Financial Protection
Clearly, protecting the financial security of your family or business can be considered to be the ‘cornerstone' of holistic financial planning.
The media has documented that there now is a significant gap in life protection, suggesting there is currently a £2.3 trillion life shortfall. Indeed 39% of UK adults do not have any form of protection, almost 85% of people do not have critical illness cover and 91% do not have income protection. Sources: Swiss Re Term & Health Watch Survey 2008, Mintel Life & Critical Surveys 2008.
Our experience demonstrates that this is because many individuals simply do not understand how to calculate the correct levels of cover required. Here at McCarthy Taylor Limited, we provide bespoke solutions for your protection needs.
Because we are fee based we can offer a totally impartial service, offering advice rather than promoting products that might generate substantial commissions. By not taking commissions, premiums are often significantly reduced. Sometimes our advice results in recommending that cover is not required, can be reduced or even dispensed with, where a client's circumstances permit. The key to the process is understanding your needs fully, researching possible solutions, to obtain best price and terms, reporting the options to you in a clear and concise manner and having agreed a satisfactory strategy, implementing the requirements effectively in a confidential, sensitive and professional manner.
We provide expert advice in the following areas:
Personal Cover
- Life protection
- Critical Illness
- Income Protection
- Mortgage Protection
- Private Medical Insurance
- Inheritance Tax Liabilities
Whether it is protecting your family's financial situation from the effects of death/ill-health, or ensuring that your liabilities are covered correctly, McCarthy Taylor can provide fee-based solutions. The advantage of our fee-based approach is that we are not biased towards any one company, meaning that the recommendations we make are based upon plans which provide good quality cover.
Because we provide a full bespoke holistic service we can advise on not only the tax implications but also the wider implications of having appropriate cover. We liaise closely with solicitors to ensure legal requirements are met, synchronising our advice with estate planning, trusts and family requirements having a financial impact.
The service we provide ensures that the process is dealt with sensitively and efficiently. We will administer the applications for chosen solutions from start to finish. In the event of a claim we will be able to assist in handling claims.
Business Protection
We realise the challenges of the modern business environment mean that companies will want to review their arrangements regularly to ensure they remain appropriate and cost effective. Our approach is to reduce the costs to the company not only in obtaining effective and competitive pricing but also in ensuring advice is delivered efficiently and implementation or administration is undertaken to a high standard, reducing the internal cost implications for the company.
We have acted for all sizes of business from the sole trader to the plc and understand the key issues that affect our business clients.
The following are the major areas of activity for our Corporate and Business clients:
- Shareholder Protection for privately owned Limited Companies
- Partnership Protection
Protecting the financial position of your business, could be considered to be of equal importance to covering your personal position properly.
With respect to privately owned Limited companies, the Directors may be concerned that adequate financial arrangements are in place should a shareholder die. For example; is there a suitable plan in place so that the other shareholders or Directors can purchase the shares from the deceased's Estate? Is there a suitable shareholder agreement in place, which stipulates what options the shareholder Directors have in that event? Would the current shareholder's be happy, if control of the company passes to an unknown 3rd party? Has sufficient thought been given to succession planning?
The above equally applies to partnerships although the techniques and legal requirements are very different.
In these situations, how much should the business owners be covered for and how should these plans be set up, in order to maximise tax efficiency? McCarthy Taylor can provide the right solution.
- Key Person Insurance
One area of planning often overlooked by smaller companies and not always reviewed regularly even in larger companies, is with respect to the risks to the company of losing their greatest asset; people that they employ. Clearly, some individuals are easier to replace than others. However, there can be significant short to medium term costs involved, should a ‘key' member of Staff die or become incapacitated.
An individual may have built up important relationships which are not easily replaced and which have contributed to the profitability of the company. Through death or ill-health of the ‘key' individual, this could have an adverse financial effect on the company. McCarthy Taylor will advise you on how such cover should be calculated and correctly set up.
Employee Benefits
Our experience shows that a high quality employment package builds employee loyalty and helps reduce Staff turnover costs. Along with advising on and implementing Group pension schemes, we can provide stand-alone protection solutions for small to medium sized companies. Such schemes can be arranged for as little as 5 members.
These are as follows:
- Group Life Assurance (Death in Service)
- Group Income Protection
- Group Critical Illness
- Group Medical Insurance
Clearly, as employer, you are concerned with enhancing your employment package as well as ensuring that if your employee is ill, or requires hospital care, you can get them back to work as soon as possible. A Group Medical Insurance scheme would assist with this, since you would not be reliant upon the NHS and the time implications that this often infers.
In addition, you may also be concerned with your employee's financial welfare and you want to provide an ongoing income, if they are unable to work due to ill-health. This could be of importance if the level of sick pay the company can afford is low. A Group Income Protection scheme could provide a solution.
Whatever protection requirement you or your company has, we can provide expert fee-based advice on suitable solutions.
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McCarthy Taylor Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/home.do). FSA Registration No: 184658
The Financial Services Authority does not regulate National Savings or some forms of mortgage, tax planning, taxation and trust advice, offshore investments, school fees planning or some types of investment.