The late, great David Bowie released an excellent song called ‘Changes’ in 1971 and it has always struck me that it is a wonderful soundtrack for the different phases that our lives go through.

We go from carefree children, to rebellious teenagers, our roaring twenties and then on to later adulthood and responsibilities.

With my clients it is very often changes in life that I am most eager to help them with, particularly when it comes to providing insurance cover, when those responsibilities start to kick in.

Those big changes are things like buying your first home, getting married, having children, starting your own business and so on.

All very exciting milestones in life and without wishing to put a dampener on them, times when people also need to think about what might happen if things went wrong.

If you are young, free and single, you probably think you don’t need life insurance. But once you have people who depend on you to keep a roof over their heads – like children or a partner – that changes. What happens to them if you die suddenly? That’s why you need life insurance and it only costs the same as a couple of café coffees a week.

Similarly, when you start work, either in a job or in self-employment, who pays the bills if you are taken ill and can’t work?

According to research from Royal London, only 15% of consumers think people in employment need to take out income protection insurance. Remember, income protection insurance is a long-term policy which pays out if you can’t work because of accident or sickness. Over a million people a year can’t work because they are ill.

By contrast, critical illness insurance is a one-off, lump-sum payment that is paid out if you suffer a critical illness or injury, such as cancer, a stroke or a heart attack.

According to Royal London, only 19% of young people with earning potential, typically aged between 18 and 35, agree that people in employment should consider income protection. And yet of these young people, 56% of them agree that they could only survive for three months if they were ill or injured and unable to work. Some 53% of them have a credit card.

Sadly, the bills don’t stop coming in just because you are sick, injured, lose your job or, worst of all, die suddenly. This is why I always encourage clients, particularly those going through big changes in their lives to look at life insurance, income protection and critical illness insurance, as well as unemployment cover too.

To quote another superb song from 1971, ‘The change it had to come, we knew it all along’ sang The Who, promising that they ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’.

Insurance matters can be complicated, particularly ensuring you get the right cover for your own individual needs. For a free, no obligation discussion on any insurance or mortgage-related issue, please give me a call on 01723 384558 or 07767 692 653 or email me at mgrayshan@googlemail.com