

We have over 30 years of experience with financial matters which has given us a great deal of expertise and know-how.

We seek to provide an efficient, professional and friendly service to all our clients.

Here are a few recent client comments:

“You are trustworthy and professional with clear explanations given. Thanks for your patience.”

– Mr JG of East Grinstead

“Thank you for your help and attention, excellent as always.”

– Mrs CC of Leicestershire

“Ever grateful for your prompt and helpful advice.”

 – Professor BHW of Oxford

“I needed someone I could trust.”
– Mr GN of Turners Hill,West Sussex


“That’s brilliant. Can’t believe how quick you got this (mortgage offer) through.”
– TM and DW of Crawley, West Sussex

MERGER – AVIVA AND FRIENDS LIFE

Two of the largest UK life assurance companies – Friends Life and AVIVA are planning to merge. Their strategy is to increase efficiency and savings by economy of scale. What the real result will be is more uncertain. Each of them already have commitments from having absorbed a number of earlier life companies. For example, Friends Life took over Friend Provident, F&C (Foreign and Colonial), BUPA, Resolution and others. While AVIVA have General Accident, Commercial Union, Norwich Union and others. Each of their subsidiaries brings past responsibilities and contracts to honour. At the moment the Stock Market considers it a good idea for Friends Life and a not-so-good one for AVIVA and their share prices have reacted accordingly.

LIFE ASSURANCE – THE VALUE OF EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE!

Not unusually, we were recently contacted by a couple who needed to increase the level of their life assurance, as they had moved and substantially increased their mortgage. This meant the level of cover they took out in 2006 was no longer sufficient. While it would have been easy to simply take out a new policy immediately, we found out from our “fact find” that the wife had contracted cancer in 2009 which she eventually was able to recover from. With this in mind, we made enquiries about her existing policy to see what options it might provide them as in some cases life policies allow the policyholders to increase their cover without any medical enquiries when they are increasing their cover due to a move, or similar circumstances.

From these enquiries we found out that, in fact, the old policy provided cover against incurring certain critical illnesses as well as in the event of one of them dying. We advised the clients that we should see if they were entitled to claim even though the cancer dated back to 2009. We obtained details of the cancer and established that it was the kind of cancer that should be covered. We then assisted the clients to make a claim. The claim was eventually accepted and the clients were obviously more than pleased to find that they were receiving over £100,000 from the claim.

A less professional approach could have missed that completely and just arranged a new policy. The result was certainly in line with our company purpose – “To help individuals achieve their objectives and enjoy financial security.” To cap it off we advised them of the need for a new policy to cover what was still at risk, as the claim on the old policy meant that it had ceased to provide cover.

HOW MUCH WOULD LIFE ASSURANCE COST?

We are required by law to insure our car and our driving, our home and its contents, but insuring our lives is not required, even though the consequences of an unexpected death can be very considerable. Research by the Liverpool Victoria Assurance Company has established that only 31% of households in the UK have life assurance. Life assurance does not need to be expensive. Give us a call and we can tell you what it would cost within the hour.

How Much is a Mum or Dad Worth?

Those who have children should certainly consider having life assurance. Recent research showed that only 53% of parents in the UK had life assurance and this level is decreasing. The research looked at what it would cost if a family lost a parent and had to replace all of the work they do. The value of replacing a Mum worked out at £30,032 and a Dad at £21,306 (Dads take note!). Contact us and we can provide quotes speedily.

Review your life assurance arrangements

Pull out the documents and see how much you are covered for and for how long. You may find a policy is coming to its end and you can ask us to check the cost to ensure you are not overpaying for your life assurance. The Uni-Sex insurance directive that came into force at the end of 2012 has brought about various changes in the costs of life assurance – some good and some bad!

Changes you should know about

• There is a reduction in the amount a person can earn before he starts having to pay 40% tax. Taking into account the personal allowance, in this Tax Year (2012/2013) 40% tax kicks in above £42,475. In 2013/14 it will kick in at the lower level of £41,450.


