Flat Insurance in the UK

What are the factors involved in flat insurance? Do I need to provide both buildings and contents cover? Who will cover shared flats or flats with student tenants?

The responsibility to insure the building fabric of a flat lies with the freeholder. This means that if you own your flat on a leasehold basis then you only need to insure the contents. The buildings will be covered by the freeholder. In flats with shared areas and gardens, you normally pay a monthly service charge. Out of this charge, the freeholder will also pay for the buildings insurance.

If you are the freeholder of a flat then you need to insure both the buildings and contents of the property.

If you are renting a flat, then your only concern is the contents that belong to you. Your letting agent might insist that you take adeqaute protection for your liability to the landlord. This means that you have insurance cover ihn case you damage the landlords goods. This can be a good idea and while you are not responsible for wear and tear of the landlords property, if you break the washing machine, this cover can be useful.

Yourhomeinsurance.co.uk has a panel of insurance companies that allow it to cover tenants even in shared flats.

Within student shared flats, you need a specialist insurer such as www.endsleigh.co.uk.

Tim Larden writes for yourhomeinsurance.co.uk who specialise in Flat Insurance. The site can provide information for flat renters, sharers or owners on their buildings or contents cover.

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Long Term Care Policy - Planning for Your Old Age

The term ‘Senior Citizen’ spells a perfect combination of ultimate wisdom and experience! However, sometimes it also resounds with silent pain, suffering and worry that become their only companions in life. They have enjoyed life’s most cherished moments, as well as witnessed its darkest side. They have experienced the harsh realities of life, often suffering from the indignities of uncaring relatives. Using long-term policies created specially for them can allay the challenges senior citizens face in their silver years.

Types:

There are various long-term care policies catering to the physical ailments that afflict old age. Often, severe medical conditions require specially trained nurses and doctors twenty-four hours a day. Long-term care envelopes regular care required by a person ailing with an acute illness or disability. The degree of care generally includes bathing, dressing and many other specific services.

Main Concern:

The main concern of most families is to provide their aging parents with the best available long-term care, without resulting in a major monetary burden for the rest of the family. Usually, most families wonder when to time the long-term care for their aged relatives; whether it is required at all, or would the care given by family members themselves be enough.

Major Disagreement:

One of the greatest arguments against buying a long-term care policy is that people feel that the money paid as premium would be wasted if there were no need for the benefit. It is akin to people hesitating about getting their car insured, for there is no guarantee of the car being damaged in an accident. Of course, it boils down to priorities; just as one insures a car to take care of unforeseen circumstances, long-term care insurance provides future security by taking care of an aging loved one.

Reasons:

Though it is not possible to predict if there would ever be a need for hospitals, home-care services, or assistance in living, still, you could opt for a long-term care insurance policy for reasons such as:

- Restoration of personal freedom
- Easing the burden on care-takers
- To save assets for the rest of the family
- To access the virtual helping hand at a time of acute crisis.

Eligibility:

A senior citizen would be eligible for funds provided they meet the following criteria:

- If he or she is unable to perform at least two to three, out of five or six, regular activities that are necessary for daily life, which includes bathing, dressing, toiletry, moving about, feeding oneself, and the like.

- All tax-qualified policies state that a qualified doctor must declare the applicant severely ill.

- The illness should have signs of lasting for at least for ninety days.

Though long-term insurance policies are an expensive buy, yet their significance is important for senior citizens. As one ages, there is a growing fear of being hindered by illness and disability, the costs involved, and being a burden on one’s family. A long-term care insurance policy goes a long way in easing these fears, helping senior citizens face their silver years confidently.

Joseph Kenny writes for UK Loan Store and more information on different loan types available on site.
Visit Today: http://www.ukpersonalloanstore.co.uk/

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Life Insurance - Top Money Saving Tips

More and more people are buying life insurance online and the numbers seem to be doubling every two years. The reasons are clear. Prices are lower on the Internet and life insurance is fundamentally a simple insurance product.

Despite the underlying simplicity of life insurance, most web sites channel their online clients through a telephone based help and advice service manned by experienced personnel. They represent your safety net so if a little technical knowledge is called for, help is at hand.

But it’s always a good idea to have a few Top Tips in your back pocket when you’re shopping online for life insurance. They’ll help you ask the right questions and find the best policy.

1. Always have your Life Insurance policy “Written in Trust”.

This means that in the event of a claim, the money goes directly and immediately to the person(s) you nominate when you first take the policy out. It also avoids all possibility of your estate having to pay Inheritance Tax on the proceeds of your policy and that could represent a 40% tax saving !

