What a crazy world we live in right now and how so much has changed over the past 6 weeks or so. The priority for everyone is to stay safe and healthy and hopefully we will all get through this together. I’m going to focus on the positive here and it’s been amazing how everyone is working together in so many different areas of business and life. In this blog, I want to give you some information about how Hardiman Life & Pensions wish to help you through this current crisis.

1: Don’t let your life insurance premiums lapse – let me know if you need assistance

Most of the life insurance companies have now provided their position on the flexibility they will provide for individuals who are in financial difficulty and may not be able to continue their premiums. Some providers are offering a premium holiday for 4 – 6 months on the basis that unpaid premiums can be collected over the following 12 months. New Ireland are offering a 3 month Mortgage Protection premium waiver to customers who have been granted a payment break on their mortgage. The 3 months premiums will not be required to be repaid at a later date. However, some of the life companies are not as flexible so if you have any concerns about maintaining premium payments during this time, please reach out and contact us. We are here to help. This is especially the case for any individuals who have underlying conditions as you may find it difficult to get cover again or you may have to pay more to get the same level of cover as your existing policy.

2: Take a Premium Holiday on Your Pension and Savings Plan:

Unfortunately, some people may be suffering from a loss of income as a result of Covid 19. If you are finding it difficult to maintain your pension premiums during this time and don’t have much access to liquid cash, you have the option of going on a premium holiday where payments are paused for a specified period of time. Hopefully, you will be able to return to work and you can activate the premiums again when your position changes for the better. If this will improve your current situation or reduce your worries over the short term again please reach out to us.

If you are still able to maintain your pension contributions then you should continue to do so. Remember you are getting better value with future contributions after a drop in the markets.

3: We can talk you through any concerns about your financial plan and underlying investments:

A key message I want to get out here is that we are monitoring the situation for everyone and working in the background. The Covid-19 crisis has obviously caused a temporary decline in your respective portfolio and the key is to stay calm during this period. We have experienced market declines before and the best course of action is to remain invested and give your portfolio time to recover. A well diversified portfolio will rise again but we just don’t know what length of time that will take. That would require crystal ball glazing!  If you are concerned about any of your pensions or investments please feel free to give me a call. We are here to help you though this period.

4: Technology Upgrades

One benefit from this crisis is we have now created easier ways to do business and the respective life insurance companies/pension providers are starting to embrace technology. We can now process end to end transactions without face to face interactions and we no longer need to print out hard copy forms for signing. For example, we recently executed an online life insurance application through the share screen facility on Zoom. We were then able to avail of docusign where our client was able to select an electronic signature for all of the relevant documentation that required a signature. No printing, scanning or posting involved! 3 life insurance companies have accepted this process which is an exciting development for us!

Finally, I have attached a link to my diary on Calendly. If you wish to discuss any of the above matters in more detail, click here https://calendly.com/daniel-690 and book in a time for me to give you a call via zoom or a normal phone call. This is part of our service to our loyal clients who we truly value at this time.