What does protecting your family mean to you? - Siobhan Watson

The moment your child is first placed into your arms is the most incredible experience, and that overwhelming feeling of love that fills your heart is hard to match. I remember holding my daughter for the very first time and feeling like I would do anything to keep her safe, to protect her. In those early hours, days and months our children are so dependent upon us, they need to be fed, to be kept warm and even need us to ensure they get the rest they need. They need us to protect them from the sun, from the cold and from the risk of infections.

But if I said to you, “I want to talk to you about protecting your family”, I wonder what would be the first thing to come into you head? Would it be room thermometers? Would it be a video baby monitor or would it make you think of immunisations?

All of the above have played an important role in protecting my own children and have their place. However, as a Mortgage and Protection specialist when I say, “Let’s talk about protecting your family” I am not talking about any of the above. What I really mean is, if something suddenly went drastically wrong in your life, what plans and policies do you have in place to ensure that you, and those you love, are financially protected? They depend upon you for so much, so what would they do if you weren’t there to provide for them.

Sometimes, things happen in life that really make you think “What if that happens to me?” I’m not immune to this, so I wanted to open up about some of the “What if...?” questions that have floated around my head.

• What if my husband gets really sick and isn’t able to fight it? What if I lose my husband and our children lose their father?
• What if I get really sick and I’m not able to fight it? What if my husband loses his wife and our children lose their mother?
• What if this happens to both of us?

I know these are the absolute worst case scenarios and I know they can be painful to think about but we all need to think these situations through. It goes without saying that the emotional impact of any of these things happening would be beyond words.

But I want to talk about the things we have put in place to ensure that if the unthinkable were to happen then finances would not be a concern. Knowing that these plans are already in place helps me to stay calm when my husband who is a critical care nurse heads to the hospital for each shift.

This is a personal decision and you should take advice about what policies are best for you and your family. Our priority was knowing that our mortgage would be paid off and our family would have all they needed if the worst were to happen. We don't want to have to rely on the kindness of others or a well meaning GoFundMe page. We want to know that we have a plan. Our plan costs us less than a weekly takeaway, and here is what it consists of:

• We each have a life cover policy which would clear the whole of our mortgage, with a pot of money left over to support the family.
• We each have a critical illness cover policy which would clear the whole of our mortgage if we were diagnosed with a critical illness such as cancer.
• We each have a Family Income Benefit policy which would pay out a regular monthly income until our youngest child reaches 18 if we were to die before then. This would be used to pay our regular living expenses.
• We have written our will. Yes, we are in our thirties but we want to know it is in place now. It includes details of who we would like to be guardians of our children if we are no longer here.

When you are getting ready to be a parent for the first time, there is a lot of talk about being prepared. I feel strongly that it is also a time to prepare for the future, beyond those early days and months because who knows what might happen.

I wonder if you have had similar “What if?” questions going through your head recently. If you’d like to find out more about putting any of the above in place please seek advice from a protection advisor to ensure the policies will be suitable for your personal circumstances.

Author: Siobhan Watson - Mortgage Consultant