Financial Foundations
Customer guide
Life cover
Critical illness cover
Permanent disability cover
Elderly care cover
Introducing Financial Foundations
At Lincoln we are in the business of providing financial security – for you and
your family.
Financial Foundations allows you to pick the benefits you want and place them
in one simple package. This means that rather than having multiple policies to
keep track of, you only have one. You can add or remove, increase or decrease
benefits whenever you like giving you the flexibility you need (subject in some
circumstances to further underwriting and assessment), and you can tailor your
cover to suit your budget.
Pays an agreed tax-free lump sum on death or if you are diagnosed as having a terminal illness.
Life cover (including terminal illness)
Pays a tax-free lump sum if you are diagnosed with one of a range of specified conditions that are more likely in older age.
Elderly care cover
Pays a tax-free lump sum if you are diagnosed with one of a range of conditions or when certain surgical procedures are performed.
Critical illness cover
Pays a tax-free monthly income after a specified period, if an accident or illness prevents you from working. Income protection cover
Pays a tax-free lump sum if one of a range of permanently disabling conditions occurs. Permanent disability cover
Benefits at a glance
Financial Foundations offers the following options
Pays the premium if you become unable to work due to illness or injury. It can be added to any of the benefits and is automatically included if you select the income protection cover.
Help when it matters most
Lincoln is a UK company, regulated by the Financial Services Authority. We rigorously check our solvency levels and maintain a strong profit stream. We often operate at solvency levels which far exceed the minimum standards set by the FSA so you can rest assured we can provide the financial security you need – when you need
it most.
A reviewable policy
Financial Foundations is a reviewable policy. This means that we will review your policy at regular intervals to ensure that the level of premiums your are paying continue to support the level of benefits you want. This could mean that your premiums will need to increase to maintain your benefits throughout life.
More information about this can be found in the Financial Foundations key features document which is available from your financial adviser or from us.
Protection for life
The example below shows how you could tailor
your Financial Foundations policy as you move through life.
*Critical illness cover ceases at age 75
Income protection, critical illness cover and permanent disability cover can be invaluable should
the unexpected happen.
Add or increase life cover, critical illness cover and
permanent disability cover.
Add or increase life cover. Also add your spouse or civil partner to the policy - income protection cover,
critical illness cover and permanent disability cover.
Increase life cover and critical illness cover.
Increase life cover, critical illness cover and
permanent disability cover.
Decrease critical illness cover and permanent disability cover. Replace with elderly care cover.
Income protection cover automatically ceases. Keep
critical illness cover*, permanent disability cover
and elderly care cover. Use life cover for funeral and inheritance planning.
Young, free and single
Buying a house
Tying the knot
New arrivals to the family
Moving to a bigger house
Children grown up, no mortgage
A tax-free cash sum in the event of
specified critical illnesses or surgery
Our national diet and stressful way of life are thought to be major contributing factors in causing some of the most serious illnesses that afflict us today. At the same time however, medical science is constantly finding ways to prolong life. As a result, more people now survive or cope with critical illnesses for much longer.
Cover is needed which provides the means to deal with the disruption to your way of life that a major illness may cause.
Critical illness cover from Lincoln is the answer. It provides a tax-free cash lump sum for you to use as you wish at exactly the time you need it – to enhance your quality of life, to pay off debts or a mortgage, or to supplement a reduction in income. The choice is yours. Please refer to our critical health options booklet for a full list of illnesses and surgical procedures covered. (Note that only certain conditions are covered. For example some types of cancer are not covered). This cover automatically ceases at age 75.
You can choose whether your critical illness, permanent disability or elderly care benefit is paid to you in the form of an advance payment of part or all of the life cover on your policy. In other words, the amount of life cover reduces by the amount of benefit paid. Or you can choose to keep your benefit completely separate from any other cover you have which would mean that the amount of life cover would be unaffected by any claim. Alternatively you can combine both of these options. Your financial
The foundation for your financial security
Life is full of risk – we should recognise this and protect ourselves and our families against the possible effects. Accident, serious illness, the loss of income and partial or permanent disability are all risks and we can take steps towards minimising the financial consequences they will have. There is, however, one event that is not a risk but a certainty – we all die. At whatever stage in our life death occurs, we are likely to leave dependants who will have to carry on without us.
How will your dependants support themselves financially – will they be able to maintain their lifestyle and realise the goals you planned for them?
Modern life cover can provide a simple, economic solution. Its purpose is to meet the expenses that may follow from the loss of a family member such as the payment of debts or funeral costs or, perhaps more importantly, to help replace the anticipated income that is now lost.
Another use of this policy, in an area of increasing concern to many people, is to assist in covering any inheritance tax (IHT) bill payable upon death. IHT planning is no longer solely of concern to the wealthy, 40% tax is payable on the value of your estate over £325,000 (for the 2009/10 tax year). This nil rate limit is due to increase to £350,000 for the 2010/11 tax year.
IHT planning is however a complex area and professional advice should be sought if you are considering using a Financial Foundations policy for this purpose.
