Latest Insurance News

Insurance ECJ Gender Ruling

If you are not already aware, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has introduced a ruling that will no longer allow the use of gender as a factor in determining the level of risk for insurance – all insurance.

The resultant effect will be that males and females will have a uniform premium. Traditionally males have paid more for life insurance and women have paid less simply based on mortality statistic. This is factual. The ECJ ruling is contrary to historical evidence showing that being male or female has a bearing on frequency and size of a claim.

All types of insurance are to be effected including life insurance.

Biba, the British Insurance Brokers' Association, said: "Effectively, females will now pay a cross-subsidy for males on their insurance premiums." The ABI suggests that females will see a 20% rise in the cost of life insurance while men could benefit from a fall of about 10%.

Lifebroker thinks that in the whole this ruling is extreme as the fact that females live longer than males is a biological one.

Posted under : Life Insurance Broker, Life Insurance Quote, Insurance Products, Life Insurance Research

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Lifebroker partners with Pure Health

Lifebroker has partnered with Pure Health to give their clients even more choice when it comes to protection and assistance.

Pure Health is one of the UK's leading support agencies, working to assist and support those that are unable to complete day to day tasks due to ill-health.

To read more about what Pure Health can offer you and your family, click here to see what they can offer.

Posted under : Armed Forces Life Insurance

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Over 50's Life Insurance Comparison

Lifebroker has launched a new Over 50’s life insurance comparison engine due the high demand for this product.  It was not that long ago that Lifebroker introduced this channel and had an exclusive arrangement with Scottish Friendly, however with Lifebroker’s objective of offering a site where consumers can compare premiums the channel had to evolve.

James Markwich, Managing Director at Lifebroker said “Scottish Friendly has been the preferred partner due to their ease of use. They have allowed our visitors to access their applications online and get instant cover. It was only a matter of time that we expanded this channel to include other providers to offer choice.”

Lifebroker has now added:

• Aviva
• Shepherds Friendly
• Engage Mutual

Lifebroker hopes that this can provide a place to compare products. Some of the Over 50’s Life Insurance providers still want consumers to apply by completing a paper based form (for example Aviva), however Lifebroker envisages that this will change and become more electronic. If you want to get an Over 50’s Life Insurance Quote please click here or call us on 08442 43 53 63.

Posted under : Shepherds Friendly, Scottish Friendly, Over 50's Life Insurance, Life Insurance Quote, Life Insurance Comparison, Insurance Products, Engage Mutua, Aviva, Aegon, Armed Forces Life Insurance, Alcohol

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Have a great St. Patrick’s Day

Have a great St. Patrick’s Day everyone; but make sure that you do not drink too much alcohol if you are looking to apply for life insurance in the near future.

The reason for this is that you will be asked about your drinking habits including volume per week, frequency and whether or not you have been advised to reduce your consumption. The answers that you provide will help the insurance company determine if you are a higher risk than average based on whether or not they deem your drinking habits to be within a 'safe level'. If they deem you to have a 'potentially dangerous' bracket, your monthly premium is likely to be increased. British Medical Practitioners continually advise life insurance companies regarding excessive drinking and the associated health problems. If you decide to not tell the life insurance company about your drinking habits when applying for life insurance, you could find that your life insurance policy may be declared invalid.

Lifebroker has found that some life insurance companies have a diverse range of what they believe the be ‘safe’; therefore if you think that you cannot get life insurance due to your level of alcohol consumption it is always worth contacting a life insurance consultant at Lifebroker to see if they can find an insurer that is willing to accept your life insurance application at normal rates.

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Posted under : Level Term Life Insurance, Healthy Living, Drinking, Life Insurance Research, Life Insurance Broker, Personal Insurance, Life Insurance Quote, Life Insurance Comparison, Alcohol

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Look after Your Heart on Valentine’s Day?

Are you going to look after your heart this Valentine’s Day? Looking after your health is the best way to keep your heart healthy.

A recent report published by Bupa outlines the best ways to look after your heart.

• physical activity
• stopping smoking
• moderate drinking
• healthy eating
• maintaining a healthy weight
• reducing your cholesterol levels
• diabetes
• high blood pressure

Physical activity

Getting into a routing of 30 minutes moderate intensity activity on five or more days of the week halves your chance of developing heart disease

Stopping smoking

Giving up smoking reduces your risk heart disease; it also reduces the risk of many other serious illnesses, like cancer and emphysema

Moderate drinking

Drinking too much damages your heart; causes high blood pressure, damage to your heart muscle and abnormal heart rhythms.
Binge drinking is really bad for your heart. Don't assume it's safe to drink 21 units (for men) or 14 units (for women) at the weekend if you have not had a drink all week!

