# Cornmarket, AVCs and Salary Protection



## BigDer (19 Jun 2009)

Hi everyone.
I am a 29 yo teacher in good health. Last year I took out salary protection with Cornmarket along with an AVC. 

I have mortgage protection with Irish Life that will pay out if my fiancee or I die. I have health insurance with Hibernian Aviva on the Teacher's Plan.

Can anyone tell me if I am wasting my money? Do these things cancel each other out? Should I switch to other insurers etc... I know Cornmarket have been discussed before on this forum but that was a few years ago and I am not sure if the points made are still relevant.
Thanks!


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## LDFerguson (20 Jun 2009)

Hi BigDer, 

If you can afford them, all of the plans you have are of value.  Here's a quick rundown of what each covers: - 


Salary protection: Pays you an income if you cannot work due to illness for an extended period.
AVC: Supplements your pension.  This is the controversial one.  Check what charges you are paying, i.e. how much of your contribution is actually getting to your fund.  Also - investigate if your money might be better spent on Notional Service Purchase ("buying back years").  There are loas of threads on Askaboutmoney about this in the Public Sector Pensions forum.
Mortgage Protection life assurance - obligatory if you have a mortgage.  Pays off the mortgage in the event of either death.  Check online to see if you can get a better quote.
Health insurance - I presume this is health insurance of the "hospital fees" variety - this pays your hospital bills and other medical costs.
Regards, Liam


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## BigDer (23 Jun 2009)

cheers. am after contacting LABrokers as they seem to be recommended on this site in relation to switching to a PRSA AVC. Do you think this is a good idea? thanks for your time


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## Patrick2008 (23 Jun 2009)

didnt Prime time investiagtes do a report on cornmarket last year or earlier this year and made some startling revealations. do some more researchfirst and dont take the advidce of the first person that comes along.


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## Towger (23 Jun 2009)

LDFerguson said:


> Salary protection: Pays you an income if you cannot work due to illness for an extended period.




Would you need this if you are a state employed teacher?


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## BigDer (23 Jun 2009)

cornmarket are charging large fees for my AVC, so LA Brokers/ Eagle Star are offering a PRSA AVC, without advice, for much cheaper. So am gonna switch to them I suppose. 
In relation to salary protection,a teacher without it would get 12 months salary every 4 years if they could no longer work, so they would be in a bad way in other words. Salary protection gives you 75% of your salary if you can no longer work. I'm just wondering if it is too expensive for what's on offer and if Cornmarket would be reluctant to pay out.
Any thoughts?


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