All you have to do is tell the online brokerage organising your policy that you want your policy “Written in Trust” and the names of the people who the life insurance company pay in the event of a claim. They will then sort it all out for you. The extra good news is that this service is invariably free of charge. So it’s a win win situation and there aren’t many of those around these days !

2. In the early years a Reviewable Life Insurance Policy will be cheaper but a Guaranteed Policy will work out a better buy in the longer term.

With a “Guaranteed Policy” the insurance company guarantees never to increase your policy’s premium.

With a “Reviewable Policy” you agree that your insurance company can review the cost of your policy at regular intervals. But don’t be kidded - in our experience a “review” is just another word for a price increase. After all, who’s ever heard of an insurance company passing up a chance to charge you more! The review intervals are usually between 2 to 5 years but this does vary between insurance companies. You will find the details of the review intervals on the documents sent to you before you accept the insurance - these are called The Key Features Documents.

So, comparing otherwise like for like policies, in the early years the premiums for a “Reviewable Policy” will undoubtedly be lower than the premiums for a “Guaranteed Policy”. Thereafter, the premiums for a Reviewable Policy increase eventually catching up with and overtaking, the premium for a “Guaranteed Policy”.

In our experience, you can expect the monthly premiums for a Reviewable Policy to exceed those of a Guaranteed policy in about 7 to 10 years and then within the following 10 years, more than double again. If your budget is currently tight then by all means choose a Reviewable Policy - after all your salary may increase in coming years and ease the strain. On the other hand, if the premiums for a Guaranteed Policy are affordable, we think they represent your best buy.

A footnote. Many insurance companies have stopped offering “Guaranteed” rates for standalone critical illness insurance policies. This because they have experienced much higher claim rates than they initially expected. However, you may still find a Guaranteed life insurance policy that also provides critical illness cover. As we have explained, “Guaranteed” rates are especially good value and if you can get a quote for a Guaranteed life policy that includes critical illness cover, you may have a real bargain.

3. Thinking about a Joint Life Insurance Policy?

A Joint Life Insurance policy is usually written on a first death basis. This means that the policy will pay out on the death of the first policyholder, subject to the policy being in force at the time. This leaves the second person uninsured and older. Older people can struggle to get life insurance at an affordable premium, so rather than a Joint Policy consider taking out separate policies now. Overall it will work out a little dearer - but you get twice the cover and double the peace of mind.

4. Taking out a Life Insurance Policy? Now would be an ideal time to include Critical Illness cover.

Are you likely to need Critical Illness Insurance in the future? Yes? Then consider adding it now to the life insurance policy you’re arranging. Why? There are three reasons.

Firstly, a Life Insurance policy combined with Critical Illness cover will work out significantly cheaper than buying two separate policies. Secondly, as we have already explained in the footnote to Tip 2, you may be able to buy a combined Life and Critical Illness policy with a guaranteed premium. That could be a real bargain. Finally, premiums for critical illness cover increase rapidly as you get older - so the sooner you take it out, the cheaper it will be.

5. Don’t confuse Terminal Illness cover with Critical Illness cover.

There’s world of difference between Terminal Illness and Critical Illness cover so it’s important to understand the difference.

Terminal Illness cover pays out the insured lump sum if a Medical Doctor diagnoses you with an illness from which the Doctor expects you to die within 12 months. Most good life policies automatically include Terminal Illness cover at no extra cost. It’s basically an early, and welcome policy payout.

A Critical Illness policy pays out the insured lump sum if you are diagnosed with one of a wide range chronic illness and there is no life expectancy criteria. Indeed, with many of the insured illnesses you could expect to survive for many years. For example: certain cancers, heart disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, loss of speech, sight or hearing, onset of Parkinsons or Alzheimers disease, third degree burns etc. Say you were an engineer aged 40 and you lost your sight. A Critical Illness policy would pay out immediately and that money could well be vital in helping you and your family through many difficult financial years ahead. If you just had Terminal Illness cover there’d be no chance of a payout.

So as you can see, Critical Illness cover is far more comprehensive than simple Terminal Illness cover and for that reason critical illness cover always costs you extra.

© 2005 Andromeda Webs Ltd. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Author: Michael Challiner,
Editor of Express Life Insurance, Andromeda Webs Ltd.
Tel. ++ 1477 535920
Express Life Insurance

Additional Critical Illness Insurance

Michael Challiner has 15 years experience in financial services marketing at senior level, the last 5 of which specialised in online marketing. Prior to that he spent 15 years in advertising with two of the world’s top advertising agencies, J Walter Thompson and Saatchi & Saatchi.

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