Confidential recommendationYour Protection Recommendation
for your family, your household liquidity, and BrightHawk Consulting Limited
Gavin and Helen Beere
LTD contractor household · two directors · outside-IR35 contracts · recommendation built around company-funded continuity while the existing personal plans are audited properly.
Recommendation
The immediate objective is to restore practical continuity through the company, then finish the existing-plan audit so the final recommendation is based on evidence rather than assumption.
Dear Gavin and Helen, thank you again for the discussion. The clearest theme from the meeting was continuity: if Gavin were unable to work, the household would need immediate liquidity, Helen would need breathing room, and BrightHawk Consulting Limited would lose the individual currently driving the greater share of income.
That makes the most sensible starting point a company-funded structure rather than a rushed personal-policy replacement exercise. Relevant Life for both of you restores death-in-service style support through the company, while the serious illness illustrations create capital if treatment, recovery, or major diagnosis interrupted family cash flow or contract delivery.
The underwriting outcome is constructive: the disclosed raised blood pressure was accepted at standard rates across the board. That allows the recommendation to be driven by structure, term, and affordability rather than pricing penalties. On the present facts, the cleanest midpoint remains Gavin at £1,000,000 Relevant Life to age 65 plus £150,000 serious illness cover to age 65, with Helen at £750,000 Relevant Life to age 65 plus £75,000 serious illness cover to age 65.
The most important caveat is still the existing-policy audit. Until those schedules are reviewed properly, this page should be treated as the working recommendation: the structure we would build first, then refine into top-up, replacement, or a blend of both once the current plans have been compared on ownership, definitions, term, and guarantees.
Tom Hitchcock
Founder / Director · Protection Adviser
Recommendation lens
With four children, an interest-only mortgage, and the loss of previous employment benefits, accessible capital still has a clear practical role.
Recommendation lens
The company’s value is strongly linked to Gavin’s continued ability to contract, so interruption risk shows up quickly rather than gradually.
Recommendation lens
Using the company to fund cover can be materially cleaner than paying personally from post-tax drawings, especially while profits are still being retained.
Recommendation lens
The personal plans may still prove useful, but they should be reviewed properly before anything is cancelled, reduced, or duplicated unnecessarily.
Current Plans
The key point here is nuance rather than cancellation. Some cover is already in force, but it needs checking against term, ownership, and how well it fits the commercial structure now being explored.
Existing position
Cover level
£500,000
Term
Ends around 2029
Useful short-term cover remains in place, but it no longer replaces the employer death-in-service support Gavin previously had and it is approaching the end of its term.
Existing position
Cover level
Approx. £1.1m life cover including £100,000 critical illness
Term
Runs to just before age 70
Potentially valuable long-term cover, but the paperwork still needs to confirm insurer, definitions, guaranteed terms, ownership, and whether the best outcome is top-up or replacement.
Existing position
Cover level
Approx. £600,000 death-in-service
Term
No longer active
This benefit fell away when Gavin returned to contracting, leaving a meaningful continuity gap for both the household and the company-funded structure now being considered.
Working conclusion
Until the current schedules are reviewed in detail, the most prudent approach is to treat the company-funded structure below as the preferred framework and then test whether the personal plans should be retained, reduced, or replaced. That avoids discarding useful guarantees prematurely while still moving the planning onto a stronger footing for a contractor-led business.
Relevant Life
Relevant Life restores death-in-service style support in a structure that suits a contractor-owned limited company. The premium is paid by BrightHawk Consulting Limited, the benefit sits in trust, and the recommendation is built around speed of payout and cleaner tax treatment.
Corporation Tax relief at 19%
The illustrations below are framed on a 19% small-profits rate assumption. That keeps the company-funded structure materially cleaner than buying equivalent life cover personally from taxed income, while avoiding Benefit in Kind treatment on the Relevant Life arrangement itself.
