UKC

We need life insurance, of the type that covers your mortgage. Any recommendations? Obviously I've done the shopping around for different prices, but given they usually ask you silly prices and put silly premiums on when you admit you do some climbing, I thought I'd ask on here to see if anyone has found an insurance company that has a sensible attitude to climbing?!

In reply to Helen ~Taylor:
I have two, one from my original mortgage, the other from last time I moved. The first is through Norwich Union, the second is Standard Life. Neither imposed premiums when told about climbing. Actually, when I took out the first, I didn't climb, when I told them later they said it didn't matter so long as what I originally told them was correct at the time.

Note - the chances are that both of these will have changed as the policies were taken out 10 and 20 years ago!

In reply to Helen ~Taylor:
I think ours is with Norwich Union. We just went through a broker or whatnot (someone who arranges the mortgage) and he sorted out the best deal. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's with them. They asked REALLY stupid questions about climbing (seemed to equate bimbling around on climbing wall/sandstone/Mallorca to attempting an oxygen-free ascent of K2) but we got it sorted in the end. They did ask us to fill in a whole load of extra forms about climbing (or as they called it, 'mountaineering'). Think it was the best premium though.

In reply to Helen ~Taylor:

I went through Summit, the BMC service. They found one that would cover my mortgage plus a bit more (not a lot more!) for £65 per month.

That's for all climbing & mountaineering, including 8,000 metre expeditions (must get round to doing one of those some day...)

In reply to KeithW: i have done the same, its with standard life, no premium for climbing provided its in the uk, which mine is.
their is a cost if you climb abroad, but it relates largely to altitude, the higher youre going, the more it costs.

In reply to fearlessfox: Great - so I can tell the other half he's not allowed to attempt silly heights as it would cost too much on the insurance?! .

Thanks for the suggestions.

In reply to Helen ~Taylor: Ours had to be with our mortgage people, it was tied in.

In reply to Iain Ridgway: Oh we said we were mountain runners, that was all.

It was with natwest, through Countrywide.

In reply to Helen ~Taylor:

Through Norwich Union. Had to fill in a questionnaire but the premiums didn't go up any and are pretty reasonable (I think) ie/ less than a tenner a month.

In reply to Helen ~Taylor:

I'm with Skandia. All done through a broker. About £60 pm I did have to fill in a fairly comprehensive form regarding types, locations etc. I think managed to slip the solo, high altitude new routing through unnoticed though...

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

We were tied to a company called Winterthur Life for our mortgage life policy. The also didn't add any premium when me and Muz started climbing.
Obviously I can't comment on how good their service is if a claim is made. Which is nice...

In reply to fearlessfox:
I'll tell the lady that climbing E10s on grit is safer than walking up the ben then

In reply to Helen ~Taylor:

Many yuppie jobs have life assurance contracts implicit in their pension schemes, which a mortgage lender would consider adequate cover. Has John checked that?

In reply to tobyfk: He does get some cover with work, but not the mortgage, and I need some anyway so he's sorted if I kill myself in the Alps next month .

In reply to Helen ~Taylor:

If you die, I will be on the doorstep of Maranello the next day......

Toby - I will check my Pension agreement - thanks.

In reply to tobyfk: I have life cover as part of my work pension (not a yuppie job) but it would not cover my mortgage. I am with NU but this is only UK climbing, for the Alps and such I have to pay a premium, not done this yet so not sure of the additional cost.

In reply to Helen ~Taylor:

Consider 2 policies it works out cheaper.

Get one to cover death, sickness, incapacity and unemployment for 1yr only - this policy will pay for 12mths from claim only. Check the clauses for unemployment very carefully.

Get another that will pay for life but only from 12mths after claim. This will take over when the 1st lapses if the circumstances remain. Don't bother with unemployment cover for this policy (if you are well you should be able to find employment within a year).

You can take mortage cover for more than the value of your payments (I think 50% more?) take advantage of this.

The two are normally cheaper than a single policy because of the reduced exposure to the insurer in both cases. If you have the time go and see a mortgage advisor who'll know about such policies, it's worth the time.

In reply to The Crow:

Call first to tell them to research this two policy approach, in case they are not familiar?

In reply to Stormmagnet:

That may be a good indicator that you have a ridiculously huge mortgage!

In reply to Helen ~Taylor:

i recently had this worry, though apparently they shouldn't insist on life insurance - though they do like you to have it... i.e. its not a legal requirement though some of them are sods and make you take it out...

i refused it - at £25/month i decided it wasn't on.

In reply to Helen ~Taylor:

We have critical illness etc through the firm. We just need mortgage life assurance for you.

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