Opportunity is now here!

 Our blog of 16th January - "Why is there so much month left at the end of the money?" followed the theme of reviewing your monthly outgoings to see if any significant savings can be made!

For most of us this REVIEW process should involve not only looking at the cost of our weekly shop, gas, ESB and telephone bills but should also identify that we all have mortgage protection, life insurance and health insurance policies which also need to be reviewed.

 The review of these products should take a twofold approach in that they should not only be reviewed from a cost perspective but also to see if they are still meeting the requirements/needs that they were originally taken out for.

Consider that if you bought a mortgage protection policy five years ago, by shopping around now you would get it cheaper! Why? Currently there is a price war between insurers aligned to a dramatic fall in life insurance rates owing to the fact that people are living longer which has resulted in life insurance becoming much cheaper.

A survey from the National Consumer Agency (NCA) shows that there is a massive difference in costs between insurers. Further research by them also shows that householders could save up to €9,297 on life insurance over a 25 year term.

What if you were a smoker to boot and have now given them up but haven't told your life insurance provider! You could save between €5,000 and almost €9,000 if you give up the fags!! Go to our homepage and get a quote now to test this theory...........

Our blog of 8th December last - "How would they manage if anything happened to you?" becomes even more important in this context especially as life insurance has never been as cheap! So don't put off that review, act now!

As mentioned earlier part of your review should also encompass your health insurance especially when you consider that up to 66,000 people dropped their health insurance cover last year for various reasons but in the main due to the various price hikes carried out by all the providers.

In this context where price hikes have taken place in some instances people could save money either by switching to a different insurer or moving to a corporate or business health insurance plan offering an equivalent level of cover. A further cost saving exercise could be that you opt for a lower cost option plan to satisfy your pocket. That being said though either of the options mentioned above do come with a caveat............please check the benefits gains and losses, check if there will be waiting periods for additional benefits, are there any excesses and if there are any illnesses that are not covered or partially covered! In short make sure that you get the right advice from an expert.

For further advice in the areas of mortgage protection, life insurance or health insurance savings as discussed in this piece please give Alasdair a call on 01 810 1912 or email us info@agsfinancial.ie or have a look at our website for further information. I know Alasdair will be more than happy to help if you give him a call.