Life insurance/mortgage protection! Really very difficult to dress it up as anything exciting/of interest. However... I was in the process of sorting out life insurance to pay off my mortgage, in the unfortunate instance that I shold perish/croak it before the end of the term of my mortgage, meaning that it'll be paid off. Obviously (like most insurances) something that one doesn't want to happen, but, something that most Mortgage lenders insist on one having.
I was going through the endless questions with various companies, but when I mentioned that I climb/spend time in the mountains, the general air of the conversation changed to "Rock Climbing! That's a bit dangerous isn't it" type of response... (No disrepect to any company in particular). I read through the policy coverage details of one application & found that I wasn't even covered (despite having declared it). So, basically, if I had died whilst climbing/out in the hills, I wouldn't be covered.(Always read the smallprint...) THEN. I decided to look for a company that specialises in covering climbers & found Summit Financial Services. Very friendly & professional people, who went through everything very thoroughly & found me the best policy, (at half the price I was paying for my "non-climbing" cover, bonus!)
The basic gist of the thread is, if you're thinking about changing/taking out life insurance, you could do a lot worse than calling these people! www.summit-fs.co.uk
(I didn't receive any financial gain for writing this thread, just thought I'd spread the word to anyone who may be interested!)
The content is potentially relevant to the OM audience and Johny isn't a one-time one-topic poster here. (I suspect from some of his threads he has some outdoors 'business' connection, but I don't know what it is.)
I've posted in the past about BMC insurance for example - does that make me a spammer too?
I agree we don't want the place filling with rip-off Nike adverts, but I wish folk would sometimes be a bit less quick off the mark to label stuff as spam.
it sounds great. a normal cover. then half price for a cover that includes dangerous sports. something is missing or something is far too padded over the basic. perhaps they are different types of policy e.g. life insurance or mortgage protection. two distinctly different products.
It isn't spam, (& I don't wish to get involved in any forum battles here).
I was checking out various options & was a bit shocked that one policy (where I did state that I climb/spend time in the mountains), came back as saying that I didn't. Therefore if I did come unstuck (ie. die), my mortgage protection would be invalid.
Then I came across these people, who went through a lot of relevant details about my climbing/interests, to find the most suitable policy. (Mortgage protection). The fact that it was half the price of what I was originally paying, but provided the same amount of cover, was a bonus.
Sorry if it did look like/come across as spam, or an advert.
It's just that I'm a firm believer of singing the praises of people, organisations, or companies, that I feel do a good job/provide excellent service.
I just thought that perhaps some people may be interested, esp. if they had experienced problems getting cover, from other insurance providers.
i would read the small print very carefully johnny. i'm not trying to diss the company or anything but your result does seem rather too good to be true and i just feel that the price difference reflects a different type of policy.
a mortgage protection policy usually provides your mortgage payments for a fixed term (say 24mths max) after an inital "excess" period (say 6 months). it will not pay off your mortgage.
As Parky has alluded to it might be worth clarifying what product you've bought...
As I understand it Mortgage Protection policies cover you for periods of unemploymentwhere and pays your monthly mortgage payments whereas Life Assurance is a policy that pays out a lump sum on death to pay the outstanding mortgage. I assume it is the latter that you have taken out.
Anotherthing to make sure is that you are comparing like with like. Life Assurance policies come in (at least) two types, those that pay a fixed amount (say £100k) that stays the same for the life of the policy and those that pay a decreasing amount in line with the amount of actual mortgage outstanding ie say you take out a £100k mortgage, after a few years this will have decreased (assuming you have taken out a repayment rather than endowment mortgage). Obvously the latter are cheaper and all that you need if the purpose is simply to pay off the outstanding mortgage on death which is presumably the case as neither will pay out anything should you survive the term of the policy.
The decreased term policy that I've taken out (in the case of my unfortunate demise) would provide an assured lump sum; for the remainder of the life of the mortgage.I've been through it with a fine-toothed comb, & can deduce that I had previously been paying for other things that I did not really need/require. (I wasn't looking to cut costs, which could be a false economy in a field such as this. The features of the protection were the most important factors). Perhaps, I had been sold some things that I didn't really need on my previous policy, which would reflect in the higher premium.I had previously imagined (wrongly) that to get cover for taking part in a "dangerous" sport, such as climbing (lumped with caving, potholing, diving, equestrian sports, extreme sports, flying, motor sport, trans-ocean sailing/yacht racing & powerboat racing; all of which could be classed as risky, without the necessary/relevant experience &/or training), would cost more. The main point of my thread was just to show that there are companies out there, who will provide cover, to enable us to do what we all love to do the most & that is spend time out in the hills.Thanks again.Best wishes
Just seems(ed) bit too much like an advert - how about:
"Was in the market for [insert almost any product name that anyone on here may ever want to buy], had been searching endlessly, wasting a lot of time and encountered [insert lots of problems with other products / suppliers]. However, found [insert company name] who were so fantastic and did [insert benefits] so would *definitely* recommend them.