Healthy eating

A healthy balanced diet can help prevent heart disease. Limit the amount of salt, sugar and fat in your diet.

Maintaining a healthy weight

Being overweight increases your chances of developing heart disease and can mean your life insurance is more expensive.

Reducing your cholesterol levels

Reducing cholesterol levels in your blood can help you prevent heart disease. Eat a healthy, low-fat diet.

Diabetes

Diabetes puts your heart at risk. Diabetes can also increase the effect of other risk factors for heart disease, such as smoking and being overweight.

High blood pressure

High blood pressure (hypertension) increases your risk of heart disease. Make sure that if you are over 40 – make sure that you have it checked by your GP or a nurse as you may not know you have it. Search the NHS Directory for more information.

If you are at all concerned about your Heart this Valentine’s please contact your local GP. Please click here to see the full Bupa report.

Posted under : Heart Disease, Level Term Life Insurance, Healthy Living, Life Insurance Broker, Personal Insurance, Life Insurance Quote, Insurance Products, Bupa

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New HIV Life Insurance Quotes

Lifebroker now offers life insurance quotes for people living with HIV that are more realistic. Lifebroker has been working closely with PruProtect for the last year to make this form of life insurance available via their non intrusive website, however the premiums quoted for life cover have up until now been produced at standard premiums.

James Markwick, Managing Director at Lifebroker said "Quoting standard premiums for this product has been a concern for us at Lifebroker as it does not offer consumers a realistic cost. We have found that all clients that apply for this product have their premium increased due to the higher risk for the insurance company 'PruProtect'. All applications for HIV life insurance are eventually handed over to Hanover Re (PruProtect's re insurer) for strict analysis. Hanover Re then examines the application to calculate what increase to the standard premium should be applied. What has been disappointing for us is that the consumer has not been provided with an approximate cost to gauge affordability."

Lifebroker has raised concerns with PruProtect about this and back in December 2010 added an article to their News Section 'HIV Life Cover Process Needs an Overhaul'. Nothing has been done to improve this.

Lifebroker has taken the initiative and has developed an enhanced HIV life insurance quote engine offering consumers more realistic quotes based on an average increase and are hoping that applicants find that their expectations are now met in terms of affordability.

James Markwick said "We have found that most applicants have their premium increased between £3 - £9 per mille. This simply means that for every £1,000 of cover the premium is increased by £3 to £9 from the standard premium. Therefore the new quotes are increased automatically offering a realistic cost."

Please feel free to contact us if you want to discuss this further or have any other ways in which we can improve PruProtect's process.

Posted under : PruProtect, HIV Positive Life Insurance, Life Insurance Quote, Insurance Products

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Life Insurance; joint life second death

Life Insurance; joint life second death

If you are looking for a life insurance policy for inheritance tax planning purposes or to look after a dependent child should you both pass away, many consumers find that a policy set up on a joint life, second death basis is the answer.

Unfortunately not many life insurance companies offer life insurance on this basis. This is also something that comparison websites are not equipped for. Most life insurance products are set in the traditional format of joint life first death. Lifebroker can help you with this type of product as we can help you find a product.

Why would you want to have a life insurance plan?

Katrina Zera, Life Insurance Consultant at Lifebroker said "We find at Lifebroker that most people set up a joint life second death life insurance cover policy for a few reasons - usually to care for a dependent child who may need care due to a disability, while others tend to use this structure for inheritance tax planning."

Here are some typical examples:

• To leave funds for minor children if both parents die or for a child that had special needs (worth having the policy in trust so the beneficiary receives the funds promptly and out of probate).
• To leave funds for self-sufficient adult children as a gift.

Please be aware that joint life insurance policies can be complex. This is where Lifebroker can help you research the products and find insurance provider. Call Lifebroker to discuss your option and get a life insurance quote over the phone.
 

Posted under : Inheritance Tax Planning & Trusts, Joint Life Second Death, Trusts, Level Term Life Insurance, Life Insurance Research, Life Insurance Broker, Personal Insurance, Life Insurance Quote, Insurance Products

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Become a Lifebroker Affiliate

Lifebroker welcomes other professionals to become a life insurance affiliate whether you are an Accountant, a seller of telephone leads or another life insurance website.

