The professionals the contracting pilots are being forced to use are certainly not advising their clients. They are collecting money for themselves and for BRK.
Up until recently commercial pilots were charged extra for life insurance and critical illness cover. However some of the main insurance providers have now taken the view that commercial pilots are a much lower risk than single seat and hobby pilots. Because there are two people in the cockpit then the chances of an accident are reduced.
If you took out your life policy, even the one on your mortgage more than three years ago then it is probably worth your while revisiting the issue.
The same principles apply to income protection. The costs for pilots have come down. You will not be covered for the first 9 to 12 weeks but the premiums are fully tax deductible.
Any contracting pilot should be thinking about using the new Irish tax law where a company does not need to pay tax on its profits for the first 3 years to build up a rainy day fund to cover them for 12 weeks. So instead of paying £10k or £20k to Gordon Brown leave it in an Irish company and if you need it you can draw it out as a salary.
I agree though that most financial advisers haven't got a clue when it comes to us. In addition if you are buying new life insurance or income protection ask your broker for half his commission back. In the case of a life policy a broker will receive 100% of your first years premium and in the case of income protections it is 120%.