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Do you recall when comparing life assurance policies used to take days and picking the right cover was a bit like playing the lottery? Thankfully, the life assurance industry has come a long way in the last ten years as a result of improved technology and the internet.
Even so, using the web to compare life assurance can tsill be a minefield if you don't do it in the correct way. For those looking to take out a policy, most will use one of the growing number of financial comparison services to search for a policy and a big criticism of them has been their over-reliance on price as the main consideration. Whilst this may be true, these sites are still a powerful tool as long as they are used in combination with some simple basic principals.
A Few Essential Questions To Ask Before You Start Searching For Life Assurance
Whilst access to online comparison services has simplified the shopping process for life assurance, there's a risk that they could cause some consumers to rely too heavily on their quotation results without first understanding what is the most appropriate cover for their needs.
As many life assurance plans are purchased with a term of ten years or more, a common arguement against price comparison sites is that price is not the only factor that should be assessed and compared as part of the buying process. This highlights the importance of policy features such as flexibility to adapt to changing priorities and how it affects the type, amount and duration of cover required.
Whether your circumstances are simple or more complicated, these questions can prove hard to answer on your own and you may find it easier to take advice from an experienced adviser.
Shop, Shop and Shop Some More
With the popularity of financial comparison websites and increased use of the internet, buying life assurance has now been transformed into a simple ten minute task that you can complete in your lunch break.
This is where some users trip up and make the mistake of restricting their quotations to just one website rather than comparing as much of the market as possible by using at least two. Limiting your shopping to just one quote comparison site also limits the range of your quotes and you could miss out on special deals not available anywhere else. Rather, be sure to use two or three of the major comparison services and come up with a shortlist of the most suitable policies.
This is where most people's research ends, but we're going to take it one step further and compare our comparisons against some discounted quotations.
How to Save Even More With Discounted Life Assurance
Having created a shortlist of premiums and policies quoted by the main price comparison sites, we're now going to see how much less you can pay by using specialist sites that apply a discount to their quotes. Whilst many of these discount quote sites don't compare as many policies and providers as the big price comparison sites, they often include the leading insurers and many smaller ones.
Above all, the main difference is that should any of these providers appear on your shortlist you're likely to save a further 5%-20%. It's quite possible to see quotes for exactly the same policies and providers with premiums discounted below those offered by the leading price comparison sites.
To find these brokers, just log onto your favourite search engine and search for discount life insurance.
Remember to Compare the Cover Too
Whilst we're all keen to pay as little as possible for our life assurance, it's also prudent to factor some additional features into your comparisons to ensure the long term suitability of your policy. Neglecting the importance of the following points could leave you with a policy that cannot adapt as your needs change over the cover term.
Can the policy adapt to changing needs? - because many life policies are taken out with a term of at least ten years, the cover should be flexible enough to change with your needs and circumstances once the policy has started. This re-inforces the need for a thorough comparison of cover features as well as price to avoid policies that may not be able to be altered in later years leaving you with no other choice than to take out extra cover or replace the existing one altogether when you may be years older and premium rates higher. Take a bit more time now and you will be rewarded with a policy that continues to give you the protection and peace of mind you want.
Can you add any cover after commencement? - the number and type of policy options can vary widely from company to company so it's important to be aware of what's available together with any terms and conditions before you buy.
How good is the customer service? - at the time of writing, there aren't any comparison sites that include customer service ratings in their quote results. A simple way to check this yourself is to do a search for the insurance company name and the word 'reviews' or 'customer reviews'. There are lots of websites dedicated to publishing reviews of companies and products written by genuine customers
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