Your Finance Story

I had never really taken much notice of life insurance companies, I didn't think it necessary. Whenwe took outour mortgagewe took out the obligatory insurance with whatever company they recommended, butwe never really took the time to compare prices or look around. I was just pleased that my mortgage would be covered if anything happened to me, and didn't think any more about it.

One night I was out with a small group of friends when the conversation turned to life insurance companies, which was the best? What were the best offers available? I'm not really sure how the conversation started, but I remember the look on my friend Anne's face when I said flippantly that I never really bothered. She was most concerned, shehad looked into every aspect of it to make sure that if anything happened to her or her husband Mark, they had it covered. 'That's what life insurance companies are for', she said, exasperated, 'to insure that if somebodydies the rest of their family are well cared for financially, surely you want to leave your family secure, or what if it was Carl, wouldn't he rest easier knowing that you won't have to worry about paying the bills for a while after he's gone?'.

The conversation soon turned to other, more topical things, but I must confess that it weighed quite heavily on my mind that my husband Carl and the kids would be ina bit of a financial pickle if I died, after all, I was the major bread winner in the house, Carl loved his job as a musician, but it was my job in the town hall that really paid most of the bills.

After speaking with Carl the next day, we both decided that it would be sensible to speak to some life insurance companies and see what was on offer. We got a few quotes and decided jointly on what sum we would realistically need in order to comfortably survive such a tragedy. We were only in our thirties, but had heard from time to time about people dying unexpectedly at our age, and it wasn't only traffic accidents and suchlike, but Miss Thomas at the post office told me about her nephew that went to bed and simply didn't wake up in the morning, and he was only 29! We decided to sort it out, the sooner the better, although, God forbid that we'll need to cash it in for at least fifty years!