• The maximum pension contribution annually will reduce from £50,000 to £40,000 but not until 2014/2015, so it will still be possible to contribute up to £50,000 in 2013/2014 (Note: there is no change to the rule that the maximum personal contribution an individual can make is limited to 100% of their taxable earnings; so, if their total taxable earnings are less than £50,000, this earnings level becomes their limit; however, there is also no change to the fact that a company can contribute up to £50,000 to an employee’s pension - even if that is more than his taxable income).

There are also a few promises the Chancellor has made for the future such as promising to raise the Inheritance Tax nil rate band in 2015/16 and also to make increases in the Capital Gains Tax Allowance, but I do not think we are being too cynical if we choose to ignore these until they actually happen! 2012 saw the Property Market pretty much flat, but the rental incomes generally increased as those who were unable to buy, had to rent. This has tempted landlords to buy more property. 2012 also saw the insurance market turned a bit on its head as a result of an EU Gender Directive – dictating to insurance companies that they had to give men and women equal insurance quotes – despite the over-riding statistical proof that young men have more automobile accidents than young women and that women generally live longer than men. 2013 also sees the FSA (Financial Services Authority) morph and divide itself into two new bodies – the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) and the PRA (Prudential Regulatory Authority). We will have to wait and see whether this change will mean.

Advance Warning

Some significant changes in financial services are to come into effect at the end of 2012. The Financial Services Authority will be replaced by two(!) new regulators – the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). Along with this change are requirements for higher standards for financial advisers and a move away from commission being paid for investment advice to advisers charging fees. Firms of advisers also need to decide whether they will provide advice from the whole market and qualify thereby as "independent" or will work with a specified set of suppliers and then be termed as providing "restricted advice". We will continue to provide independent advice. Contact us on 01342 313302.

Life Assurance Likely To Get More Expensive!

Life assurance has been around for a few hundred years, dating back to times when groups first worked out that they could buy some piece of mind for themselves and their families by each making a contribution to a pooled fund which would be available to help other members of that group or their families in the case the wage earner died early.


While it has become more popular, and thus cheaper, it still remains primarily a way to buy peace of mind for those with commitments such as family or business. The cost of life assurance is based on risk. To help in assessing this risk the life assurance companies have all of the records of people dying and from what cause (the Mortality Tables) and also details of a person’s medical history. If one is young and in good health, life assurance is very cheap indeed. As one grows older, and where there are medical problems (past or present), the risk, and thus the cost, goes up.

At the end of December 2012 a European Court decision will come into force affecting all insurance companies. It basically dictates that all premiums for insurances must be the same for men and women who are otherwise of equal risk. Historically, as per the records, women live longer than men and life assurance for women has usually been cheaper for a man of the same age. Despite these facts the European Court has decided that equates to sex discrimination! Frankly we think that is nuts, but it will not be the first piece of nutty European legislation. The result will be more expensive life assurance for women. One would think it would also mean somewhat cheaper life assurance for men, but at the same time the life assurance companies are being required to hold more reserves, which will make it more expensive for them to trade. This will almost certainly drive life assurance costs up for both men and women. In short then, it is probably a good time to review your life assurance and make any changes needed. We are likely to look back and see this as having been a particularly cheap time to take out life assurance. And remember the research indicates the cost of taking on people to do the work of a Mum works out at about £30,000 and a Dad at about £21,000! We can quickly provide you with any life assurance quotes you may need. Contact us on 01342 313302 or info@sovereignfinance.org

HOW MUCH IS A MUM OR DAD WORTH?

While on the subject of life assurance, it is interesting to look at some research done last year on the value of a Mum or Dad – just on the cost of replacing their work at home and in looking after the children, should one parent die or be ill and unable to work. The value of a Mum works out at £30,032 and a Dad at £21,306! The same research showed that only 53% of parents in the UK had life assurance and only 24% had Critical Illness cover. Both of these have gone down by 4% in the last two years. We would like to assist you to ensure you have the cover that you need and want. Just give us a ring on 01342 313302 now!