Money-Minder.

com Life Insurance Comparison Service Helps Consumers Become ‘DIYFA

’s
Money-Minder.com’s Finance Navigators Help Consumers Make Their Own Decisions An
d Save Hundreds Of Pounds
London, UK, May 05, 2010 -- Life insurance and protection comparison service Mon
ey-minder.com says its innovative ‘Finance Navigator’ tool is the closest thing
yet to being able to provide fully automated financial advice for life and prote
ction products and could save consumers hundreds or even thousands of pounds.
Visitors to the Money-Minder.com website can use the tool, developed over the la
st 5 years by experienced IFA and Money-minder.com founder Ray Black, to help th
em decide the type and amount of cover best suited to them before going on to co
mpare insurance products from different insurers.
Customers who use the finance navigators to research the different products avai
lable can save themselves hundreds and sometimes thousands of pounds by becoming
what Ray calls ‘Do It Yourself Financial Advisers’ (or ‘DIYFAs’) and making th
eir own informed decisions aided by the finance navigators as opposed to having
to speak to a human adviser.
Ray Black, founder of Money-minder.com said: “Level term assurance is one of the
simplest protection products and most people using our finance navigator will e
asily be able to decide what cover they need and then compare deals from differe
nt insurers. Despite what some life insurance brokers will tell you, most consum
ers taking out a simple term assurance policy should not need to pay what could
easily be hundreds or thousands of pounds more in higher policy premiums for hum
an advice when they could get all the help they need from an automated guidance
service like our finance navigators.”
Using one example1 of a couple looking for £250,000 of level term life assurance
for 25 years the lowest guaranteed premium found by money-minder.com was £13.13
p per month together with a one off £35.00 admin charge. If the customer opted f
or advice over the telephone there would not be an admin charge but the premium
would increase to £16.24p per month. Over the full 25 year term of the policy th
e cost of taking advice would cost the consumer an extra £898.00.
As premiums increase so too does the cost of advice. Using an example2 of a 29 y
ear old male looking for £250,000 of life and critical illness cover for 25 year
s the lowest guaranteed premium was £39.29 per month again with a one off £35.00
admin charge. If the customer opted for advice over the telephone there would b
e no admin charge but the monthly premium would jump to £49.47. Over the full 25
year term of the policy the full cost to the customer of taking advice would be
a whopping £3019.00!
Ray Black continued: “Given the choice, most people would probably opt for spend
ing a bit of time doing their own guided research and learning more about the pr
oduct they were considering rather than handing over £3000.00 to an adviser. Bec
ause the cost is spread across the term of the policy the difference doesn’t loo
k like much when you compare monthly premiums but it does mount up. Our finance
navigators guide you through the most relevant questions a human adviser would a
sk to be able to provide a recommendation. However, the finance navigator has th
e added advantage of being able to help you establish your own needs at any time
of the day or night from the comfort of your own home.”
Another advantage of the Money-Minder.com approach is that customers get unprece
dented choice and transparency when comparing the results of a search for life o
r protection products. Four price options are displayed side by side giving the
clearest indication of the savings which can be made if consumers are confident
in making their own choice or the cost of receiving advice from a qualified IFA.
If customers are still unsure after using a finance navigator they can opt to g
et advice over the phone or face to face in the full knowledge of how much extra
their monthly premium will be.
The prices displayed on the search results page comprise:
1. Flat Fee: The cheapest monthly premium as Money-Minder give up all the initia
l commission. The customer prints off and completes the application form and Mon
ey-Minder process it for a one off £35 fee.
2. Minimum Hassle: The customer provides a few details and Money-Minder do the r
est. There’s no processing fee but the monthly premiums are usually slightly hig
her.
3. Advice over the phone: Money-Minder will call at a time to suit the customer,
give them advice over the phone and handle all the paperwork.
4. Face to Face advice: Money-Minder will arrange for a Money-Minder approved IF
A to meet the customer at a time to suit them.
The Money-Minder.com service is unique in that unlike other life insurance and p
rotection websites it doesn’t require customers to choose an advised or ‘executi
on only’ route to make their purchase at the very start of the process.
Ray Black said: “It’s convenient to some life insurance brokers to force a custo
mer to choose an execution only or advised service route at the start of their s
earch when they have had very little information to base this decision on. Howev
er, for a straightforward product such as term assurance some simple guidance an
d explanations may be all that’s needed for a customer to go ahead and choose a
product without advice. Unfortunately if they selected an advised route at the s
tart of their search they wouldn’t be aware of the savings they could make by ch
oosing a self advised approach instead.”
About Us / Contact Us
Jason Wyer-Smith at 42 PR on 07824 818242
Email: jason@42pr.com
Ray Black at Money-Minder.com 01529 300300
Email: ray@money-minder.com
Notes to Editors:
To link to our site please use: http://www.money-minder.com
Quotes generated on the 22nd April 2010 using money-minder.com
1 Example is a 25 year joint life, first death level term assurance policy with
£250,000 of cover. Male 30 next birthday, female 28 next birthday. Premiums quot
ed are for a policy with LV with guaranteed premiums.
2 Example is a 25 year life and critical illness policy with £250,000 of cover.
Male 30 next birthday. Premiums quoted are for a policy with PruProtect with gua
ranteed premiums.
Money-Minder.com was founded and created by Ray Black, Dip PFS, an Independent F
inancial Adviser. Money-Minder.com is online personal finance website that incor
porates an exclusive and unique interactive comparison service providing free ge
nuinely online quotes and is full of useful information to help customers choose
the right cover and product to suit their needs.
The site currently provides comparisons on life and protection products - term a
ssurance, critical illness, mortgage protection and income protection. The site’
s ‘Finance Navigators’ help customers to make their own informed choices and dec
isions but Money-Minder also provides easy access to highly qualified independen
t financial advisers (IFAs) if required.
Money-Minder.com is fully authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Aut
hority (FSA)
Contact:
Jason Wyer-Smith
Money Minder
Church Cottages
Norfolk
07824 818242
jason@42pr.com
http://www.money-minder.com