Life Insurance News in Category "Level Term Life Insurance"

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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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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PruProtect are launching a basic life insurance product

As suggested by Lifebroker on the 29th July 2010 in the News Section 'Are PruProtect Missing Something?' PruProtect are introducing a new life insurance product to the UK market. The product is more basic that the current PruProtect Essentials Plan in that is has had some of the additional benefits removed to reduce cost to the consumer.

James Markwick, Managing Director at Lifebroker UK said "It is good to hear that PruProtect have come to the same conclusion as Lifebroker mid last year.
Lifebroker does not know much about the product as yet and look forward to finding out the facts in the coming weeks. As suggested previously it would seem logical that PruProtect remove the Vitality Points Progamme as this would reduce the basic premium. At present PruProtect tend to appear in position 3-4 with most quotations however Lifebroker predict that making this change will push them into position 1-2 so that they can challenge the dominance of Legal & General and Aviva who get the largest share of the UK life insurance market."

As soon as Lifebroker have more details we will add it to our Twitter page. Please make sure you follow Lifebroker UK on Twitter.

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Posted under : Legal & General, PruProtect, Level Term Life Insurance, Life Insurance Quote, Insurance Products, Aviva

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HIV Life Cover Process Needs an Overhaul

You may be aware that Lifebroker specializes in life cover for consumers with HIV. The main provider that is used on the Lifebroker website is PruProtect however there are a few new life insurers attempting to enter the market.
An article this week in MoneyMarketing highlights that PruProtect seem to be the best option based on premium even though their insurance criteria are very strict. You can see their basic criteria here.

The article by Tom Selby looks at some findings by specialist adviser Unusual Risks whereby they accuse life insurance providers of failing to properly consider business from people living with HIV.

Lifebroker has found this very disappointing in that the process is very long and misleading. James Markwick, Managing Director at Lifebroker said "Not enough information is provided to consumers prior to them applying for cover. We cannot even provide them with an indicative monthly premium as each application is referred to the Re Insurer so that it can be costed. We tend to use PruProtect and they seem to be very competitive; however by the time the underwriting has taken place clients are loaded by at least £3 per mille (£3 per £1,000 of cover). For us this is really disappointing as we cannot really even set an expectation on price. Some applicants that have been lucky enough to be accepted have found their premiums to increase dramatically on acceptance."

Lifebroker tells their consumers to apply for cover to just find out if they will be accepted. Emma Davis, a life insurance consultant at Lifebroker said "We sadly find that many applicants get declined, usually due to another condition other than being HIV positive. It is free to apply; the insurance company pays for the Doctor's report and also contacts their HIV Specialist and therefore it has to be worth applying just to find out if they will offer you cover. If you get offered cover you can then decide how much you want to pay. You may find that £20 per month gets you £40,000 life cover for the next 10 years. Unfortunately this is not ideal, however some cover has to be better than none."

As the life insurance process is so complex when assessing life insurance whereby someone has a pre existing condition such as HIV that it feels like it takes forever to get a decision made. Once it is made and the life insurance provider declines them then this cannot feel too good.

Lifebroker would like the HIV life insurance providers to set a more realistic expectation for consumers so that they can have more understanding on the process.

Posted under : Terrence Higgins Trust, PruProtect, HIV Positive Life Insurance, Level Term Life Insurance, Life Insurance Quote, Insurance Products

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Life Insurance for People in the Armed Forces

Lifebroker has experience in dealing with British Forces and in particular people employed in the Armed Forces. Steven Stewart from the Lifebroker London office said "We find that Legal & General are really flexible towards offering life insurance to Soldiers. The key to the life insurance with Legal & General is that the applicant or military personnel must not be 'under orders' or off to a war zone."

Armed Forces personnel need to be aware that when applying for life insurance that Legal & General will increase or load your life insurance premiums dramatically. Steven Stewart said "Consumer's premiums are increased for the first 2 years to reflect the additional risk involved in insuring a Soldier, however after the 2 years are up the premiums revert to the standard premiums that other members of the public have access to."

Lifebroker has found that most Armed Forces can get their employer to pay for the loaded part of the life insurance. Steven Stewart at Lifebroker said "If your monthly standard premium is £20.00 and it is increased to £50.00 due to your occupation then the additional £30.00 is paid for by your employer. All you have to do is speak to HR and ask for a form called JPAFO10."

Please contact Lifebroker if you have any questions about Life Insurance for Soldiers on 08452 51 61 71.

Posted under : Armed Forces Life Insurance, Insurance Products, Life Insurance Quote, Personal Insurance, Life Insurance Broker, Level Term Life Insurance, Legal & General

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Fortis Low Start Life & Critical Illness Cover

Fortis Life (soon to be Ageas Protect) specialist providers of personal protection such as life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection has introduced a low cost alternative to term insurance named 'Ageas ProtectLow Start'. Quite simply the premiums start low and increase with your age at each policy anniversary.

Brydee Greene, Sales Consultant at Lifebroker UK who is normally based in the Melbourne office at Lifebroker Australia said "This product is very similar to the products that have in Australia in that the policy increases each year with the consumer's age."

In Australia there is huge demand for stepped premiums rather than fixed ones as the cover is initially lower in cost. Presently in the UK there are two types of premium; reviewable (the premium is reviewed and the insurance re priced) or guaranteed (the premium is fixed for the duration of the insurance contract).

James Markwick, Managing Director for Lifebroker said "It is going to be very interesting to see the level of interest that this product attracts. We are hoping to add it to the Lifebroker website next week to see how the premiums compare to reviewable and guaranteed premiums. Personally it is good to see an insurance provider trying to reduce the premiums by introducing new innovative insurance products.
 

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

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Life Insurance Product Ratings

Lifebroker provides 5 star ratings for life insurance products to compliment live pricing and online applications. The ratings system encompass level term life insurance, mortgage protection, and also income protection. When using Lifebroker's website for life insurance quotes the premium and also that rating will be displayed side by side.

James Markwick, Managing Director at Lifebroker said "This is something that Lifebroker has wanted for some time. Lifebroker in Australia has used a similar system for many years now and it was only a matter of time that this became available here in the UK. Lifebroker has a close working relationship with Webline part of Capita Financial Software and it is thanks to Webline's innovation and close relationship with Synaptic (also part of Capita Financial Software) that this has become available. The Synaptic is updated every 24 hours. So far I am impressed with what it can offer consumers in assiting them with their purchaing decisions."

When using the rating system consumers need to use it as a guide only as Lifebroker does not offer financial advice

The guide is aimed at helping consumers choose life insurance by something more than the premium. Most comparison websites only display premiums; Lifebroker can now offer more to consumers.

Bettina Richen, Lifebroker's Sales & Marketing Manager said "The new rating guide really compliments Lifebroker as we are always looking to be innovative. We already have live quotes and online applications. In my opinion Lifebroker are the most forward thinking online life insurance broker in the UK."

Lifebroker is looking forward to seeing how the 5 star rating is used by consumers to assist them in choosing their life insurance.

 

Posted under : Income Protection, Critical Illness Cover, Mortgage Protection, Level Term Life Insurance, Life Insurance Research, Life Insurance Broker, Personal Insurance, Life Insurance Quote, Life Insurance Comparison, Insurance Products

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