This restores the kind of family support employment once provided automatically, but does so through BrightHawk Consulting Limited in a structure that is designed for contractor owners rather than salaried employees.
If a terminal illness were diagnosed during the term, the policy can pay early rather than leaving the family to wait for later probate or company decisions.
The trust structure is central to speed and practicality. It helps the proceeds reach the family outside the estate, which matters if the objective is fast access to capital at the point of stress.
The illustration is designed as a company-funded business expense rather than a personal taxable benefit, which keeps the structure materially cleaner than paying equivalent life cover personally from post-tax income.
The current preference remains £1,000,000 to age 65. It keeps meaningful cover in force through the remaining working years without automatically extending cost to the longest term unless the audit later shows that is still necessary.
Illustrations
Indexed terms
£500,000.00
Indexed
£750,000.00
Indexed
£1,000,000.00
Indexed
Illustrations
Indexed terms
£500,000.00
Indexed
£750,000.00
Indexed
£1,000,000.00
Indexed
Illustrations
Indexed terms
£500,000.00
Indexed
£750,000.00
Indexed
£1,000,000.00
Indexed
Helen’s cover still matters operationally and personally as co-director and the person supporting the accounts and administration of the business. The current midpoint remains £750,000 to age 65.
Illustrations
Indexed terms
£500,000.00
Indexed
£750,000.00
Indexed
£1,000,000.00
Indexed
Illustrations
Indexed terms
£500,000.00
Indexed
£750,000.00
Indexed
£1,000,000.00
Indexed
Illustrations
Indexed terms
£500,000.00
Indexed
£750,000.00
Indexed
£1,000,000.00
Indexed
Business Serious Illness
The serious illness illustrations are there to protect working capital, mortgage resilience, and household breathing room if either of you suffered a major illness during the remaining contracting years. The detailed x3 technical notes below relate to Gavin’s recommended Business Serious Illness structure, while Helen’s lower-range illustration remains on the x2 basis requested.
The objective is liquidity if illness interrupts billable work, household planning, or the company’s operational rhythm.
A lump sum gives the household time to respond intelligently instead of relying on pensions, retained profits, or hurried asset decisions.
Helen’s role in accounts and administration means illness on either side of the household can still create genuine business strain, not just personal strain.
These illustrations should be treated as the working structure while the existing policy schedules are reviewed properly and compared on definitions, term, and ownership.
Saved-skill x3 product detail
The detail below is the full contractor-skill explanation for Vitality Business Serious Illness Cover on the 3X basis. It is included here so the recommendation explains not just cost, but exactly what the x3 structure is designed to do for a contractor-led business.
Tax-efficient through BrightHawk Consulting Limited
On the current 19% corporation-tax assumption, Business Serious Illness premiums can be materially cleaner when paid by the company than when funded personally from post-tax drawings. Corporation Tax deductibility ultimately depends on purpose, policy structure, and the insured person’s usefulness to the company, but this is why the recommendation is being framed through the business rather than only as a personal policy exercise.
Vitality Business Serious Illness Cover on the 3X basis covers 167 conditions under the business guide, giving materially broader protection than a simpler critical illness plan.
With 3X cover, separate claims can be made up to three times the original cover amount, subject to the policy rules and condition definitions.
The plan can pay from 5% for earliest-stage conditions right through to 100% for the most serious diagnoses, instead of waiting only for the worst-case presentation.
For 24 covered procedures, the plan can assess a claim when the insured is formally placed on an NHS waiting list, potentially creating capital before surgery happens.
