To help you become more informed before buying life cover or income protection insurance or critical illness insurance there is a great guide available to download from the Financial Services Authority. 

Click here to to get your free insurance guide.

 You can then use our bespoke insurance calculator to guide you to ensuring you are fully protected.

Bright Grey will double the maximum amount of critical illness cover it offers to £1 million as part of a drive to beef up its personal protection business. 

The arm of Royal London Group is investing in its back office to speed up applications with a new team of experienced underwriters dedicated to large cases starting on 28 July. 

Bright Grey will raise the maximum amount of life cover consumers can claim to £5 million from £2 million. Consumers will be given an extra 30 days to return completed application forms as Bright Grey relaxes its deadline to 60 days. 

‘This year our focus has been on improvements to the customer experience of our application and underwriting proposition,’ said Roger Edwards (pictured), Bright Grey’s product director. ‘These enhancements reflect and build upon market trends, such as the requirement for higher levels of cover from individuals as well as businesses.’ 

Bright Grey has also tweaked its online application system to give advisers and clients more time to check details in an effort to cut non-disclosure.

With the current credit crunch stretching many families finances, Legal & General are advising them to take out suitable insurance protection. 

Product marketing director of protection at Legal & General, Bonnie Burns, says: ‘Most families’ finances would unravel if a parent died or became too ill to work.’

She adds: ‘They are risking their futures by not protecting their key asset - their future income.’

With family protection policies such as Critical Illness, Income Protection or Life Cover a monthly income can be provided should something happen to the policyholder.

If you are interested in taking out an insurance policy with How Much Cover please click here.

The insurance company launches new home insurance via Insurecom.

AXA has announced that its ABC and Exclusive household insurance products are now available to customers of the software solutions firm Insurecom.

The software company will host the household products as Full Cycle EDI, which should give brokers a more effective method of managing their household insurance business with AXA.

ABC insurance is a buildings and contents policy created for the average homeowner and offering a number of additional features such as Family Legal Protection and Home Assistance.

Exclusive insurance is aimed at higher value homes and contents customers. It provides all risks cover worldwide and identity theft cover.

According to general manager of Personal Lines Intermediary at AXA, Mike Keating, Insurecom has more than 700 users and the move will broaden the group’s distribution of its two most popular products.

Friends Provident is the latest insurance provider to join Paradigm Mortgage Services’ dual protection panel.

The insurance company’s range of protection products will be available on Paradigm’s preferred whole of market and limited panels.

Products on offer will inlcude level term assurance, home buyer protection and income protection as well as deals providing cash sums, benefits and life cover.

Chief executive of Paradigm, Bob Hunt, says: ‘The addition of Friends Provident to our dual protection panel offers brokers a number of additional services including eSelect, its interactive online system.’

Leading insurance company AXA has cut its rates across its life protection range to keep up with an increasingly price-driven market. 

The biggest drop is for its Guaranteed Level Life Cover, with an average reduction of 6% across all products.

Other covers affected include Decreasing Life Cover and Earlier Critical Illness Cover.

Director of protection marketing at AXA, Iain Mallon, says: ‘As part of our continuous review of our pricing we have brought down the cost of these covers to make sure we remain one of the most competitively priced protection insurers.’

According to one report in The Times Online, people are taking out more insurance policies due to the credit crunch. 

As the credit crunch continues to unfold, one of the biggest worries for many people is that they may not be able to pay their mortgage, or if they lose their job or are unable to work because of illness or accident.

Such anxieties are on the increase because of the economic uncertainty being confirmed by insurance broker Lifesearch, who have recorded a noticeable rise recently in sales of policies designed to safeguard people’s finances.

They suggest that sales of policies such as income protection, unemployment and critical illness cover tend to boom when other markets suffer.

Christophe Tamet has been named Legal & General’s new head of credit.

Earlier in his career Tamet worked within the chief investment officer of JP Morgan Chase as credit chief.

In his new role he will be directly responsible for Roger Bartley, L&G’s active fixed income chief.

The insurance firm has made the appointment to bolster the fixed income team, following a confident performance over the course of the last year and a half.

Bartley has welcomed the presence of Tamet’s and that it was a strong indicator that L&G was committed to improving the fixed income team.

Peter Graham has been named as Legal & General’s new managing director of their general insurance business.

Mr.Graham brings 15 years of insurance industry experience to the position, and during his career has served with both esure and Towergate as an executive.

He first joined the firm on 25 March 2008, and is based in Legal & General’s Birmingham office.

Life Cover has been voted a number one priority for Britain, yet they are far more likely to cover their home contents and holidays abroad.

If you are unsure about what life insurance is right for you, then here are some tips to help guide you:

- Look in to the different options of life cover and choose the one that best suits you.

- Don’t lie. Make sure your answers are accurate and give all of your relevant personal information and medical history – 1 in 5 claims are currently rejected because they stretch the truth.

- Don’t forget the financial value of your unpaid work such as looking after children, cooking and cleaning because paying for these could cost thousands of pounds a year.

- Always review your life cover at life-changing events such as a changing your job, having children, or a change in marital status. Experts suggest you should review your life insurance every year to make sure your cover is relevant to your situation.