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Make sure you are covered by life insurance

Date: Mon, 08 Aug 2005

Life insurance should be viewed as vital even if you never expect to claim on the policy, according to a recent widow.

Ian Taylor, who lost his wife to cancer, has told the Observer that life insurance can help meet the costs associated with medical care and help ease the loss of a loved one.

However, Mr Taylor also warns that checking the small print is vital in order to ensure that you are fully covered by the policy, something he found to his cost following the death of his partner.

"Life insurance is just a sensible precaution; you never expect to claim on the policy," said Mr Taylor.

"But neither, when the unthinkable does happen, do you expect to find you've been uninsured all along, that even in something as serious as a life policy there are 'small print' traps for the unwary."

Mr Taylor was forced to take his claim for £100,000 from insurer Standard Life to the Financial Ombudsman Service because of a dispute over small print hidden in a 13-page contract.

Following the arbitrators' intervention and a four month-long process, Mr Taylor settled his claim with Standard Life but is keen to encourage others to check their current policy is valid.


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