The point of the 3X structure is not only that it can pay three times in total, but that it is designed to recognise earlier-stage illness as well. Using Gavin’s recommended £150,000 cover level, the table below shows how the payout scale works.
| Payout | Severity | Available on | Example on £150,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100% | Life-threatening | 1X, 2X, 3X | £150,000 |
| 75% | Severe | 1X, 2X, 3X | £112,500 |
| 50% | Moderate | 1X, 2X, 3X | £75,000 |
| 25% | Significant | 2X, 3X | £37,500 |
| 15% | Early-stage | 2X, 3X | £22,500 |
| 10% | Minor | 3X only | £15,000 |
| 5% | Earliest detection | 3X only | £7,500 |
The saved contractor skill groups the 3X discussion around the ways a consultant’s earning power is actually lost: impaired cognition, weakened visual precision, cardiovascular recovery time, reduced dexterity, cancer treatment, and serious neurological or communication effects.
Gavin’s value is strongly tied to concentration, judgement, client communication, and the ability to manage multiple programmes at once. Conditions affecting cognition or executive function would cut directly into billable capability.
Scenario
If a stroke affected memory, reasoning, or speech, Gavin might be unable to lead workshops, manage stakeholders, or produce strategic deliverables. Under 3X, the plan can respond from partial severity levels right up to a full payout depending on the diagnosis and lasting impact.
Screen-based delivery, document review, and sustained analysis all depend on visual precision. Even partial vision loss could materially reduce Gavin’s ability to work at the current level.
Scenario
A visual condition affecting screen work could stop Gavin from reviewing plans, writing reports, or supervising delivery properly. The point of the cover is to create cash while the business and family adjust, not only after the most extreme outcome.
Cardiovascular events can cause months of disruption, fatigue, and recovery even where the long-term prognosis is good. For a contractor-led company, that can translate quickly into interrupted revenue.
Scenario
If Gavin suffered a heart attack requiring bypass surgery, the plan could create capital for household commitments and business continuity while work paused. The NHS Waiting List feature also matters here because some relevant procedures can be considered before surgery happens.
Even though Gavin is not in a manual trade, his work still depends on reliable keyboard use, sustained desk work, and physical tolerance for long delivery days. Conditions affecting hands, arms, or posture can still become commercially serious.
Scenario
A severe musculoskeletal condition could leave Gavin unable to type, review technical output, or work for sustained periods. That is precisely where Own Occupation and Work Tasks definitions become important.
Cancer remains the dominant reason for critical illness claims. The attraction of 3X is that it is designed to pay across multiple severity stages rather than only the most advanced presentation.
Scenario
An early-stage cancer requiring treatment could still derail contract delivery for months. A traditional policy might not respond as early, whereas 3X is built to recognise earlier-stage events on lower payout tiers as well.
Not every serious event is a straightforward physical disability. Conditions affecting communication, reasoning, or personality could make client-facing project work impossible long before more basic daily living tests are met.
Scenario
A severe neurological event might leave Gavin medically alive but unable to communicate, reason, or operate at director level. The role-specific definitions below are there to make that distinction clear.
Payout before surgery — not after
Vitality’s Waiting List Benefit can be assessed when the insured is formally placed on an NHS waiting list for one of 24 covered procedures. That matters because the policy is designed to create a tax-free lump sum while treatment is still pending, rather than forcing the family or business to wait until after surgery.
Illustrative example
On Gavin’s £150,000 x3 illustration, a covered procedure placed onto an NHS waiting list could lead to an assessed payout before the operation itself. For example, a 50% payment = £75,000 would materially change the household’s options: private treatment, reduced pressure on retained profits, or simple breathing room while work is paused.
Available on all plans
1X, 2X and 3X — 14 procedures
Available on 2X and 3X
6 additional procedures
Exclusive to 3X
4 additional procedures on Gavin’s recommended basis
The contractor skill also requires the TPD definitions to be explained properly, because the strength of a serious illness recommendation is not only about listed conditions. It is also about how disability is judged if a condition stops Gavin doing the specific job that generates BrightHawk’s income.
Assessed on the ability to perform Gavin’s own specific role. This is the gold-standard TPD definition because it is based on the real job rather than a theoretical alternative job.
