PROTECTION
A safety net
It’s far better to be financially protected against life’s unwelcome surprises now than have regrets later. A conversation with an Ask Acorn financial advisor will show you how we can offer you and your family real peace of mind by protecting what’s really important in your life.
A source of reassurance
Our goal is to give you the confidence and comfort of knowing that you, your loved ones and what’s important to you are all protected if you ever face misfortune. Have a conversation with an experienced Ask Acorn financial advisor to hear the many ways we offer you this vital reassurance.
Looking to protect what’s important to you?
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Why Ask Acorn?
Ask Acorn is here to offer you genuine peace of mind about your financial future. We understand how important it is to protect what’s important to you – but that’s not all we’ll help you with. You can look forward to your Ask Acorn financial advisor also:
Ensuring you have the right amount of cover
Since it’s easy to under- or overestimate how much life cover or financial protection you actually need, we’ll help you calculate the right amount.
Giving you a complete financial review
After reviewing all your incomings, outgoings, assets and financial commitments, we give you a full financial report on how you can protect what’s important to you and your family.
Helping with the application process
You’ll get all the assistance you need to make applying for cover as straightforward as possible.
Offering tailored solutions
We’ll talk through your needs directly with you and offer protection and life cover solutions selected for your specific needs.
Regularly reviewing your policy
We’ll regularly review your policy with you to make sure it still fits your needs perfectly.
Always putting your needs first
You can be sure your Ask Acorn financial advisor will always focus on what’s best for you and your family.
Advice you can trust to
protect what’s important
If you want to protect what’s important in your life, here’s what we can arrange for you:
Life cover
It’s very simple: you need life cover if your family or loved ones would suffer financially after your death. Life cover will help them remain financially secure by paying a lump sum which they could use to clear outstanding loans, for ongoing education costs or to take care of other sizable expenses. To ensure that all this is possible, it’s essential that you have enough cover in place. It’s always best to get expert advice in order to identify how much cover is necessary for your individual needs.
An Ask Acorn financial advisor can give you this guidance with a no-charge, no-obligation consultation. Together, we’ll review your assets, outstanding loans and other sources of income. Once you’ve decided on the right amount of life cover, your advisor can arrange a life policy that offers you and your loved ones real peace of mind and protection.
Critical illness cover
It’s not pleasant to think about, but illness could have a serious impact on your income and leave you struggling to cover your expenses. That’s why critical illness cover is so valuable.
It offers you real peace of mind thanks to a lump sum payment which it pays if you’re diagnosed with a specific illness. You could then use this money to pay bills, and other expenses or even modify your home if necessary. So, rather than worrying about your finances, you would be free to concentrate on your recovery knowing that money is available.
If you meet with an Ask Acorn financial advisor, they’ll review your financial situation and see how a serious illness could affect it. At the same time, you’ll also hear what critical illness cover would cost and, most importantly, what sort of financial safety net it would offer you.
Mortgage protection
The unfortunate reality is that your family home might be at risk if your loved ones can’t pay the mortgage following your untimely death. Similarly, if you wish to leave your home to anyone after your death, any mortgage on it will first need to be paid off. With enough mortgage protection cover in place, you can be sure your lender will be paid in full if the worst should happen to you.
An Ask Acorn financial advisor can help you arrange cover. Known also as ‘decreasing term assurance’, the amount covered reduces over the years as your mortgage balance falls. As a result, it can be more affordable than other types of life assurance.
Your Ask Acorn financial advisor can explain more, expertly answer any questions and help you decide how much mortgage protection cover you need. At the same time, there’s no obligation and the entire review is free of charge. So have a chat and see how Ask Acorn can offer real reassurance about your family home’s future.
Financial protection for your family
Are you self-employed? Does your employer offer little or no sick pay? If an accident reduced or stopped your income entirely, could you cover the bills that would still come your way?
There’s a straightforward way to protect yourself and your loved ones – and it starts with a friendly chat. An Ask Acorn financial advisor will explain how we can arrange cover that pays a percentage of your earnings if injury stops you from working. When we meet, we’ll review your specific circumstances to find cover that’s right for you. There’s absolutely no obligation to take this out – but if you do, you’ll reduce the financial impact on your family if injury ever forces you to take time off work.
Life cover to offset inheritance tax
Current Revenue rules say you can only leave a limited amount of assets tax-free to others in your will. This means your loved ones could face a tax bill if their inheritance exceeds their tax-free allowances. But, by sitting down with an Ask Acorn financial advisor now, you can hear how to protect them from inheritance tax in years to come.
We’ll review everything you could include in your will, such as your home, savings and other assets. Then we’ll explain how inheritance tax insurance could cover any tax bill your beneficiaries may face. So if you want your loved ones to keep everything you leave them, have a chat with an Ask Acorn financial advisor about life cover to offset inheritance tax.
Partnership insurance
In a business partnership, the death of a partner can affect the business’s stability and put an immense strain on the remaining partners’ financial resources if they have to purchase their deceased partner’s share. However, a partnership insurance policy can provide a lump sum to cover what could be a major expense.
