Financial protection is about making sure you and the people who depend on you have financial support when life does not go to plan.
A serious illness, injury or death can have a significant financial impact on a household. Life insurance, income protection and critical illness cover can provide different types of financial support to help protect your mortgage, household bills, lifestyle and family.
At The Insurance Surgery, we specialise in helping people understand their financial protection options and find cover suited to their individual circumstances.
With more than 25 years of specialist life and protection experience, we understand that finding the right protection is not always as simple as finding the cheapest policy. Your health, occupation, income, family circumstances and existing financial commitments can all affect what type of protection may be right for you.
Our advisers can help you understand those choices and search the market for suitable cover.
What is financial protection?
Financial protection is insurance designed to provide money if death, illness or injury affects you or your family’s financial security.
The three main forms of personal financial protection are:
- Life Insurance – normally pays a lump sum if you die during the policy term.
- Income Protection– can provide a regular replacement income if illness or injury prevents you from working.
- Critical Illness Cover– normally pays a lump sum if you are diagnosed with a specified serious illness covered by your policy.
These policies protect against different risks, which means many people may benefit from considering more than one type of cover.
Why is financial protection important?
Most households depend on income coming in every month.
Your mortgage or rent still needs to be paid. You may have loans, childcare costs, energy bills, food, and other household expenses. If you have children or other dependants, they may rely heavily on your income.
Financial protection can provide a safety net when unexpected events affect your ability to provide that income.
It can help you:
- Protect mortgage or rent payments
- Maintain household income
- Support your partner or children
- Meet everyday living expenses
- Pay outstanding debts
- Adapt financially following serious illness
- Reduce reliance on savings
- Protect your family’s longer-term financial security
The right solution will depend on your individual circumstances.
Life Insurance
Life insurance provides financial support for the people you leave behind if you die while covered by the policy.
It will usually provide a cash lump sum, although some policies can provide a regular income instead.
Life insurance may be particularly important if you have:
- A mortgage
- A partner who depends on your income
- Children or other dependants
- Outstanding debts
- Financial commitments you would want your family to meet
- A business that could be affected by your death
For example, someone with a £250,000 mortgage and young children may want sufficient life insurance to repay the mortgage while also providing additional financial support for their family.
Different types of life insurance are available, including level term life insurance, decreasing term life insurance, whole of life insurance and family income benefit.
An adviser can help establish which structure and level of cover is appropriate.
Income Protection
Income protection insurance can provide a regular income if you are unable to work because of illness or injury.
It is designed to protect one of your most valuable financial assets: your ability to earn an income.
Ask yourself a simple question:
If your salary stopped next month, how long could you continue paying your normal household bills?
Some employees receive generous sick pay from their employer, but others may only receive limited support. The issue can be particularly important for the self-employed.
Income protection policies typically pay a percentage of your normal earnings after an agreed waiting or deferred period.
Depending upon the policy, payments can continue for a fixed period or potentially until you are able to return to work, retire or reach the end of the policy term.
Income protection could help towards:
- Mortgage or rent payments
- Household bills
- Food and everyday expenses
- Childcare costs
- Loans and other commitments
- Maintaining your normal standard of living
Because policy definitions, deferred periods, maximum benefits and occupational definitions can differ considerably between providers, expert advice can be particularly valuable when arranging income protection.
Critical Illness Cover
Critical illness cover normally pays a tax-free lump sum if you are diagnosed with a serious medical condition covered by your policy and meet the insurer’s definition.
Conditions commonly covered can include certain types and severities of:
- Cancer
- Heart conditions
- Stroke
- Multiple sclerosis
Policies can cover many more conditions, but the illnesses and definitions vary between insurers.
The money could be used however you choose, including to:
- Repay some or all of your mortgage
- Replace lost income
- Pay household bills
- Make changes to your home
- Fund additional childcare
- Reduce working hours
- Support your family while you recover
You can sometimes buy critical illness cover independently or alongside life insurance.
The quality of critical illness cover matters as much as the price. Different policies can include different illnesses, definitions and additional benefits, which is one reason comparing policies solely on monthly premium can be misleading.
Life Insurance vs Income Protection vs Critical Illness Cover
Although the three products are often discussed together, they provide very different forms of protection.
| Protection | What does it protect against? | How does it usually pay? |
| Life Insurance | Death during the policy term | Lump sum or regular benefit |
| Income Protection | Being unable to work because of illness or injury | Regular monthly benefit |
| Critical Illness Cover | Diagnosis of a specified serious illness | Lump sum |
For some customers, one policy may be the priority. For others, a combination of protection could create a more comprehensive financial safety net.
