News Review: Protection
Friends Life and Aviva launch new products by
Kevin Carr, chief executive of the Protection Review and MD of Kevin Carr Consulting
Friends Life, which formed earlier this year when the protection arms of Bupa, axa and Friends Provident became one, has launched its new individual protection proposition for iFas. in what is being described
as a “best of breed” product range, stand out features include guaranteed income protection benefit of up to £15,600 and 14 aBi+ critical illness conditions including cancer, heart attack, stroke and multiple sclerosis. the rating aBi+, which has provoked something of a race amongst product providers to stack up the most, is where the illness definition is considered to be above and beyond the standard baseline
aBi definition, and therefore better for the policyholder. in addition, Friends Life has continued the industry trend towards severity-based cover by offering eight conditions on a partial payment basis, as well as fracture cover, which pays out in the event of a customer suffering one of 18 different types of fracture. Policies can also be written in trust online, which speeds up the traditionally slow paper- based process. aviva meanwhile, has enhanced its critical illness product by adding a number of severity based pay-outs. new customers will be able to receive partial payments for two early forms of cancer: low grade prostate cancer and ductal carcinoma in situ, an early form of breast cancer, of up to £20,000. For both conditions aviva
covers all forms of recognised surgical treatments, which can be important for breast
Ageas labels protection products
Ageas Protect has introduced a consumer friendly product labelling scheme for its protection prod- ucts, similar to the food labelling concept which allows consumers to better understand fat, salt and sugar content, for example.
The labels take into account the major needs that consumers may need to consider including death, serious illness, long term sickness and unemployment amongst others, and will show a colour coded guide highlighting which of the risks are covered and which are not. The life cover key features document will show a green tick for life
cover, but a red cross for other benefits, making it clearer that the product only covers one of the insurable risks.
One of the challenges facing the protection industry is that many people buy a little bit of life cover and think the job is done – that the family is protected, which is far from the reality. Therefore anything we can do to highlight the need for broader cover, including IP and CI where necessary, should be welcomed and promoted by advisers and consumers alike.
cancer patients, given that many critical illness policies only cover mastectomy. a third of breast cancer cases are treated by a mastectomy, compared to two thirds treated by lumpectomy, which underlines the importance of covering several types of treatment. aviva has also made enhancements to a number of conditions and now offers 12 aBi+ conditions under its critical illness cover, including multiple Sclerosis. emma Prescott
of
LifeSearch said: “it’s great to see aviva enhance its cic product - more aBi+ definitions and partial payments make it a more attractive option, which is good news.” this column has
championed the severity- based approach before, especially around early stage cancers, and the indications are that both new propositions are being widely
welcomed by the market. despite these improvements, however, advisers should always be careful before switching existing covers.
News in brief • LifeSearch is looking at developing a specialist pro- tection outsourcing service on a fee-charging basis for financial planners • The Protection Review’s in- dependent training has been warmly received by advisers who attended the first two sessions and it is now hop- ing to arrange further dates next year
• Openwork is hosting a series of protection, general insurance and mortgage road shows across the UK • Protection and health insurance complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service leapt sharply in the second three months of the year
• LifeQuote has developed a decision in principle tool for the protection market to assist advisers with the process of placing difficult lives with insurers • Personal Touch has added a multi-tie protection panel to join its whole of market offering • The Advertising Standards Authority has banned an ad- vertisement from Manches- ter-based claims manage- ment firm PPI Careline for being misleading
Friends Life Protect+. Improved products, more support, greater flexibility. Visit
friendslife.co.uk/individualprotection to find out more
For advisers only. Not for use with customers. Friends Life Holdings (UK) Plc is the parent company of all the companies in the Friends Life group. This group includes Friends Life Services Limited, which has approved this advertisement, and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Friends Life is a business name of companies in the Friends Life group of companies.
www.friendslife.com
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