Bulletin 10, 2006
Round up
Life insurance rate changes announced by Axa, Scottish Provident, Norwich Union and Friends Provident.
IHT threshold to rise £50,000 over four years to £325,000.
Many Britons would prefer to pay more in income tax if it meant inheritance tax could be abolished.
Young women out-drinking men
Just two weeks after LifeSearch reported that for the first time the number of women buying life insurance and other protection products was higher than the number of men, a new European-wide study has found that young women are out-drinking men of the same age in the UK.
Comments of the week
'Gordon Brown showed just how quickly and easily he can change his mind when in this Budget he withdrew the tax advantages that he so recently gave to employers who provide employees with home computers. He is obviously quite prepared to abolish a very new tax relief immediately he finds it costs too much. The Treasury looks as if it has grossly underestimated the potential tax cost of pension term assurance relief, and I would not be surprised if he changed his mind and abolished it within a very short time. As we suggested in the March edition of the Taxbriefs Financial Timesaver, wise advisers will warn clients of this possibility when they recommend pension term assurance.'
Danby Bloch
Director, Taxbriefs
'We will be producing factsheets for both AIFA and AMI on Pension Term Assurance highlighting the factors that need to be considered to ensure members are fully aware of the associated potential risks. We are particularly concerned about Pension Term Assurance being sold without advice, on the back of the available tax-relief, where it may not be suitable and where consumers may not understand the potentially serious impact upon their pension benefits.'
Fay Goddard
Deputy General, AIFA
'Is the new Pension Term Assurance market the storm before the lull?'
LifeSearch Adviser
Villain of the week
The BBC
Sunday night's new drama/comedy (I couldn't quite decide which) 'Mayo' featured a widower who was stealing money from their business because the life insurance policy refused to pay out as his spouse was 'drunk at the wheel' when she crashed her car and passed away. But the reality is that, unless she had hidden an alcoholic past, this is actually rubbish as life insurance policies would pay out, just as they would do for suicide.
Hero of the week
The BBC
Sunday night's new drama/comedy (I couldn't quite decide which) 'Mayo' featured a widower who was stealing money from their business because the life insurance policy refused to pay out as his spouse was 'drunk at the wheel' when she crashed her car and passed away. But the reality is that, unless she had hidden an alcoholic past, this is actually rubbish as life insurance policies would pay out, just as they would do for suicide.Back to Life Insurance Bulletins
