Jim's Story....August 2013

Jim’s story . . .

Jim took out a Mortgage Protection policy with his wife when they took out his mortgage. At the time, Jim only took the cover out because it was a requirement from the bank for him to get their mortgage approved. He wasn’t even sure exactly what cover it provided himself and his wife.

Jim wants to review his existing cover because one of his work colleagues has battled with cancer and it focused his mind on his own circumstances. We sat down and discussed his existing Mortgage Protection cover to make sure that he understood where his family would be financially in the event of the death of either partner. In short, the Mortgage protection policy would cover most (if not all) of the outstanding mortgage.

Since Jim took out this Life cover he had welcomed 2 children into his family. It hadn’t occurred to Jim how this important change in family circumstances might require having a look at the level of cover he was providing for his family until his work colleague got very sick.

As it stood, if Jim or his partner died, they would own their house. Great, so the family owns the house, but what now? If Jim dies, his partner will either have to quit work to look after the children or possibly pay somebody to look after them.  What are the costs in doing either of these things? Where do they get the money to be able to afford the time with the children or the cost of childcare?

If Jim dies, he is the main income earner, but who looks after the children? How much will it cost? What if Jim wants to take time out to bereave the death of his partner (and spend more time with his children during this tough transitional period)? Can he afford to do this?

Jim hates the thought of even considering life without his partner and his partner does not like to think of how the family would struggle financially without Jim. However, they both accept that one way or another, if one of them died, the family would not only lose a loved one, they would be at a financial loss that they needed to acknowledge.

This is a very hard step to take. To try and put a value on a family member or a partner is not particularly something any of us want to think about, after all no amount of money can replace a loved one. Whether a person has younger dependants or is on their own, the loss of a partner will very likely have a financial impact on their lives.

Jim’s story continues next month. .