All you have to do is contact James Markwick, Managing Director of Lifebroker in the UK and have a chat about what your plans are. James said "I am finding more and more that other professionals are contacting us to try and work out a solution of how we can work together. These professionals range from Accountants to sellers of telephone leads. Accountants have traditionally referred their clients to Financial Advisers (IFA's), however we are finding that Accountants feel that they get better service and value for money by using the Lifebroker site. Traditional buyers of telephone leads have dropped in numbers due to some of the buyers going out of business or finding alternative arrangements; the knock on effect is that the lead providers need to find an alternative. Lifebroker can be the solution."

Lifebroker only provides life insurance quotes - therfore you can be assured that we will not sell other products to your  consumers

Services offered range from:

• instant quotes
• tailored web pages that can be adapted to promote your website and company
• dedicated telephone line for your brand
• call recording
• choose your preferred life insurance providers
• set your own commission rates
• opportunity for applications to be made over the phone
• access to Fastrack applications (developed in house by Lifebroker allowing your clients to apply electronically)
• individual commercial terms (per click, commission split or hybrid)
• star rating guide
• professional life insurance service
• guarantee that Lifebroker will not sell other products to your client as we only provide life insurance

All you have to do is contact James Markwick on 08452 51 61 71 to discuss your requirements or email info@lifebroker.co.uk.

Posted under : Mortgage Protection, Insurance Affiliation, Level Term Life Insurance, Life Insurance Broker, Personal Insurance, Life Insurance Quote, Life Insurance Comparison, Insurance Products

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Ageas Protect Low Start Life Insurance

Lifebroker announced a few weeks ago that it would be offering the new Ageas Protect Low Start life insurance product and we are pleased to announce that we added it to our website today. Please click here to see a full list of the life insurance companies that Lifebroker deals with.
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The new product from Ageas Protect (formerly Fortis Life) is designed to offer consumers a low cost alternative. The pricing of the product is certainly different to competitors in that it begins very low in terms of the initial premium and increases every policy anniversary. This is very unorthodox compared to traditional guaranteed products that are on the market as the price is fixed from outset, However it is very important to note that when getting a life insurance quote for the Low Start product that Ageas Protect will clearly outline the premiums for the first 10 years when downloading the Personal Illustration from the Lifebroker website. Furthermore Ageas Protect will also inform you in writing what you will pay for the whole term so that you can easily compare it to life insurance products.

Ageas Protect have carefully designed this product with the following consumer in mind:

• Consumers with a set budget that want a high level of cover
• Consumers that may want to pay less for life insurance now, who think that their incomes will increase in the future
• Consumers that require a high level of cover now than they will in a few years' time
• Consumers that are no longer cover by their employer's Death In Service policy
• Consumers that require more than just life cover (Low Start also offers the option of Critical Illness Cover)

Elyse Crichton, Senior Consultant at Lifebroker said "According to information sent out by Ageas Protect the new Low Start life insurance policy can be really competitive for consumers looking for great value premiums. Some of the data received states that the level of initial discount varies depending on the age of the client at the outset and also the length of the term - however Low Start premiums can be as much as 30% lower in the first year than standard level premiums. It can take some time before the Low Start option increased to the level premiums."

If you are interested in the Ageas Protect Low Start product please call Lifebroker on 08452 51 61 71.

Posted under : Level Term Life Insurance, Life Insurance Broker, Personal Insurance, Life Insurance Quote, Life Insurance Comparison, Insurance Products, Ageas Protect

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Water – How Much is Too Much?

We all know that drinking water is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. Drinking water keeps us hydrated and enhances concentration. It also maintains your body and prevents disease. We can survive for weeks without food, but only a few days without water.

Approximately two thirds of the human body is water therefore it is essential that we drink water throughout the day. We should try and drink 6 to 8 glasses of water per day (approx 2 litres). We should also absorb extra water from a healthy diet containing fruit and vegetables.

Tips to prevent dehydration:

• Drink water as soon as you get up
• Have a water on the table during meal times
• Carry a bottle of water when you are out and about
• Avoid soft drinks to quench as there is nothing like the real thing to keep you healthy
• Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables
• When drinking alcohol try to drink water now and then
• Drink water when exercising

Posted under : Healthy Living, Life Insurance Research

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