How much financial protection do I need?
There isn’t one level of protection that is right for everybody.
You should consider:
- Your mortgage or rent
- Could your partner continue paying it without your income?
- Your income
- How much of the household’s monthly expenditure depends on your earnings?
- Your dependants
- Do you have children, a partner, or anyone else financially reliant on you?
- Your existing savings
- How long could you maintain your lifestyle if you stopped earning?
- Employer benefits
- Do you receive sick pay, death-in-service benefits or other workplace protection?
- Existing insurance
- You may already have protection in place, but it is worth checking whether it still reflects your current circumstances.
- Your budget
- Protection needs to remain affordable. An adviser can help prioritise the areas where cover could have the greatest financial impact.
Why speak to a financial protection adviser?
Financial protection can look straightforward until you start comparing policies. Price is important, but it is not the only consideration.
Different insurers can have different approaches to:
- Medical conditions
- Family medical history
- Occupations
- Dangerous hobbies
- Income protection definitions
- Critical illness definitions
- Policy exclusions
- Underwriting
- Additional benefits
- Maximum cover levels
This becomes particularly important if you have a pre-existing medical condition, unusual occupation or more complicated circumstances.
Applying to an unsuitable insurer can potentially result in higher premiums, exclusions, postponement or even an application being declined.
A protection adviser can assess your circumstances before recommending an appropriate policy and insurer.
Why choose The Insurance Surgery for financial protection?
The Insurance Surgery has specialised in life insurance and financial protection for more than 25 years.
We help customers with straightforward protection requirements, but our particular expertise is helping people whose circumstances can make obtaining insurance more complicated.
Specialist protection expertise
Our advisers have extensive experience arranging:
- Life insurance
- Income protection
- Critical illness cover
- Protection for pre-existing medical conditions
- Protection for higher-risk occupations
- Protection for hazardous hobbies and activities
- Business protection
We regularly work with customers whose medical history or personal circumstances mean that finding the right insurer requires specialist knowledge.
Access to mainstream and specialist insurers
Different insurance companies assess risk differently.
An insurer that is suitable for one customer may not be right for another.
The Insurance Surgery has access to a broad range of mainstream and specialist insurers, including specialist options that can be particularly important for customers with complex circumstances.
Rather than approaching just one insurer, our advisers can consider which provider is most appropriate for you.
Expertise with medical conditions
This is where specialist advice can make a major difference.
Our advisers regularly help people looking for protection following conditions such as:
- Diabetes
- Cancer
- Heart conditions
- Mental health conditions
- Multiple sclerosis
- Crohn’s disease
- High BMI
- HIV
- Neurological conditions
- Other ongoing or historic medical conditions
Having a medical condition does not automatically mean that financial protection is unavailable.
The outcome will depend on factors including your diagnosis, treatment, medication, symptoms, severity and overall health.
Our experience helps us understand which insurers may take a more suitable view of different medical circumstances.
A dedicated adviser
You will have an adviser to support you through the process, rather than leaving you to navigate insurers and medical underwriting yourself.
They can explain what information is required, help manage the application and keep you informed as the case progresses.
Advice without an adviser fee
The Insurance Surgery provides customers with free protection advice and does not charge customers an adviser fee for this service.
UK-based specialists
Our advisers are UK-based and available to speak to customers who want genuine human support rather than simply completing an online comparison.
Advice based on suitability, not simply price
The cheapest policy is not necessarily the best policy.
Our aim is to recommend suitable protection for your individual circumstances, considering the cover provided, policy terms, insurer and price.
That distinction becomes even more important with income protection and critical illness cover, where policy definitions and benefits can vary significantly.
Specialist financial protection for medical conditions
People sometimes assume that a health problem means they cannot obtain life insurance, critical illness cover or income protection.
That is not necessarily the case.
Different insurers have different underwriting criteria and attitudes towards medical conditions.
Depending on your circumstances, an insurer could:
- Offer standard terms
- Offer cover at a higher premium
- Apply an exclusion
- Request additional medical information
- Postpone a decision
- Decline to offer cover
The skill is knowing which insurers are most likely to consider your circumstances favourably before you apply.
This is an area where The Insurance Surgery’s specialist underwriting knowledge can be particularly valuable.
Which type of financial protection should I prioritise?
There isn’t a universal answer.
Think about the event that would cause the greatest financial problem for your household.
If you died:
Would your family have enough money to repay debts and maintain their lifestyle?
If you became seriously ill:
Would a lump sum help you reduce debts or adapt financially?
If illness stopped you working for several months or years:
Could your household survive without your salary?
