These news headlines are sad, but welcome
05 May 2020The UK Government announced on Monday 27 April that the families of front-line staff would receive £60,000 as a death-in-service style insurance plan if a member of the team lost their lives whilst helping others. More on this time limited offer can be found here:
Our thoughts and support are with everyone doing all they can in these times of crisis.
The need for this additional life cover is tragic, but welcome, although some have already criticised the new plans, noting fairly that no amount of money could replace a loved one, and I am sure most of us would agree with this sentiment.
However, it does bring into focus the financial shortfalls that could beset a family in the event of the sudden death of a loved one. We know that all life can be fragile, and now that you might have a bit more time than usual available to you, it might well be worth checking what cover you have in place to protect the family if you were to die.
You may well have some protection in place already; as an example, if you have a mortgage, it is likely that you will have taken out life cover at the same time to ensure that the debt could be paid off in the event of your death. However, there are other forms of protection for your loved ones, some of which you may already hold, and we have listed some examples below.
- Does your employer offer you death-in-service cover? As an example, this could be two, three or four times your basic salary. If you are not sure, have a look at your employment contract.
- Do you have a pension value that would be paid out to whoever you nominated free of tax?
- Is any life cover you have written in trust to pay out quickly and to the person or people you want it to go to? You can check this by contacting the provider through which you established the policy and they may be able to provide you with template trust documents if there is no trust in place. Your solicitor will be able to advise on the most appropriate type of trust for your needs.
- Overall, does the total amount that could be paid out if you died meet the needs of your family?
As you can see, these may be basic questions, but the effect on your loved ones of putting cover in place – or not – could be dramatic.
If you or a family member would like advice on putting protection in place then please do contact the Chapters Financial team.
Please keep safe all!
No individual advice is provided during the course of this blog.
Keith Churchouse FPFS
Director
Chartered Financial Planner
Chapters Financial Limited
