Protection and Insurance
Unexpected illness, injury, or death can significantly impact a family or business. Protection planning ensures that you and those who depend on you have financial security when life does not go as planned.
Why This Matters Now
- Many high-net-worth families are underinsured relative to their actual financial exposure, particularly business owners whose company value depends on their continued involvement.
- Employee benefits packages often provide less cover than assumed, with significant gaps in critical illness and income protection for directors and shareholders.
- Life events such as a new child, a business sale, or increased borrowing can quickly make existing cover inadequate. Regular review is essential.
What is Protection and Insurance Planning?
Protection and insurance planning is the process of assessing the financial risks you and your family face and putting appropriate cover in place to manage them. Typical solutions include life assurance, critical illness cover, income protection and business protection policies. These are not investment products and have no cash value at any time.
Key Facts
- Life assurance pays a lump sum or income to dependants on death, helping replace lost earnings or clear outstanding debts.
- Critical illness cover pays a lump sum on diagnosis of specified serious conditions, such as cancer, heart attack or stroke.
- Income protection replaces a proportion of your earnings if you cannot work due to illness or injury.
- Writing a policy in trust can help ensure proceeds are paid quickly to the intended beneficiaries and may keep them outside your estate for IHT purposes.
- Business protection, including key person cover and shareholder protection, helps ensure a business can survive the loss of a key individual.
Who is This For?
- Families who rely on one or two main incomes and would face financial hardship if that income stopped.
- Business owners whose companies depend on key individuals, and where the loss of a director could threaten the viability of the business.
- People with mortgages or other debts that would be difficult to service if income stopped unexpectedly.
- Individuals who want to ensure that loved ones can maintain their lifestyle if the worst happens.
What This Service Aims to Achieve
- Identify the financial impact of events such as death, serious illness, or long-term incapacity on your family and business.
- Quantify how much coverage may be appropriate to protect your family or business.
- Recommend suitable types and levels of cover, and how policies should be structured and written in trust where appropriate.
- Review cover over time to keep it aligned with changes in income, borrowing and family circumstances.
Our Protection Planning Process
Understanding Your Priorities and Risks
We explore your current financial position, dependants, liabilities and objectives to understand what needs to be protected and for how long. This includes personal and business risks.
Assessing Existing Cover
We review any existing policies, employee benefits and state benefits to identify gaps, overlaps or policies that may no longer be fit for purpose.
Recommending Appropriate Solutions
We recommend a blend of policies to address identified risks, taking account of affordability and how benefits should be paid. Structuring cover in trust can ensure timely payment and provide inheritance tax benefits.
Ongoing Review
As circumstances change, such as new children, increased borrowing, or business growth, we review and adjust your protection arrangements to ensure they remain appropriate.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much life cover do I need?
The right amount depends on factors such as outstanding debts, children’s needs, ongoing living costs and existing assets. We help you calculate an appropriate level based on your specific circumstances.
Do I need both life cover and critical illness cover?
Why write a life insurance policy in trust?
What is key person cover for a business?
Important Information
Protection policies have no cash value at any time and will cease at the end of the term. The coverage will lapse if premiums are not maintained. Definitions of illnesses and benefits vary by provider; full terms and conditions are available in policy documents. Ark Wealth Management is an Appointed Representative of Quilter Financial Services Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.