What is Independent Financial Advice?
Independent Financial Advice is unbiased advice based on the recommendation of suitable products after researching the whole market.

An Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) is the only type of financial adviser who is able to select from all the products available in the marketplace – making sure you get the right product for your individual needs.

An IFA acts on your behalf and will offer you the option of paying by fee, as well as the option of paying by commission.

Do you charge for your advice?
The first meeting is always free and sometimes subsequent meetings also. We then give you the option of paying a fee, or paying by commission.

What is the best life cover for a repayment mortgage?
Decreasing Term Assurance (DTA), as you pay off your mortgage the loan amount decreases therefore so does your life cover.

I work full time so cannot come in during the day, have you any late appointments?

Yes, we are open till 8pm by appointment and also every Saturday till 5.

How do I get to your office?
Our offices are located by Enfield Chase Station (see map on contact page)

What is term insurance?
Term insurance is where cover is provided for a fixed term. The sum assured will only be payable on death, with no investment benefits nor payment on survival.

It is important to understand this concept. Should you survive past the end of the term, you will not receive any payment as your policy will expire. Should you stop paying the premiums at any time, cover will stop, and there is no surrender value. This is unless you pay extra on your premiums to have a waiver of premium so you can get a break from premiums should you lose your job.

For all types of term insurance, the amount of your premiums is determined by certain variables such as your age, the amount you want to be insured for, the length of the term, and whether you smoke or not. You may or may not need to undergo a medical. Ultimately, the insurance company lays bets on the chances of you dying whilst the term lasts.

Level term insurance means that your premiums are set at a level and do not move up or down. The sum assured will remain the same throughout the term as well, which is a disadvantage, as it will not take into account the effect of inflation.

Increasing term assurance is a fixed term policy where the sum assured will increase, either by a set percentage or by the Retail price index (RPI) throughout the policy term. Your premiums will rise according to the RPI if the sum assured does the same.

Renewable term insurance is a policy lasting for a smaller period, usually five years, which can be renewed. Renewable increasable term insurance is the same as above but provides for an increasing sum assured.

Decreasing term insurance is where the sum assured decreases over time; hence, the premiums are set lower. This is commonly used to cover a mortgage.

A Gift inter vivo policy is designed to cover for inheritance tax where a potentially exempt lifetime gift has been made. The sum assured will decrease over the seven years that a person will need to survive after giving the gift to make inheritance tax not payable.

Finally, there is the level family income benefit, which provides a tax free income from the date of death until the term is ended. You can commute the income to a tax free lump sum.

What is critical illness insurance cover?

A critical illness is a specified medical condition such as cancer which would stop a person receiving an income, and is unlikely to result in the person being able to work again. It is often known as 'dread disease'. Critical illness insurance cover will insure you should you suffer from any of these specified illnesses, and will pay out a lump sum, payable at the time of diagnosis. You can take out a critical illness insurance policy in two ways.

The first is as a 'stand alone' policy, taken out by itself. The second method is to add it to whole of life, term insurance or endowments policies. The reason why you may do this is that it offers you a way of getting hold of the value of your policy not just on death, but also on diagnosis of critical illness, which has the same effect as death on your ability to support your dependents.

A critical illness insurance policy sees you pay level premiums, the amount of which is determined by factors like your age, your family history (as most critical illnesses are hereditary), whether or not you smoke and the level of cover you require.

The lump sum that you receive is not taxable. However, the premiums that you pay into this policy will not be eligible for tax relief.

Those best suited to this cover are family men and women whose families may encounter financial problems should they not have an income. Single people who would not have anyone to care for them should they suffer from a debilitating condition would benefit from this cover to buy in help. Also, although your premiums would be higher, if you have a history in your family you would be advised to buy cover. Finally, key people in a business should be covered.