How it works in practice
For Gavin, that means leading client workshops, producing strategic deliverables, reviewing technical output, managing timelines across programmes, and communicating clearly with senior stakeholders. If a condition prevents those duties, the definition can respond even if some lighter role might still be possible in theory.
Why this matters here
This is especially important for a contractor because insurers should not be able to argue that some lower-intensity desk role means there is no valid claim. The test should be the role that actually generates the company’s income.
Illustrative claim scenarios
A neurological condition that prevents sustained concentration on complex programme work.
A musculoskeletal condition that makes prolonged keyboard use and deliverable preparation impossible.
A cardiovascular event that leaves chronic fatigue and prevents the pace of client-facing contracting work.
Assessed against specific work tasks such as walking, lifting, bending, communicating, and using a keyboard or mouse. The payout scales with the number of tasks affected.
How it works in practice
This creates a second route to claim if the condition does not fit the pure Own Occupation test cleanly but still affects enough work functions to create a meaningful disability.
Why this matters here
For a contractor whose work blends meetings, screen work, travel, and sustained communication, several moderate impairments can combine into a material commercial problem even if no single symptom tells the whole story.
Illustrative claim scenarios
Severe carpal tunnel syndrome preventing effective keyboard use.
Stroke affecting both communication and manual dexterity.
Spinal injury affecting mobility, desk tolerance, and sustained workstation use.
Assessed on the ability to perform everyday activities such as washing, dressing, feeding, mobility, and continence. This is the final safety net for the most severe outcomes.
How it works in practice
Where illness or injury becomes severe enough to affect basic daily living, the definition can still create a payout even if the medical route does not fit another category neatly.
Why this matters here
This is not the primary protection test Gavin should rely on, but it remains an important backstop for catastrophic outcomes that affect both work and ordinary independence.
Illustrative claim scenarios
A severe stroke affecting self-care and mobility.
An advanced neurological condition affecting feeding, dressing, and movement.
A major spinal injury affecting multiple daily living activities.
Recommendation logic
Based on the discussion, Gavin’s comfort point remained around £150,000 rather than trying to insure the full contract value, while Helen’s requested lower range remained the more proportionate way to protect the household without over-engineering the structure. That leaves the current working midpoint at £150,000 to age 65 for Gavin on the x3 basis and £75,000 to age 65 for Helen on the x2 basis, subject to the current-plan review.
These are the requested indexed x3 illustrations. The age-65 middle term remains the most proportionate balance between meaningful protection and disciplined cost.
Illustrations
Indexed terms
£100,000.00
Indexed x3
£150,000.00
Indexed x3
£200,000.00
Indexed x3
Illustrations
Indexed terms
£100,000.00
Indexed x3
£150,000.00
Indexed x3
£200,000.00
Indexed x3
Illustrations
Indexed terms
£100,000.00
Indexed x3
£150,000.00
Indexed x3
£200,000.00
Indexed x3
Helen’s requested lower protection range is still valuable because illness within the household would create both personal and business strain. The current midpoint remains £75,000 to age 65 on the indexed x2 basis provided.
Illustrations
Indexed terms
£50,000.00
Indexed x2
£75,000.00
Indexed x2
£100,000.00
Indexed x2
Illustrations
Indexed terms
£50,000.00
Indexed x2
£75,000.00
Indexed x2
£100,000.00
Indexed x2
Illustrations
Indexed terms
£50,000.00
Indexed x2
£75,000.00
Indexed x2
£100,000.00
Indexed x2
Claims Statistics
This claims view sits separately from the product explanation so the insurer evidence can be judged on its own merits. It is here to show how Vitality’s serious illness proposition performs in practice, not to get lost inside the technical wording of the x3 recommendation.
Total claims paid
£142m
Vitality 2024
Conditions covered
167
Business guide on 3X
Cancer claims
69.6%
Largest CI claim cause
Severity tiers
7
From 5% to 100%
The claims picture matters because product breadth only becomes meaningful if real claims experience supports it. Vitality reported £142 million of claims paid in 2024, with cancer remaining the largest cause of serious illness claims.