An Ask Acorn financial advisor can explain more about what partnership insurance involves and how it could benefit your business. Your advisor can then base a quote for enough cover to ensure that you can move on from losing your colleague and continue to run the company successfully.
Key person insurance
Many businesses have an employee (or employees) who are crucial to the company’s success and stability. These people might have special skills or knowledge, be valued by important clients or maybe other staff might leave if they weren’t around anymore.
This is why a business should protect itself with key person cover. If an essential person dies it pays a lump sum which can be used for any purpose. For example, it can cushion the business from a loss of revenue, help repay company borrowings or even cover recruitment costs for a replacement. So is anyone essential to your business’s success? If so, have a conversation with an Ask Acorn financial advisor who can arrange cover to help your company overcome the loss of someone important.
What our customers say
Answers to FAQs
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I want to protect my income and my family, where do I start?
No one wants to think anything unpleasant may happen to them or their loved ones. But the unexpected can be easier to cope with if you are prepared.
Ask Acorn offers many ways to insure against misfortunes such as illness, death, accidents, a stay in hospital or a loss of your income. An Ask Acorn financial advisor will outline the many ways you can protect what’s important to you.
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Why do I need life cover?
Life cover is very important if you have anyone, such as a spouse, children or parents, who depends on your income.
If you die, life cover pays a tax-free lump sum that can help your loved ones remain financially secure. With this, they could remain in the family home, maintain their standard of living and meet future costs such as college fees.
Life cover gives you the peace of mind of knowing your family’s financial well-being is protected, even if the worst happens to you.
An Ask Acorn financial advisor can give you guidance with a no-charge, no-obligation consultation.
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How much life cover do I need?
Everyone’s needs are different. So only you can decide how much life cover you need.
However, an Ask Acorn financial advisor can help. Together, you can look at factors such as who depends on your income, your current outgoings (e.g., mortgage payments, education and healthcare costs), your average annual utility bills, etc.
If you die, a life policy will usually pay a lump sum. To safeguard your family home, this needs to be large enough to cover the outstanding balance on your mortgage. If possible, it should also help cover your loved ones’ living expenses if they can’t earn an income to replace yours. Also, you should consider any savings and other assets that you will leave in your will.
After you’ve decided how much life cover you need, you should review this regularly. Your personal circumstances will change and prices will rise. So it’s important to ensure you have enough life cover to keep your family financially secure.
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Can I change my level of cover?
Your needs will change as time passes. That’s why most life policies let you alter the amount of cover you hold. Knowing this, it makes sense to review your cover regularly with an Ask Acorn financial advisor to make sure it’s still suitable for your current needs and circumstances.
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What is the difference between term life and whole of life cover?
As its name suggests, term life cover refers to a specific period such as 10, 20, or 30 years during which you generally pay a fixed premium. If you die during this time, it will pay a benefit. Another feature of term life cover is that its cash value doesn’t grow. For these reasons, term life cover is generally more affordable than whole of life cover.
If you have whole of life cover, you are covered for your entire life as long as you keep paying premiums. As whole of life policies include an investment or savings element, their cash value can grow. This amount would also be paid to your loved ones if you died.
Choosing either term life or whole of life cover is an important decision. So before making it, you should review your current financial situation, plus your financial plans for the future with an Ask Acorn financial advisor.
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Can I have more than one life insurance policy?
Yes, you can be covered by more than one life insurance policy. For example, you could be covered by a policy taken out by your employer while also having one or more policies of your own.
Why would you have more than one life policy? One reason might be that you want different people to benefit from different policies. However, you would need to be sure that you can afford multiple premiums. If you discuss your personal situation and needs with an Ask Acorn financial advisor, you can check how much life cover you need and can afford.
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What is the difference between income protection and critical illness cover?
Income protection cover pays you an income if your current income stops. This would give you the peace of mind of knowing you could still cover mortgage payments and household expenses, even without your usual salary or wage.
Critical illness cover can also offer you peace of mind. It does so by paying you a tax-free lump sum if you are diagnosed with one or more illnesses specified by your policy. Critical illness policies are very precise about what they cover. So you should make sure you understand exactly what is covered and whether a policy would meet your needs.
To check this, you should meet with an Ask Acorn financial advisor who will explain exactly what income protection cover and critical illness cover can offer you.
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What is business protection?
If you run a business, you know all about the risks it faces: new competitors, economic downturns and rising costs among many others.
Business protection cover is designed to protect against specific risks that would affect your ability to trade.
Two of the most valuable types of cover are key person cover and partnership insurance. Key person cover would pay your business a lump sum to help overcome any losses if an essential person died or couldn’t work due to illness. Partnership insurance offers a lump sum to cover the cost of purchasing a deceased partner’s share of the business.
By talking to an Ask Acorn financial advisor, you can learn more about how key person cover and partnership insurance can help protect your business.
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How can I find the best protection policy for me?
Protection policies can be complex and your financial needs, goals and personal circumstances are completely individual to you.
That’s why it makes so much sense to discuss everything with an Ask Acorn financial advisor. Together, you can identify the cover that will give you and your loved ones peace of mind and help you face the future with confidence.
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If you need more information and advice about protecting your future, contact us.