Protection provider progress from Royal Liver has launched a new section of its website designed to help existing customers and their advisers with answers to the most common non-underwriting protection queries.

The site offers information on what to do and who to contact in the event of a claim as well as details about progress’s products and FAQs.

It follows the launch in October last year of the firm’s Virtual Underwriter, which concerned application and underwriting queries.

Helen Southgate, IFA marketing consultant at Royal Liver, says: “The aim of the new customer website is to provide customers and their advisers with practical information, using a modern alternative to picking up the phone.

“It also shows that we remain committed to treating customers fairly in an online world where the internet may be a more preferable choice for some of our customers.”

Policyholders can email the progress team if their particular query is different to the contents of the site, so that new questions and answers can be added to the site in order to improve its effectiveness. In addition, the firm’s telephone helpdesk is still available.

 Rob Simpson, Managing Director of Simpson Financial Services, says ” I like the idea.  it seems better than the usual method of contacting an insurance company by phone and then spending 30 minutes trying t find the person dealing with your claim.” 

Almost a quarter of people do not know how they would cope if they lost their regular income, according to research by the ABI.

The research, conducted for the first time, shows 2.4m people in the UK have long-term illnesses and claim incapacity benefit.

It also shows 23% will have no job at some point during their working life and one in three will not work for a year or more.

However, many are unsure how they would survive if their income was taken away, prompting the ABI to produce a fact sheet highlighting the different types of protection products available.

Nick Starling, the director of general insurance and health at the ABI, says: “It is important when people are taking out a loan or a mortgage that they think about how they would meet repayments should they fall ill or become unemployed.  Insurance can play a role in helping people meet their financial obligations in these circumstances.”

The protection industry is already moving to make it easier for people to receive money when they make a claim. Last month Friends Provident relaxed evidence requirements on claims for life cover, life cover with critical illness and standalone critical illness cover as part of a raft of changes to its underwriting processes.

Also in January, insurance companies agreed to pay more claims where customers have unintentionally not disclosed medical information, following ABI guidance.

You should check your employers Terms and Conditions of Employment and see what sick pay you would get.  It might be none.  For the Self Employed the situation could be the same.  Use our calculator and see how much cover you need and then find out which insurers will charge what for the cover.

Insurance companies have made a landmark agreement to pay more claims where customers have unintentionally not disclosed medical information, following guidance from the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

The decision applies to critical illness, income protection and life insurance unless the customer deliberately withheld information.

The guidance, drawn up in consultation with the Financial Ombudsman Service and ABI member companies, comes into immediate effect for new and existing protection insurance policies.

It means insurers will pay customers a fair sum, reflecting risk and premiums paid, if customers fail to provide the relevant information. 

Insurers will refund premiums in “a small number of exceptional cases” if they would not have taken on the policy had they known the full facts.

Stephen Haddrill, the ABI’s director general, says: “Customers want to know that their insurance claim will always be assessed fairly and paid without fuss.

“The industry wants customers to be able to take out insurance with confidence. Today insurers have signed up to ensuring both of these happen. The number of protection claims that are turned down will fall.”

The move follows guidance on improving application form clarity and clearer descriptions of the main conditions covered by critical illness insurance in 2006, and improving telephone and online protection insurance application clarity last year.

So Standard Life are admitting they are not competitive.  They have announced that they are pulling out of the personal protection market because they can’t compete with other insurers on price.  Read their press release here:

http://www.adviserzone.com/ezines/protection_healthcare_instant/issue5/story1.php

So what happens if you have bought or been sold a life insurance, critical illness or income protection policy with Standard life.  The chances are that there may be a cheaper policy in the market place for you.

Do your research now and get a competetive quote from us.  With the discounts we give we are sure you’ll find the same cover for less money.

Oh dear!  Standard Life has pulled out of the protection market which includes life cover insurance, income protection insurance and critical illness insurance.  In reality, this is bad news for you buyers.  You need good, financially stong companies competing for this business in order to keep the premiums down.