Separating the claims evidence from the policy features makes the recommendation easier to judge. It answers a different question: not what the x3 structure says on paper, but whether the insurer shows credible breadth and claims activity when real households and businesses actually need support.
69.6%
Cancer remains the largest serious illness claim driver, which is one reason earlier-stage payout definitions matter.
167
Conditions covered across the 3X business guide gives the recommendation practical depth rather than a narrow worst-case-only trigger.
7 tiers
Severity-based payment levels are designed to respond before every claim reaches the most extreme diagnosis threshold.
£142m
A strong annual claims figure helps support the case that the proposition should be examined as a real protection tool, not only a brochure promise.
Cost vs Day Rate
Using a blended working-day value of £1,125, the recommendation remains commercially modest. This section moves cost out of the hero and puts it where it belongs: in a dedicated view of what each policy means against real contractor earnings.
Individual policy costs
Based on £1,125 blended day rate · 22 working days · gross and net cost shown
| Policy | Cover | Monthly | Net | Per day | % of day rate | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gavin Relevant LifeRec To age 65 | £1,000,000 | £163.84 | £132.71 | £7.45 | 0.66% | 3.2 |
Helen Relevant LifeRec To age 65 | £750,000 | £134.81 | £109.20 | £6.13 | 0.54% | 2.6 |
Gavin Serious IllnessRec To age 65 | £150,000 | £216.66 | £175.49 | £9.85 | 0.88% | 4.2 |
Helen Serious IllnessRec To age 65 | £75,000 | £128.98 | £104.47 | £5.86 | 0.52% | 2.5 |
Recommended package
Current midpoint recommendation for both Gavin and Helen together
12.5 minutes
of a blended working day currently funds the full recommended company-funded package. That is a measured spend for restoring dependable capital around a household and company that still rely heavily on Gavin’s ability to keep contracting.
Gross monthly
£644.29
Estimated net after tax relief
£521.87
Daily gross
£29.29
% of blended day rate
2.60%
Your 8-hour working day
Put simply, the recommendation is costing materially less than one hour of a blended working day each month. That makes it easier to treat protection as a deliberate business decision rather than an abstract household expense.
Estimated net daily cost after the 19% corporation-tax assumption is £23.72, which is a helpful reminder that company funding changes the affordability picture materially.
Why This Matters
The Beere household is not building protection from a blank page. What matters here is giving the family and the company faster access to dependable capital if the main earning engine is interrupted.
Two strong university programmes create healthy income, but they also mean the company depends heavily on Gavin’s ability to keep delivering personally and consistently.
This planning is not only about the household. It also protects the person helping to run the finances and administration if either of you faces a serious health shock.
Even with pensions building well, an interest-only mortgage and continuing family support make accessible capital more practical than relying on long-term assets alone.
Where profits are being retained in the business, a company-funded structure can be a measured way to turn part of that capacity into protection rather than leaving all resilience to cash reserves.
Next Steps
This page gives you a coherent framework. The next meeting is where we pressure-test the current schedules, confirm whether the new structure is top-up or replacement, and agree the final implementation path.
Walk through the preferred structure together and confirm the commercial logic behind each cover level.
Audit the current schedules so we can decide whether the new plans should top up, replace, or sit selectively alongside what is already in force.
Complete applications for the agreed plans using the standard-rate outcome already indicated on the raised blood pressure disclosure.
Ensure the company-funded cover is put on risk correctly and the trust arrangements are completed cleanly.
Revisit the structure if contract income, retained profits, mortgage planning, or retirement timing change materially.
Follow-up already in diary
Purpose: present the recommendation, review the current schedules, and agree whether the preferred structure is a top-up, a full replacement, or a blend of both.
Prepared by
Founder / Director · Protection Adviser
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