Insuring fathers – everything you need to know
With Fathers Day this Sunday and no doubt many families taking the opportunity this year to gather and celebrate the day with reduced lockdown restrictions in place, perhaps the topic of protection insurance planning will arise. The coronavirus pandemic has certainly made us all more aware of our own health and mortality and whilst it’s perhaps not the easiest thing to discuss, having adequate protection cover in place is vital. For fathers this could mean protecting themselves, so that should the worst happen their loved ones are looked after, or their children, in order to provide financial support should those children fall ill. We’ve pulled together some of our recent insights on these subjects, giving you everything you need to know about insuring fathers.
What are the limits for childrens critical illness cover?
We have all seen stories in the media about seriously ill children bravely managing to smile and laugh as they face grueling rounds of hospital treatment when they should really be with their friends in school. For families living with an unwell child they will have the emotional rollercoaster of their child’s illness day after day – the joy of having a good day where their son or daughter is almost back to being their own pre- illness selves, followed by a bad day where the child is very poorly. Advisers know that if this sounds tough, worrying about money on top of everything else would place even more strain on emotionally exhausted parents. Highlighting the children’s critical illness elements of adult critical-illness plans is one way that advisers can give their clients financial options if this did happen to them. In this insight we look at the limits that insurers impose in relation to children’s age criteria and the cover they will provide.
Who helps advisers introduce critical illness cover to young people?
Children outgrow many things their parents provide for them. Everything from clothing with in-built animal ears to child-friendly tablets will eventually be cast aside for something more age appropriate as the years pass. When a client’s child outgrows the children’s critical-illness cover that their parents put in place many years before, advisers need to have an age-appropriate solution waiting in the wings. If there isn’t one, or what is offered is too much of a hassle, there is a risk that the grown-up child will be lost to the protection world, at least for a while. To address this, some insurers allow a child of the life assured to take out their own critical-illness policy without medical underwriting when they’ve outgrown a parent’s policy. This can be referred to as a child conversion option.
project teddy – how aviva have been supporting the children of clients
Having to claim on a critical illness policy must be hard at any time. If the claim is due to a condition that your child is suffering then one can only imagine the anguish the parent is going through. If your child is in pain, just being able to see them smile, if only for a little while, would make a massive difference. Whilst the money received from a critical illness policy in such circumstances will always be gratefully received it is often the little and unexpected touches that make a real difference. Aviva’s Project Teddy initiative was designed for this exact reason and in this article we looked at how this has given a short but welcome distraction to many families over the last year.
carers week 2021 -which income protection plans offer support for carers?
The UK has an army of over 6 million unpaid carers, made up of mums, dads, brothers, sisters, extended relatives and friends, and increasingly young children, who provide support to people with mental or physical disabilities and frailty brought on by growing older. Many individuals juggle caring responsibilities around work, running a household and supporting other family members, so the challenges they often face are considerable and the work can go unseen. The contribution made by carers to their families and wider society is enormous and deserves to be recognised. In this insight we looked at what support is available to carers through Income Protection Insurance cover.
mens health week – how do critical illness plans cover prostate cancer?
Every year Men’s Health Week, which this year runs from the 14th-20th June, seeks to raise awareness of health issues that disproportionately affect men and to focus on how they can manage their health better and seek treatment when problems do arise. The most common form of cancer in men in the UK is prostate cancer, so this is naturally often a focus of men’s health awareness initiatives. In support of Men’s Health Week we asked our independent panel of doctors to take a look at prostate cancer specifically, to help advisers better understand how it is diagnosed, its prognosis and how it is covered within critical illness plans.
