Johnny Timpson: Four ways to broach the protection conversation

1. Would you rather lose your home or your mortgage? This was a favourite ice-breaker of Dr Marius Barnard, the inventor of critical illness insurance, who died in 2014.  It certainly makes people think. Our own research shows only a fifth of the UK's mortgage holders have a critical illness policy, leaving millions at risk of financial hardship or losing their home if they were to become seriously ill. Compounding the situation is change to Support for Mortgage Interest [SMI], which is the only safety net in place for many families if they were unable to pay their mortgage. People ...