The right cover isn't
the most cover.
Protection is the thing people either buy without reading or put off for years. Both tend to cost more than getting it right.
We'll work out what you'd actually need, what you may already have through work or a scheme, and what fits the budget you've got — and if the honest answer is that you're already covered, we'll tell you that instead.
Free, no-obligation initial review. Response within a day, weekends and bank holidays included.
Police, NHS or emergency services? Your pension scheme already covers part of this.
What we cover
Four kinds of cover. Most people need one or two, not all four.
The names are worse than the products. Here's what each one is actually for.
Life cover
Pays out if you die during the term — as a lump sum, or as a monthly income instead. Usually the first thing to look at if anyone relies on your income. It can be set to fall in line with your mortgage balance, held level so there's something beyond it, or paid monthly, which is often the more useful shape for a young family.
Critical illness cover
Pays a lump sum if you're diagnosed with one of the serious conditions the policy lists and you meet its definitions. The point of it is that you're alive, you're not working, and the mortgage is still due. Definitions vary considerably between insurers, and that variation is where most of the value in taking advice sits.
Income protection
Pays a monthly income if illness or injury stops you working, until you're well enough to go back or the policy ends. You choose the waiting period, so it can be timed to start when your sick pay drops or runs out. For most households this is the one that matters most and the one people consider last.
Buildings and contents
The only cover a lender can actually insist on, and only the buildings part. Worth getting right rather than accepting whatever appears at the end of the mortgage process.
Critical illness or income protection?
Nearly every conversation gets stuck in the same place, so here it is plainly.
| Critical illness cover | Income protection | |
|---|---|---|
| Pays | One lump sum | A monthly income |
| Triggered by | A diagnosis on the policy's list | Being unable to work through illness or injury |
| Doesn't pay for | Conditions outside the list, or that don't meet the policy's definition | Redundancy, or once you're able to work again |
| Good for | Clearing the mortgage, adapting the house, stopping work for treatment | Keeping the bills paid, month after month, for as long as it lasts |
| Usually costs | More per pound of cover | Less than people expect |
Critical illness cover
- Pays
- One lump sum
- Triggered by
- A diagnosis on the policy's list
- Doesn't pay for
- Conditions outside the list, or that don't meet the policy's definition
- Good for
- Clearing the mortgage, adapting the house, stopping work for treatment
- Usually costs
- More per pound of cover
Income protection
- Pays
- A monthly income
- Triggered by
- Being unable to work through illness or injury
- Doesn't pay for
- Redundancy, or once you're able to work again
- Good for
- Keeping the bills paid, month after month, for as long as it lasts
- Usually costs
- Less than people expect
They do different jobs, and plenty of people hold smaller amounts of both rather than a lot of one. Which is right depends on your sick pay, your savings, your mortgage and who else relies on your income — which is why the answer comes after the questions.
The things we hear most.
None of these are daft. Most were true once, or are still true for some people. Here's where they actually stand.
"It's too expensive."
Most people guess high, and not by a little. Legal & General research in October 2025 found UK adults estimated life cover at roughly three times what it typically costs. What you'd pay depends on your age, your health, whether you smoke, how much cover you want and for how long — so the only figure worth anything is yours. Worth knowing too that it isn't all-or-nothing: cover can be sized to a budget rather than to the whole mortgage for the whole term.
Source: Legal & General, Life insurance uncovered (October 2025) (opens in new tab)
"I'm covered through work."
Often partly true, and worth knowing exactly how far it goes. Employer and pension scheme benefits are real money. They're also calculated as a multiple of your salary rather than anything to do with your mortgage, and they usually end when the job does.
"I'd have to take whatever my lender offers."
No. Buildings insurance is the only cover a lender can require as a condition of the mortgage. Life cover, critical illness and income protection are yours to arrange wherever you like — including somewhere other than whoever arranged the mortgage.
"Insurers don't pay out."
They mostly do. The Association of British Insurers reports that 97.9% of individual protection claims were paid in 2025 — £5.15 billion across life, critical illness and income protection. The claims that fail usually come down to a condition not meeting the policy's definition, or something not mentioned on the application. Both are avoidable, and avoiding them is most of what advice is for.
Source: Association of British Insurers, protection claims paid in 2025 (June 2026) (opens in new tab)
"I'd never be accepted."
A health history, your weight, a mental health referral, a hazardous hobby, a job with risk in it — insurers price every one of these differently, and a no from one is not an answer from the market. Sometimes the outcome is a higher premium; sometimes it's an exclusion for one condition and standard terms for everything else. It's worth asking before assuming.
"Nobody depends on me."
Then life cover may genuinely not be your priority. Income protection probably is. If you've a mortgage and a wage you'd miss after a couple of months off sick, that's the one to look at — it's for you, not for anyone you leave behind.
If one of those is the reason it's still on the list, a short conversation will tell you where you actually stand.
Get your free initial reviewThree things that rarely come up.
Policies can usually be written in trust, at no cost
It's paperwork rather than a product. It means the payout goes to the people you intended without waiting on probate, and normally sits outside your estate for inheritance tax. Plenty of policies get set up without it.
Most policies now do more than pay out
Remote GP appointments, second medical opinions, physiotherapy, bereavement and mental health support — usable from the first month, often by your family as well as you, whether or not you ever claim. It's rarely compared and it's one of the bigger differences between two similar-looking quotes.
Guaranteed or reviewable premiums
Reviewable premiums start lower and can be re-priced later. Guaranteed premiums stay fixed for the whole term. The cheaper quote today isn't reliably the cheaper policy, and it's worth knowing which one you're being shown.