For many families, all three represent genuine financial risks.
A protection adviser can help establish your priorities and design a protection package that works within your budget.
When should I review my financial protection?
Protection shouldn’t be something you arrange once and forget about.
Consider reviewing your cover following significant changes such as:
- Buying a house
- Increasing your mortgage
- Getting married
- Having children
- Changing jobs
- Becoming self-employed
- Receiving a significant pay rise
- Taking on additional debt
- Changes to your health
- Separation or divorce
- Starting or buying a business
Even if nothing significant has changed, checking your protection periodically can help ensure it still reflects your circumstances.
Speak to a financial protection specialist
Financial protection is ultimately about making sure an unexpected event does not become a financial crisis for you or your family.
Whether you are considering life insurance, income protection, critical illness cover or a combination of all three, getting advice can help you understand what protection you need and which insurers are most appropriate.
At The Insurance Surgery, our experienced advisers will take the time to understand your circumstances, explain your options clearly and help you find suitable protection.
If you have previously struggled to obtain insurance because of a medical condition, occupation, or other complicated circumstances, our specialist experience can help.
Speak to The Insurance Surgery today for free, no-obligation financial protection advice.
Frequently Asked Questions About Financial Protection
What is financial protection?
Financial protection is insurance designed to provide financial support if events such as death, serious illness or being unable to work affect your finances. Life insurance, income protection and critical illness cover are three of the main types of financial protection.
What are the three main types of financial protection?
The three main types are life insurance, income protection and critical illness cover. Life insurance normally pays following death, income protection provides a regular benefit if illness or injury prevents you from working, and critical illness cover normally pays a lump sum following diagnosis of a qualifying serious illness.
Do I need life insurance, income protection and critical illness cover?
Not everybody needs all three. Your needs depend on your income, debts, mortgage, dependants, savings, employer benefits and budget. Because each product protects against a different financial risk, some people choose a combination of policies.
Is income protection more important than life insurance?
They protect against different events. Life insurance protects your family financially if you die, whereas income protection can protect your income while you are alive but unable to work because of illness or injury. Which is the greater priority depends on your personal circumstances.
What is the difference between critical illness cover and income protection?
Critical illness cover usually provides a one-off lump sum after you’re diagnosed with a specified condition covered by the policy. Income protection normally provides a regular income if illness or injury prevents you from working and you meet the policy definition.
Can I get financial protection if I have a medical condition?
Potentially, yes. Having a medical condition does not automatically prevent you from obtaining protection. Availability, premiums and terms will depend on the condition, its severity, treatment, symptoms and the insurer’s underwriting criteria. A specialist broker such as The Insurance Surgery can help identify insurers that may be more appropriate for your medical history.
Can I get life insurance if I have previously been declined?
Potentially. Different insurers have different underwriting criteria. A previous decline does not necessarily mean every insurer will reach the same decision. It can be particularly useful to speak to a specialist protection broker before submitting another application.
Why should I use a protection adviser rather than a comparison website?
A comparison website can be useful for comparing headline prices, but financial protection involves more than price. An adviser can assess your needs, explain policy differences, consider underwriting and recommend cover based on your circumstances. This can be particularly valuable for income protection, critical illness cover and customers with medical conditions.
How much does financial protection cost?
There is no standard price. Premiums can depend on factors including your age, health, smoking status, occupation, amount of cover, policy term and the type of protection chosen. An adviser can compare suitable options and help you balance the amount of protection you want against your monthly budget.
Do I have to pay for advice from The Insurance Surgery?
No. The Insurance Surgery provides customers with free specialist protection advice and does not charge customers an adviser fee for its advice service.
Why use The Insurance Surgery?
The Insurance Surgery has more than 25 years’ specialist life and protection experience, with particular expertise helping people with medical conditions, higher-risk occupations, and more complicated circumstances. Customers also benefit from dedicated UK-based advisers and access to a broad range of mainstream and specialist insurance providers.
Can The Insurance Surgery help with straightforward applications too?
Yes. You do not need to have a medical condition or complicated circumstances to use The Insurance Surgery. Our advisers can help customers with both straightforward and specialist life insurance, income protection and critical illness requirements.
What information will I need when applying for financial protection?
You will usually need information about your age, occupation, income, lifestyle, smoking status and medical history. Depending on the type and amount of protection required, an insurer may request additional medical or financial information.
Can I review protection I already have?
Yes. Reviewing existing protection can help determine whether your current policies remain suitable after changes to your mortgage, income, family, health, or financial commitments. The Insurance Surgery offers no-obligation policy reviews.
The Insurance Surgery Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
