Case Study –Identifying a Significant Protection Gap for a Barrister With a Young Family

The Situation

A self-employed barrister with two young children was approaching a remortgage review.

As part of our wider client service, we offered a protection review alongside the mortgage discussion.

Despite a strong professional income, the review identified significant gaps in the family’s financial protection.

The Challenge

There was no life insurance in place to provide for the family’s mortgage commitment in the event of death. There was also no income protection to support the main household earner if illness or incapacity prevented them from working. Given the client’s family circumstances, we also considered the potential financial impact of a critical illness diagnosis.

The Solution

Following a detailed risk assessment, a combination of protection policies was recommended and arranged. Life insurance was structured to provide sufficient cover to repay the mortgage following the death of either insured party, subject to a valid claim. Income protection was arranged for the main household earner, designed to provide a monthly benefit following qualifying incapacity. This could help the household continue meeting the mortgage, bills and other financial commitments. Critical illness cover was also arranged to provide an additional lump sum following a qualifying diagnosis. Depending on the family’s circumstances at the time, this could provide flexibility to reduce debt or meet immediate financial needs, such as home adaptations, treatment-related costs or travel. The value of the review was in looking beyond the client’s current income and asking what would happen if that income stopped, or if the family faced a serious health event. For a self-employed professional with young dependants, protecting earning capacity and major financial commitments can be just as important as arranging the mortgage itself. By considering life cover, income protection and critical illness cover together, we created a broader protection strategy around the risks identified. Protection policies are subject to eligibility, underwriting, exclusions and policy terms.