Firm spokesman Paul Keeble says: “This was a hard decision to make, but sometimes these decisions have to be made.

The UK protection market continues to be fiercely price competitive.

“It makes more commercial sense to focus our resource and investment on other lines of business which are able to generate more profitable returns.

“This is consistent with our corporate strategy of making the best use of capital in order to maximise shareholder value.

“Standard Life’s existing protection customers are unaffected.  Policies remain in-force and managed by Standard Life, who will continue to provide ongoing service, pay claims, and honour any existing plan options customers may want to exercise.

LV= have made an important announcement about changes to their Income Portection Insurance.  They have wriiten to us and said,

“We are committed to making life easier for you and to providing quality protection solutions for your clients.

From 19th November we are making a number of changes that will make it even simpler for you to understand and explain our income protection cover.

And we’re making some significant improvements that will make LV= an even more compelling choice for you and your clients.

All of which underpins our ambition to remain an award winning Income Protection provider! (LifeSearch 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007; Moneyfacts 2006 and 2007)

In a nutshell, we are:

• simplifying our approach to business mileage. So, for most occupation classes, business mileage will not affect the rate class, definition of disability or premium.
• improving our ratings for teachers and dentists.

We have also taken the opportunity to:

• extend our policy lapse period, from 30 days to 60 days.

New rates

We have reviewed all our CI and IP rates.”

So there you have it.  Re do your Income Protection quotes now to see how low there new premiums are. 

Non disclosure of your medical history on a personal insurance application is a dangerous move.  Smokers pay more for life cover but should not try to hoodwink the insurance company by declaring they are a non smoker.  Likewise, someone who has had a heart attack should always disclose it.

In the event that you, or your loved ones, submit a claim on a policy one of the first things that the insurer will do is to check your  original application.  You don’t want to be identified as a non smoker dying of lung disease.

It is a proven fact that paper based applications for life insurance, critical illness and income protection applications are more likely to have non disclosure issues rather than the new way of telephone underwriting.  telephone is when the insurer contacts you by phone and verbally takes your answers to the questions.

If you want ”Tele Underwriting” then send us a yes in the comments and we will change the way we work.

These two products are similar in many ways but there is one massive difference.  How long they can pay for. 

Accident and Sickness Cover usually pays out for a period of 12 months if you are unable to work.  If you look hard enough you can find a policy which will pay out for 24 months but what happens then.  Hopefully, you will be feeling well enough to return to work but if not then you will be the mercy of the State Benefit System.

Income Protection Insurance normally pays out until you return to work or reach age 65.  This is a potentially massive improvement on the total which can be paid out.  For example:

A 30 year old earning £30,000.00  per annum who has taken out Income Protection Insurance for 50% of their salary.  The benefit begins to pay out after being off work for 3 months and they never return to work through long term illness and eventually retire at age 65.

 The total payout would be £521,250.00

Remember your ability to go out and earn your money is one of your most important assets.  More important than the car you insure, your jewelry or your washing machine.  Find out how much it will cost to insure yourself with an income protection insurance policy by getting a quote now.

With the latest advances in keyhole surgery, thousands more patients could receive operations to correct the narrowing of a heart valve. The new surgery is a much less intrusive approach meaning the older and weaker patients could be considered should this new procedure be adopted throughout the UK.

 There is also great news to help the fight against cancer. A new and more effective way of delivering treatment to skin cancer patients has been developed, as well as the development of a new blood test that could spot the early signs of numerous cancers, of which breast cancer is one. An early warning test is a step closer to cancer prevention.

Looking after yourself has never been easier with access to health information and Norwich Unions Health Assessment Tools at your fingertips. These are great tools to help you assess the health issues that are important to your family.

Ill health can effect your worklife and homelife so dramatically, that it is important to ensure that you and your family have sufficient protection against such eventualities. We can offer you great peace of mind by visiting the howmuchcover calculator   to see if you require Life Cover, Critical Illness Cover and Income Protection Cover.

 We will also discount the Norwich Union premiums for you. Obtain your quote here now.