insurance

The Government is today launching a new free money advice service to be rolled out around the country.

The Moneymadeclear service includes a helpline, website and face-to-face advice services, delivered through a range of partners such as Citizens Advice Bureaux and Age Concern. The cost of the service will be funded by a levy on the financial sector and funds recovered from dormant bank accounts, with the Government meeting part of the cost in the first year.

People will be able to phone up, or talk face-to-face with independent experts - to get free advice on money worries, financial planning, or advice on their rights and actions that they can take if they feel they are not getting a fair deal.

The Government has trialled the service in the North East and the North West since last April, and has helped 500,000 people, including 23,000 who received face-to-face assistance.

After the 'Barbeque summer' that never was and the incessant weeks of snow and ice, getting away from it all is a priority for 2010, with 64% of potential holidaymakers looking to take a holiday abroad this year.

However, a quarter of adults planning a holiday (25%) admitted they will be spending less than in previous years, according to research by Aviva. More worryingly, almost a third (31%) confessed that they would either not be taking out any travel insurance or were undecided about purchasing it.

Of those thrifty travellers that are planning to spend less on their main holiday this year many agreed they are planning to be cash careful by:

• Setting a limit on the amount of spending money they have each day of their holiday (62%)
• Not treating themselves to any new holiday clothes (45%)
• Going self catering (41%)
• Cutting back on eating out while on holiday (40%)
• Looking for a late deal cheaper holiday (31%).

While 31% of those going on holiday and looking to save money said they would seek out a bargain holiday by booking late, 30% of travellers will wait to book their holiday until only one or two months before they go and  48% said whilst they would take out travel insurance it would not be when they booked their holiday.

Travel insurance tips

Organise your insurance policy as soon as you have booked your trip
If you don’t and something suddenly happens such as a relative being taken ill, causing you to cancel your holiday, you won’t be covered if you haven’t taken out travel insurance, even if the holiday is in the UK.

Tell your insurer about any pre-existing medical problems
If you don’t tell them your claim could be invalid which means you would have to cover all of the costs of your medical treatment.

Know your rights if your plane is cancelled or delayed
As a general rule travel insurance is not responsible for getting you to and from your holiday destination – that is the job of the airline or tour operator. Under EU regulations for air passenger rights, all airlines departing from an airport in an EU member state have responsibilities to assist you if your flight is cancelled or delayed. Insurance can also provide cover in the event of a delay.

Transport problems
If you miss your flight due to car or public transport problems check your travel insurance will cover you.

A bargain is not always the best choice!
Some insurance policies may seem like a bargain but if the one you choose doesn’t meet your needs or offer adequate cover in the event of a claim, it’s not a bargain.

The EHIC is not a substitute for travel insurance, it is complementary to it
The EHIC (formally the E111) entitles you to state-provided emergency medical treatment in European Economic Area countries. The treatment available does vary between countries and it may not cover all the treatment costs (or any repatriation costs) so full travel insurance is essential.

Check out Defaqto's travel insurance guide for more handy tips.

Defaqto’s new guide to critical illness published today reports that despite declining mortgage sales, critical illness sales have not suffered as much as expected.

The two have historically been interlinked but in 2009 gross mortgage lending fell from £362,632m in 2007 to £143,506m^[1]. Mortgage related critical illness sales fell by 19.5% but total critical illness sales by only 4.7%^[2].

Ben Heffer, Insight Analyst at Defaqto and author of the new guide, said: “Protection policies are ‘sold’ not ‘bought’ and protection advisers have simply had to work harder for their sales. Advisers have had to increase their sales efforts to counter the difficult conditions caused by the recession and householders’ desire to rein in spending.

“As the UK emerges from recession, protection advice remains as important as ever but critical illness is a complicated product and advisers have to work harder to communicate the positives – the long term value and benefits, the improving claims statistics and the new product innovations such as the provision of health and wellbeing services.

“We are also seeing new phenomenon – such as ‘condition inflation’ which has resulted in an increasing numbers of critical illnesses being added to policies, over and above those conditions responsible for the vast majority of claims. This does add further complexity but advisers should not overlook that the policy with the greatest number of conditions may not really represent the best value for their client. The value of a critical illness policy is invested in the quality of the definitions and not simply in the number of conditions covered.”

Defaqto’s first critical illness guide, to be published on 9 March, explores the real value that each individual critical condition adds to a critical illness policy with a view to helping Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) sell on the basis of the quality of the cover rather than the number of critical conditions.

The critical illness guide, which can be downloaded at Defaqto.com explores:

• the market background and indicators for critical illness;
• the challenges presented by the Association of British Insurers’ next statement of best practice;
• the real value that each individual condition adds to the policy;
• an analysis of the critical illness products available on the market.

^[1] Source: Council of Mortgage Lenders

^[2] Source: Swiss RE

The UK’s over 50s are avid animal lovers with one in five (21%) owning a cat or a dog. However, if you live in the North West you are more likely to suffer the steepest vet bills in the UK.

The average annual bill in this region is £646; 53% more than Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands, the cheapest regions at £421.

Claims data from Saga Pet Insurance has identified average vet bills in the UK among the over 50s have increased by 11% since 2008. This is more than double the annual rate of inflation, which has only increased by 5% over the same period. Even more staggering is annual vet fees have increased by 53% since 2007 (from £391) and 101% since 2006 (from £298).

Regionally, the North East has seen the biggest increase in vet costs since 2008. For cats, bills have risen by 29% from £324 to a staggering £417. Dog owners in this region still bear the brunt of heftier costs, but the increase is slightly less at 17%, from £561 to £656.

Among the bills that aren’t as pressing on the purse, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands provide the cheapest care for both cats (£298) and dogs (£452).