The cover you already have
If you're in the police, NHS or emergency services, start with what you've already got.
Our advisers have spent over 20 years working with police officers and NHS staff, and this is the conversation that comes up most. Both pension schemes pay a lump sum if you die while you're still serving — three times pensionable pay under the police scheme, twice under the NHS scheme — with a pension for a husband, wife or civil partner on top, and a children's pension while they remain dependent. The upper age limit depends on the scheme and on whether they stay in full-time education; the calculator applies your scheme's rule.
That's a real benefit, and most people have never worked out the number. It's usually where two surprises turn up.
It's a multiple of your pay, not of your mortgage. Three times salary is a significant sum right up until it has to clear the mortgage and then replace the income the household was built around. Work out your figure, subtract what you owe, and look at what's left.
It belongs to the job. Transfer out, take a career break, move to bank or part-time work, retire at thirty years' service — the cover goes with it. Most mortgages outlive most police careers.
It only pays on death. A stroke, a cancer diagnosis, an injury that never quite comes right — you survive, and death in service pays nothing at all. Sick pay carries you for a while: six months at full pay and six at half for a police officer, and for NHS staff it's tied to length of service, starting at one month at full pay in your first year.
Worth ten minutes either way: check who your nomination form names. The scheme decides where a lump sum goes, taking account of your nomination, and those forms go out of date — one naming a parent when you now have a partner and children is more common than you'd think. If you're not married or in a civil partnership, your partner has conditions to satisfy before a survivor's pension is paid at all: both schemes look for a long-term, financially interdependent relationship, normally of at least two years, and they expect it evidenced. Do that whether or not you ever speak to us.
Death in Service Calculator
Choose your scheme, put in your pay and service, and see what it would pay your family. A couple of minutes, nothing to download.
This calculator is for illustration purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Your actual Death in Service benefit depends on your years of service, your pay and the rules of your pension scheme. If any of your NHS membership is in the 1995 or 2008 Section, your actual benefits may differ. Please speak to an adviser for personalised guidance.
When it's worth a conversation.
Protection is easy to leave for another year. These are the points where it genuinely shouldn't wait.
You've just bought, moved or remortgaged.
The debt changed. If the cover didn't change with it, one of those two numbers is now wrong.
Something changed at home.
A baby, a marriage, a separation, a partner going part-time, a parent moving in. Each of those changes who relies on your income.
Yours is the income the household runs on.
Single earner, self-employed, or a job where sick pay is thin or non-existent. The gap between a full wage and statutory sick pay is where most households come unstuck.
You've got cover but haven't looked at it in years.
Policies bought alongside a mortgage a decade ago are often the wrong size, the wrong shape, or still running long after the mortgage they were sold with was repaid. Reviewing it is free. Don't cancel anything before you've done it.
You've been told you can't be covered.
One insurer's decline isn't the market's answer, and it's a poor reason to stop asking.
You're changing employer, leaving or retiring.
Cover that came with the job leaves with it. If the mortgage doesn't end at the same time, that's worth planning before the last day rather than after.
Why us
Why people take protection advice from us.
We start with what you've already got
Scheme and employer benefits first, existing policies second, new cover last. It's the only order that makes sense, and the one most advice skips.
We know where policies actually differ
Two quotes that look identical can behave completely differently at the point of claim. Definitions, waiting periods, how premiums are reviewed, what the policy does for you before you ever claim. That's the part worth paying attention to, and it's not on a comparison site.
We'll tell you when the answer is no
If you're already covered, or what you've got is better than anything we'd replace it with, we'll say so. Your advice is paid for by the insurer, not by you — and we only get paid if you take a policy. That's precisely why it matters that we'll tell you when you don't need one.
Around your schedule, not against it
Evenings, weekends, rest days. One named adviser you can reach, not a call queue and a different person each time.
Step by step
How protection advice works.
A short conversation about your mortgage, your household, your income and who relies on it. Twenty minutes, no paperwork, no obligation.
Employer and scheme benefits, any existing policies, and the sick pay you'd fall back on. You end up with one figure: what's covered, and what isn't.
We look at what's available across the market and tell you where the real differences are — definitions, waiting periods, guaranteed versus reviewable premiums. Then we recommend what fits, at a price that survives contact with your actual monthly budget.
We complete the application, deal with the insurer's questions and any medical evidence, and tell you the moment cover is live. Nothing existing gets cancelled until it is. Then we check in when your mortgage or your circumstances change.
Tell us what you're protecting
A short conversation about your mortgage, your household, your income and who relies on it. Twenty minutes, no paperwork, no obligation.
We work out what you already have
Employer and scheme benefits, any existing policies, and the sick pay you'd fall back on. You end up with one figure: what's covered, and what isn't.
We compare cover and explain the trade-offs
We look at what's available across the market and tell you where the real differences are — definitions, waiting periods, guaranteed versus reviewable premiums. Then we recommend what fits, at a price that survives contact with your actual monthly budget.
We handle the application and stay in touch
We complete the application, deal with the insurer's questions and any medical evidence, and tell you the moment cover is live. Nothing existing gets cancelled until it is. Then we check in when your mortgage or your circumstances change.
Good questions
Questions about protection.
My adviser really understands me and my needs. This is the third time they've arranged my mortgage. When I speak to them, it's like catching up with an old friend. I've never been disappointed with their recommendations and I feel I'm getting sound advice I can trust.
Ready to get started?
Free initial review. No obligation. One named adviser who'll start with the cover you already have.