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Getting Technical
Waiver of Premium is an additional charge option that protects the monthly life insurance premium in the event that the policyholder is unable to work, and hence unable to keep up the premium payments on their policy.
Practically this means Waiver of Premium is designed to protect the insurance in the period where the policyholder might be most at risk, in the period of a sustained illness.
Waiver of Premium costs are typically around 2.5% to 3.5% of the premium to be covered, and are dependent upon the life assured’s occupation.
Some occupations cannot be covered for waiver of premium, as the insurers regard protecting this income as too risky (e.g. Professional Sportsman).
All our “advised” solutions recommend Waiver of Premium is taken as most customers don’t want to run the risk of losing their life insurance cover following a period of long term illness, when they might need it most.
NEWS
'Heart disease rises among the young'
26 February 2008 17:10:25
Despite improvements to treatment, heart disease rates are starting to rise particularly among the young, it has been claimed.
Earlier this month the government announced it had met its target for reducing the number of deaths from heart disease five years ahead of schedule but researchers maintain that cases of the disease in the US, UK and Australia are actually increasing - particularly among people aged 35 to 54.
A report in the Times stated that while cardiovascular death rates are falling among the elderly they are levelling off or even rising among younger people due to smoking, excessive drinking and unhealthy diets - a finding which may affect life insurance policies.
Simon Capewell, professor of clinical epidemiology at Liverpool University told the newspaper: "The party is over and complacency runs a high risk. The flattening trends in mortality rates among young adults suggest that the cardiovascular disease epidemic is not being controlled."
According to the government's Coronary Heart Disease National Service Framework Progress Report, there has been a 40 per cent reduction in the number of deaths from cardiovascular disease in people under the age of 75.
Professor Capewell reports, however, that in 2002 heart disease mortality among men aged between 35 and 44 increased for the first time in more than two decades.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, critical illness and life insurance advice online
Research looks at cell behaviour in breast cancer patients
24 June 2008 18:02:48
Researchers are hoping to improve the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer patients by understanding how cancer cells spread to other parts of the body.
Metastasis (the invasion and spread of cancer cells) is, according to Science Daily, the principle cause of death in patients with breast cancer.
The spread of breast cancer to other parts of the body most often occurs through vascular invasion, that is, through lymphatic and blood vessels.
Findings from the university of Nottingham research team have prompted a larger research project funded by Cancer Research UK.
Using specimens from over one thousand early stage breast cancer patients, the teams hope to "determine whether Lymphatic Vascular Invasion can be incorporated into an improved prognostic index for early stage breast cancer".
A report by the Association of Public Health Observatories released today (June 24th) has established major inequalities in health throughout the UK.
According to the statistics, people living in wealthier areas of the country, such as Kensington and Chelsea had the lowest rate of premature death from cancer.
Women from Chelsea and Kensington can expect to live beyond 87, which was nearly nine years longer than the average for women in Liverpool.
Diabetes: Smoking linked highlighted
13 December 2007 10:54:35
Diabetes sufferers concerned about their life insurance or critical illness prospects may be causing more harm by smoking.
Scientists from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland have completed a wide-scale review of existing research suggesting a link between smoking and the incidence of glucose abnormalities.
They outlined evidence that smokers have a 44 per cent higher risk of developing type-two diabetes, while people with a heavy habit increase their chances by another fifth.
Writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the researchers noted that "the relevant question should no longer be whether this association exists but rather whether this established association is causal".
They argued that there may be non-causal reasons for the observed link as smoking is often associated with other unhealthy behaviours that encourage weight gain and/or diabetes, such as lack of physical activity and high alcohol intake.
"Considering the consistent finding of increased diabetes incidence associated with active cigarette smoking across a large number of studies, we believe that there is no need for further cohort studies to test this hypothesis," they concluded.
Some of the complications of diabetes include blindness, heart disease, kidney failure and loss of limbs – which can ultimately cause the loss of independent existence.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, critical illness and life insurance advice online
26 February 2008 17:10:25
Despite improvements to treatment, heart disease rates are starting to rise particularly among the young, it has been claimed.
Earlier this month the government announced it had met its target for reducing the number of deaths from heart disease five years ahead of schedule but researchers maintain that cases of the disease in the US, UK and Australia are actually increasing - particularly among people aged 35 to 54.
A report in the Times stated that while cardiovascular death rates are falling among the elderly they are levelling off or even rising among younger people due to smoking, excessive drinking and unhealthy diets - a finding which may affect life insurance policies.
Simon Capewell, professor of clinical epidemiology at Liverpool University told the newspaper: "The party is over and complacency runs a high risk. The flattening trends in mortality rates among young adults suggest that the cardiovascular disease epidemic is not being controlled."
According to the government's Coronary Heart Disease National Service Framework Progress Report, there has been a 40 per cent reduction in the number of deaths from cardiovascular disease in people under the age of 75.
Professor Capewell reports, however, that in 2002 heart disease mortality among men aged between 35 and 44 increased for the first time in more than two decades.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, critical illness and life insurance advice online
24 June 2008 18:02:48
Researchers are hoping to improve the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer patients by understanding how cancer cells spread to other parts of the body.
Metastasis (the invasion and spread of cancer cells) is, according to Science Daily, the principle cause of death in patients with breast cancer.
The spread of breast cancer to other parts of the body most often occurs through vascular invasion, that is, through lymphatic and blood vessels.
Findings from the university of Nottingham research team have prompted a larger research project funded by Cancer Research UK.
Using specimens from over one thousand early stage breast cancer patients, the teams hope to "determine whether Lymphatic Vascular Invasion can be incorporated into an improved prognostic index for early stage breast cancer".
A report by the Association of Public Health Observatories released today (June 24th) has established major inequalities in health throughout the UK.
According to the statistics, people living in wealthier areas of the country, such as Kensington and Chelsea had the lowest rate of premature death from cancer.
Women from Chelsea and Kensington can expect to live beyond 87, which was nearly nine years longer than the average for women in Liverpool.
13 December 2007 10:54:35
Diabetes sufferers concerned about their life insurance or critical illness prospects may be causing more harm by smoking.
Scientists from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland have completed a wide-scale review of existing research suggesting a link between smoking and the incidence of glucose abnormalities.
They outlined evidence that smokers have a 44 per cent higher risk of developing type-two diabetes, while people with a heavy habit increase their chances by another fifth.
Writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the researchers noted that "the relevant question should no longer be whether this association exists but rather whether this established association is causal".
They argued that there may be non-causal reasons for the observed link as smoking is often associated with other unhealthy behaviours that encourage weight gain and/or diabetes, such as lack of physical activity and high alcohol intake.
"Considering the consistent finding of increased diabetes incidence associated with active cigarette smoking across a large number of studies, we believe that there is no need for further cohort studies to test this hypothesis," they concluded.
Some of the complications of diabetes include blindness, heart disease, kidney failure and loss of limbs – which can ultimately cause the loss of independent existence.
Direct Life and Pensions Services Ltd are one of the UK's leading providers of life insurance, term life assurance, mortgage protection, critical illness and life insurance advice online