Regular reviews of your financial goals and responsibilities to your dependants will ensure your plans match their expectations and needs.
Life cover
Critical illness cover
Choice of critical illness cover payment
A tax-free cash sum should you suffer
irreversible disability
This benefit has been designed to provide a tax-free lump sum should you suffer one of several specified disabilities. The cost can be inexpensive, particularly if you start your policy when you are relatively young.
Permanent disability can strike us at any time – a car crash that results in the loss of limbs, an accident at work resulting in paralysis or an unexpected illness causing blindness.
Should anything like that happen, the last thing you will want to worry about is how you are going to
cope financially.
The cash lump sum is paid tax-free and is yours to use exactly as you wish. You may choose to invest it to provide a replacement income, perhaps buy medical equipment to help you, or just as importantly, help your family cope with your disability.
It doesn’t only pay out if you are unfortunate enough to suffer one of the specified disabilities, it also offers a ‘catch all’ benefit. If you suffer any disability or illness before age 60 that results in you being permanently and totally unable to perform three of the following activities of daily working without assistance, then the benefit will be paid out under these circumstances instead.
These activities are those that are generally required in the workplace – that is:
hearing
use of pen, pencil or keyboard speech
vision standing walking.
It is however important to note that the condition must be ‘total and permanent’.
Please refer to our critical health options booklet for a full list of conditions covered.
Elderly care cover provides a tax-free lump sum at a time when you need looking after during old age. You could use the money for:
making modifications to your home – so you can continue to live with your family
buying medical equipment to improve your quality of life paying for private nursing or residential care
any other purpose appropriate at the time.
Elderly care cover provides a tax-free lump sum should you be diagnosed as suffering from one of several illnesses normally associated with older age:
Alzheimer’s disease Motor neurone disease Parkinson’s disease.
It will also pay out if any disease or injury causes you to become permanently and totally unable to perform three of the following activities of daily living without assistance:
continence dressing feeding mobility using the toilet.
Although the conditions detailed above are associated with older age, if you were to suffer from any of the conditions listed while you are young, we would still pay your cover*. Please refer to our critical health options booklet for a full list of conditions covered.
Please note that elderly care cover provides a lump sum but not continuing benefits and it is not a long term care product.
* As long as elderly care cover has been selected.
A cash lump sum to cover your needs in
old age
Progress in medical science means that we can expect to live a lot longer. But living longer brings its own problems, one of which is the need to protect ourselves in the event of needing care in our later years. Should you be unfortunate enough to become ill or disabled and unable to look after yourself, do you really want to have to rely on the State to provide the long-term care that you may need? And more importantly, can you be confident the State would pay anyway?
The fact is that Local Authorities may take your savings into account before paying a penny towards your long-term care needs. This will include your income, any inheritances and may even include your house.
Providing an income when you can’t work
For most of us the foundation of our lifestyle is our income. With it we pay for our mortgage, our food and drink, our car, leisure pursuits, in fact everything down to our daily newspaper. But what happens if you are no longer able to work because of an accident or illness and your income stops? Unfortunately, long term illness is not the remote possibility you might imagine.
Many employers have a sick pay scheme that pays all or part of your salary for a limited time, say six months, after which time your salary stops. Then, assuming your disability is severe enough for you to qualify and your sickness meets certain requirements, the State takes over - offering minimal support.
But there is a cost-effective solution – income protection cover from Lincoln. By putting aside a small proportion of your regular income today, you can ensure that your income need not stop because of illness.
Alternatively, if you are not in paid work at the time of contracting an illness or disability, or you earn less than £10,000 per annum, you can ensure that your cover is maintained as a houseperson.
Pays the premiums if you become unable
to work
This option pays the premiums to maintain the protection benefits held under this policy should you become unable to work due to accident or illness. It can be added to your policy or is automatically included if the income protection cover is chosen.
What price for peace-of-mind?
Can you afford not to provide you and your family with the reassurance and comfort that such a policy offers? Financial Foundations is comprehensive, competitive and convenient.
What to do next
This brochure should be read together with the Key Features and your personal illustration. Please note that the full range of benefits described may be limited by factors such as your age, state of health and occupation.
For critical illness cover, note that the conditions/disabilities outlined are only a guide to what is covered. We suggest you request a copy of our critical health options booklet before you take the policy out so you are clear about what is and isn’t covered.
The contents of this brochure do not override the provisions of the policy, a copy of which is available on request. All statements regarding taxation are based on our understanding of current laws and HM Revenue and Customs practices as at 1 April 2009. The tax laws may be changed without advance warning. Tax benefits also depend upon individual circumstances.
Important notice:
We will review your policy at periodic intervals (see Key Features) and you may have to increase your premiums to maintain the same level of cover as you get older and if, for example, our charges increase. If you do not increase your premiums following a request from us, we would have to reduce your benefits accordingly.
Income protection cover
How to contact us
Customer Services team
0845 605 2323
customer.services@lincolnuk.co.uk
Post
Customer Services team
Lincoln Financial Group
Barnett Way
Barnwood
Gloucester GL4 3RZ
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