Also known as permanent health insurance (PHI). It replaces part of your income if you are unable to work for a long time because of illness or disability. It continues to pay out until you return to work, die, or the policy term expires, whichever happens first. These products usually offer a choice of waiting periods before they will start to pay out (usually 4, 13, 26 or 52 weeks). The longer the waiting period you agree to, the lower your premiums will be, so it is important you find out what income you would get from your employer and other...  Lire la suite

Aviva is introducing premium reductions for when cancer or multiple sclerosis exclusions are necessary under its critical illness plans. This means customers with pre-existing conditions or family history can still get critical illness cover from Aviva when the conditions are excluded and pay only for the level of cover they receive. This change is being implemented to all applications currently being processed by Aviva. The introduction further refines Aviva’s critical illness cover, which in October saw a range of enhancements including: Increasing...  Lire la suite

In 2008, over 100 families and individuals a day were helped at the most difficult times in their lives by claiming on their life or critical illness (CI) insurance policies, according to data published today by the ABI.  The average claim was £52,000, double the average UK annual salary. The number of CI insurance claims being paid has risen significantly. In 2008, 90% of CI claims were paid, up from 80% in 2005. This is a result of the success of the ABI Code of Practice on CI Insurance that has led to less claims being declined due to non-disclosure...  Lire la suite

Following an extensive consultation, the ABI is planning to rebrand and standardise definitions of the Total Permanent Disability (TPD) benefit in Critical Illness (CI) insurance policies, to improve clarity for consumers. It is proposed that a new set of standardised definitions will go hand-in-hand with improved education for consumers, financial advisers and sales forces. The ABI consultation was focused on measures to improve customer understanding of TPD, and therefore to reduce the number of declined claims. The vast majority of consultation...  Lire la suite

Groupama Insurances’ Personal Accident policy has been enhanced to give brokers targeting the SME sector a powerful sales proposition at a time when small businesses can ill afford the potential impact of lengthy staff absences from work. Neil Thunström, Head of Personal Accident and Travel at Groupama Insurances said: “Small businesses by their nature are heavily dependent on key individuals within the workforce to keep the business going. In these tough times as many firms downscale their workforce it’s critical that brokers help them...  Lire la suite