If you are at home between the hours of 9 and 4, and you are tuned in to any television channel imaginable, then chances are that you will come across a message from one of the televangelist informercials relating to life insurance who seem about as sincere as Brittney Spears marital vows.

These ads generally promote that you can get life insurance for as little as $4 a week or something similar. However, what they don’t tell you is that the policy you can receive with someone else is far superior and less expensive simply by calling a regular life insurance company or an adviser.

When calling in response to one of these infomercials, you are still required to give medical details, unless ou are after a Funeral Plan (whose premiums are almost DOUBLE that of normal policies for that value).

So, here are the three reasons to beware of television life insurance offers:

1) The premiums charged almost 40% higher than normal policies

2) There are many exclusions such as conditions you have suffered in the last 2 years.

3) No advice offered

So, if you do feel the urge to contact these insurers after watching one of their promotional spots on daytime television, be sure to check with your adviser or do some more research.

PD

Most people know how life insurance works. For those who don’t, it’s easy - If you are insured and die, you are paid the amount you are insured for.

There are two types of life insurance available today:

1) Term Life Insurance (choice of normal & accident only)

2) Loan Protection Insurance

Both of these have pros and cons. The easiest way to describe the differences is that Term Life covers you for your nominated amount. You can choose to be covered for anything between around $50,000 to $3M. All depending on whether you can justify that amount.

Loan Protection, such as Mortgage Shield’s Loan Cover Plus policy, is taken at time of acquiring a loan/mortgage. For yours and sometimes, the banks, peace of mind, you can take out a loan protection cover, which will also pay on death, but you can only select for the amount of the loan you have started. The good thing about this cover is that there is generally no medical questions or any complex paperwork. That said, the paperwork that goes with the Term Life cover isn’t at all complicated, just sometimes time consuming.

The best way to find out which type of cover is right for you is to contact your insurance adviser/broker and they will walk you through it. Normally, with all types of life insurance, you can either pay monthly or yearly, but you get about 1 month discount on the yearly payment.

PD