Q&A with Trinity's protection adviser Conor Coleman

by Aaron Strutt

Jul 16 2024

Question and answer with Trinity’s experienced insurance and income protection specialist, Conor Coleman.

1) What insurance policies do you recommend to your clients when buying a home?

The most common policies I set up cover life insurance, critical illnesses and income protection.

2) Is life insurance expensive? Is it needed?

Life insurance is the cheapest option out of all the protection policies. Protection can be as expensive as you want to make it. You do not have to spend a fortune to protect yourself and your family; some cover is better than none.

Policies like critical cover and income protection are slightly more expensive than standard life insurance policies. However, they are more claimed on products as we are more likely to fall ill than pass away. 

Most people don't think about what would happen if they passed away or something happened to their partner. I have seen the difference it can make to a family having a mortgage cleared and not having to move the children to a new area or a new school. Being able to stay in their family home where they feel most comfortable and having that financial stress taken away at a terrible time like - I believe this helps with the process. 

3) Is it worth having separate insurance policies if you have cover through work?

Yes. Having a policy through your employer, such as death in service, is great. However, work policies can change; if you move from one employer to another, you may not get the same benefit.

If you become a new parent, take time off work or decide not to return to work, you would also lose that death-in-service benefit. 

Conor (pictured on the left) recently won an award for helping a client claim on a policy after a protection review.

4) Is there competition between the insurance providers to attract customers?

There are lots of life insurance providers, and they are keen to get more customers. 

Life Insurance with all providers is similar in cost, but what separates these providers is the quality of service and their claim statistics. Depending on the applicant's health and underwriting stance, one provider could be great for health disclosures compared to others. For example, one provider may be suitable for mental health issues, high blood pressure or raised cholesterol.

Others may have a different stance on serious conditions like cancer. Related conditions could impact certain providers where some providers on the market have really good stances on this, and there would be the ones that I would typically approach.

5) Can you access many life insurance or critical illness providers? 

Trinity Financial is part of one of the largest mortgage and protection networks (PRIMIS). This is an advantage because if one provider does not accept a client's health condition, I can go to another.

Having arranged hundreds of policies over the years and having a lot of experience with insurers, I will know who to approach immediately. The fact that we have so many providers makes it easier, rather than only having one or two like your local bank.

6) Do single people need insurance, or is it just families?

I would say single people do need protection. This would be more focused on protecting them rather than the mortgage. For example, income protection is critical as it is designed to pay out a tax-free lump sum or monthly instalments of a certain percentage of their salary to ensure they can still pay their monthly outgoings, including mortgage repayments.

Some employers provide staff cover if they were to fall ill and unable to work. However, this may sometimes only last six months to a year. Having something private in the long term would give you stability and security.

Also, if a single person takes out a life insurance policy to protect the mortgage, they take that out at their youngest age and probably the healthiest stage in their life. Securing this rate would protect them in the future. If they did decide to have a family and want life insurance to protect that mortgage and their family, rather than doing it in five or ten years when they are older, they would be securing the monthly premium.

7) Do you help your clients if they need to make a claim?

Yes. We would claim on any of the policies we have set up.

Having contacts at the insurers allows us to provide quicker service and ensure that our clients can either recover from an illness or their families can come to terms with losing a loved one.

8) Have you made any claims for any of your clients recently?

Yes. We set up a policy for a client that included a children's critical illness cover. Unfortunately, when our client gave birth, their baby needed to have surgery on the second day. The policy we set up included cover for this surgery as part of their listed conditions, and it paid out a tax-free lump sum. 

9) Does insurance get more expensive the older you get?

If you have a policy in place and the premium is fixed, it will remain the same. However, if you set up a life insurance policy at an older age, it is likely to be more expensive. 

10) Is it important to put a policy in trust?

Yes. This will ensure that money pays out to the right person at the right time.

11) Should I review my protection policies every few years?

Yes. People's circumstances change, and their policies need updating. For example, they may have taken out a larger mortgage or had more children. 

I review policies every two years to ensure that there have been no major changes, and this is also an excellent opportunity to remind the client what they have in place.

To arrange new protection policies or review existing cover, call Conor on 020 7016 6156 or email conor@trinityfinancial.co.uk

The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate trusts.

The information contained within was correct at the time of publication but is subject to change.

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