Well, I could waffle on for a while on this but I'll try to keep it as short as possible. Once again, I am only able to comment on the more commonly sold variety which is generally available to people with minimal eligibility conditions, rather than the more expensive and individually underwritten long term product that you would probably need to consult a broker about. This product often falls under the umbrella of "payment protection" as, although it is not directly linked to a personal loan or mortgage, it is designed to cover your outgoings and ward off the bailiffs in times of need. Firstly, as I mentioned before, Redundancy-only cover with this type of product is rare. Where it is sold, it almost always burns the underwriter badly. In my previous job, we simply refused to offer it, except for one or two high profile clients, and even those turned out to be a big, big mistake, the losses more than eating any profits from other parts of their business, and no doubt contributing to my own current unemployment! Where it is available, it will almost certainly be worthwhile going for Redundancy + Sickness cover as the price difference will be small and the extra contingency worth the difference. As you suspect, unfortunately as your husband has been told his job is at risk his chance of being eligible for the product right now is virtually nil. One of the few eligibility conditions for redundancy cover is that you have not been made aware of any impending redundancy. Additionally, one of the exclusions is usually that one cannot claim for redundancy within X-days of the start of the policy (this tends to vary between 30 and 180 depending on the policy). However, if he does survive this round and is then in a position to say he is NOT aware of any impending redundancy, it may be worthwhile taking out a policy. The previous round should not affect his eligibility according to most terms and conditions. He would still then be subject to the exclusion period during which, if another round came up, he may still be unable to claim, but of course as with any risk, it's a gamble or sorts. If he does decide to go for it, a few tips: - Do plenty of research first. My following tips will illustrate how much research is worth doing! Most of the research can be done online, as T&Cs and policy summaries must be made available ahead of purchase, by law. - Aim to buy a policy from a direct supplier (an underwriter rather than simply a third party distributor). Payment Protection insurance has received very bad press in recent years from the media and from the FSA. This has been unjustified in many cases. The culprits are mainly the distributors such as the banks, who have taken the underwriters' rates and often multiplied them several times to produce the retail rates from which they take their commission - pure profit for them. Direct suppliers will have a much lower margin so the cost to you should be lower for the same product. The press has also claimed that the policies rarely pay out. I can assure you that the vast majority of declined claims are fairly declined, and had the customers actually read the T&Cs they would have known it would be declined before attempting to claim. Not paying attention to the product and ensuring it's what they need is the biggest risk the customer can take. Due to the close scrutiny the industry is under most companies put effort into ensuring every valid claim is paid. Another reason for buying in this way is that these policies are generally much of a muchness. The terms and conditions do not vary a great deal between one policy and another and one supplier and another, so you will be able to judge which to buy mainly by the cost for the product combination you decide to go for (subject to the next tip!). The main combination variations are in the length of exclusion period (the period after the start date during which you cannot claim), the benefit period for which you can claim, and what is called the waiting or excess period (the period after you become unable to work for which you cannot claim). Many suppliers will allow the customer to pick and choose a combination of these from a variety of options, each of which will vary the price somehow (e.g. opting for a six month benefit period will result in a smaller monthly premium than a twelve month benefit period. Likewise, opting to be able to claim back to the day one is made redundant will cost more than opting to be able to claim only after 30 or 60 days of unemployment). It can be awkward to work out which suppliers are backed by an underwriter as they frequently use different branding, but going to the websites of well known underwriters may help. - Do read the T&Cs of any policy you are considering carefully. This part of the insurance industry is regulated unbelievably harshly, if the banking industry was kept on such a short leash, I suspect we'd all be in a very different situation now - however some suppliers do still try to get away with giving the absolute minimum of attention legally possible to highlighting risks to the customer. So read carefully before buying, and read again a few times during the cooling off period (minimum of 30 days). Read the full T&Cs, not just the policy summary (which again is regulated heavily and MUST contain some information and MUST NOT contain other information). To save costs, many suppliers will produce one set of T&Cs which contains the wording for every possible combination of benefit/exclusion/waiting period, and having actually written some of these wordings I can tell you they can be quite hard to get your head around, so it's worth studying them, and confirming any doubts early. Be aware of the limitations of the product – if the worst happens it is still only meant to keep you going, it's not there to replace your whole income, and it will only pay out for a limited time, under specific conditions (for redundancy it needs to be involuntary, and the claimant normally needs to be in receipt of Jobseeker’s Allowance). - Be aware that as losses have mounted drastically in the past 18-24 months, so prices will have increased. All the more reason to avoid a third party sales channel that simply adds on commission, as the risk rates themselves will have jumped in recent times. It's not a cheap product, especially as one gets older, and as with any insurance product it’s a bloody rip-off UNTIL you actually need to claim, when it’s suddenly a lifesaver. - Be aware that price comparison websites, while useful for research, are NOT impartial and won't give you every option on the market. They only feature those suppliers that pay for the privilege, and guess who ultimately pays for that? Even if you choose to buy from a supplier you have researched via such a website, you may find that going to the suppliers website directly rather than by linking through from a price comparison site results in a different price (higher or lower) for the exact same product. Check yourself before buying. Hmmm, that was hardly short. I think I've covered the main points though. Feel free to ask any other questions and I'll do my best to answer.

Entire Thread

Topic	Date Posted	Posted By
Redundancy Insurance	20/03/09 12:16:00	Penny Crocker
Re:Redundancy Insurance	25/03/09 18:41:00	Andy Jones
Re:Redundancy Insurance	16/04/09 20:35:00	Max Duley
Re:Re:Redundancy Insurance	17/04/09 09:30:00	Penny Crocker
Re:Re:Re:Redundancy Insurance	17/04/09 11:07:00	Max Duley
Re:Re:Re:Re:Redundancy Insurance	17/04/09 11:19:00	Penny Crocker

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