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A delicious sense of security

You can never be sure what’s going to happen tomorrow. But you can count on us for your peace of mind.

At Strawberry Finance, we can help you put policies in place to safeguard your home, income, mortgage, home contents, and the health and well-being of your whole family. Whatever you need, we can offer you a huge range of dependable, affordable protection for you and your family – something you could definitely get a taste for.

The different types of insurance products
Insurance, or protection as we commonly call it, doesn’t need to cost the earth, especially when considered as a percentage of your monthly mortgage or rental payments. And it’s interesting that many of our clients are finding that even a relatively small amount of cover can help their families cope when disaster strikes.

There are many different types of protection available on the market today and to help you understand these variations we have listed these below.

As with any time type of financial transaction, we would always recommend that you speak with a qualified specialist Adviser who will be able to assess your individual needs and advise you on the right type of protection products to suit the circumstances of you and your family.

Life assurance
Life Assurance is most commonly taken out with a mortgage and it is designed to pay out a cash sum to help pay off your mortgage if you die during the length of the policy. This means that your loved ones could continue to live in the family home without worrying about the mortgage debt.

There are two type of Life Assurance linked to a mortgage, ‘level term’ and ‘decreasing term’. Level term assurance is generally arranged to cover an interest only mortgage, whilst decreasing term assurance is the more commonly arranged product as this provides protection for a repayment mortgage, as the cover provided reduces in line with a reducing mortgage balance.

Life Assurance doesn’t have to be mortgage related though, because whether you have a mortgage or not, the death of an earner in the household will clearly put a strain on the ability for the monthly household bills to be paid. This cover is therefore often taken out for what we call ‘family protection’ purposes too, and this often runs alongside a ‘mortgage protection’ life policy.

There are many different ways to arrange life cover and our specialist Advisers can help you find the most appropriate solution to meet you own specific needs.

Our specialist Advisers will also discuss with you the benefits of placing policies in Trust, which helps ensure that the ‘right money, ends up in the right hands, and at the right time’.

Critical illness cover (CIC)
You’ve probably heard the term, but what is critical illness, or CIC? Broadly speaking, a critical illness is a state of severe ill health, which is often very likely to affect a person’s lifestyle. Illnesses such as cancer, heart attack, strokes and multiple sclerosis (MS) are amongst the more commonly known critical illnesses. We often use the term “CIC” as an abbreviation of critical illness cover.

CIC is similar to Life Assurance but it pays out on diagnosis of certain illnesses, as just referred to, as opposed to only paying out on death.

Income protection
This type of cover is arguably the most important because it provides individuals with the security of knowing that their essential household expenses can be met if they are off work due to an accident or sickness. Whilst many people have cover in place to protect a mortgage or loan, it’s important to understand that there are many other everyday bills and expenses to pay; utility bills, food shopping, travel costs, childcare… the list could go on.

Take a moment to consider all the things you pay for on a monthly basis, and do so without really thinking about it. Then consider the prospect of having an accident and being unable to work for a while. A lack of comprehensive income protection cover means that you may end up relying solely on state benefits, which are unlikely to be sufficient to meet your mortgage repayments, let alone any other essential spending.

Income protection can help as it provides a tax-free monthly payment until you are able to return back to work.

Accident, sickness and unemployment cover
This is one of the most common protection products as a mortgage payment is often someone’s biggest commitment.

Commonly known as Accident, Sickness and Unemployment cover (or ASU), this can give you peace of mind knowing that, in the event of redundancy or illness, your mortgage payments will be made and your home will be safe.

With this type of cover, payments are usually made for up to a maximum of 12 months only, but if you would like to be covered for longer than this then you should consider taking out the aforementioned “income protection” which is a far more comprehensive product.

Buildings and contents insurance
Buildings insurance will cover your home from such events as fire, flood and subsidence, whilst Contents insurance can then help you protect your household goods and personal belongings within your home, and sometimes away from your home too.
Cover will vary dependent on individual circumstances. Exclusions apply, arrange to speak with one of our specialist Advisers for full details.

To get a personalised illustration on any of the covers listed above, please contact one of our Protection Specialists.

For insurance business we offer products from a choice of insurers.

 

 

Strawberry Finance is a trading name of The Finance Planning Group Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

finance planning cornwall

The Finance Planning Group Limited, registered in England and Wales, 3894404.
Registered office: Hurstwood Grange, Hurstwood Lane, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH17 7QX