Just incase you did not get it here are their company details again, oh and their web site address is [carefully hyperlinked].
Oh by the way I received no benefit from carefully writing this (but there again you don't know if that is true or not...)."
Perhaps I am becoming overly cynical in my (not so) old age - if I am wrong I apologise - but not sure it is *really* all that relevant (even if genuine). Pretty sure everyone is already aware that all insurance policies have specific benefits, restrictions and exclusions and it is your responsibility to ensure it provides the cover you require.
Apologies if it looks like an advert, it's not, I just thought that it may be of interest to some forumites. It is genuine, I put in the link so that people could check it out for themselves (if they wished, & without having to go to too much trouble).
I realise that insurance is an area that can be very frustrating. I've had (bad) experiences with insurance in the past; damaged luggage, items stolen on holiday, had my car smashed & been burgled (over the space of my life, not in the last week!) My shed was burgled years back; foolishly had the majority of my outdoor gear in there, wasn't properly covered, ended up very cheesed off/gearless! A lot of the time, people do feel like they are being robbed by the insurance companies, after all, it's something that we pay for & hope to not have to claim for & when we do, it's often a struggle.
Reading the post again now, I can see that it perhaps could have been viewed as an advert.
It's not. Like I said; if I come across a company that (I personally feel) goes that little bit further, I'll shout it from the rooftops & tell everyone that I think they're good. Likewise, if a company is not too great, I won't. I have absolutely no vested interest in this, nor any other organisation.
I simply found the company on the internet, called them & my policy (covering climbing/walking/mountaineering) was sorted. Obviously I hope that I never do have to call on it, (it only pays out if I die), but it does cover me for the things that I love to do.
Never was my intention to cause a big debate, apologies if I have offended anyone.
I guess, as well as the precise details of the cover and exclusions, at the heart of it there's an actuarial element - Summit Financial Services clearly specialise in this market (I've seen their name for years in connection with lots of BMC material). Perhaps they recognise that not only do not that many climbers actually die participating in their sport, but they're also a lot less likely to collapse of a heart attack into their plate of chips in front of the telly?!!
And to Barking Mad, apologies if my initial response was also a bit harsh. But I do think this sort of info and discussion is perfectly well suited to this forum. Sure, people ought to be aware to check all the details of any insurance, but how many folk would necessarily even think of their outdoor activities as anything relevant at the time of applying for this stuff? After all, for many of us it seems like nothing extreme, just a normal part of what we do (I spent Monday night on the Cairngorm plateau in a snowhole - it was planned, we were prepared, it was fun - every one of my work colleagues think's I'm a crazy lunatic! ).
Surely there's no harm in raising the issue of these exclusions and pointing out the existence of a company that demonstrates a greater understanding of what it is that we do?
"everyone is already aware that all insurance policies have specific benefits, restrictions and exclusions and it is your responsibility to ensure it provides the cover you require." usually true bm but for this type of cover there are a number of ways it can be covered at differing costs. you would not necessarily know what could or would be best for your circumstances. it's very different to buying a simple travel policy and getting proper advice is essential - and that means being able to precisely explain what you want which is actually very difficult to do.
johnny, i understand now. a decreasing term assurance (DTA) is relatively cheap. whilst you may think this advice is me poking my nose in i feel it needs to be made.
you do not mention why you want the mortgage paid in the event of your untimely demise. i assume it's because loved one(s) are involved.
endowment policies combined with a DTA used to be a popluar mortgage/life assurance combination - imagine a rectangle with a diagnal from top right to bottom left. as the DTA decreased the endowment element increased and so kept a nearly fixed level of life assurance monetary cover.
you should seriously consider saying sod the expense and take additional cover that would pay a lump sum. there is a lot more at stake than you just popping off. either a term assurance (a will pay an amount for a fixed term) or some investment type policy like an endowment which will provide both life cover and some savings. it seems a lot now but in 20 years time you might be really grateful to suddenly have a very tidy sum appear in your bank account - that round the world trip anyone.
Hi Johnny, I'm with these too. think they're based in the lakes around the corner from the rock and run place. The chap I dealt with was called david I think and used to be a member of the local MRT team very understnanding and very helpful.
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