Protection Insight

Protection Insight

SPECIAL EDITION

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: TENET UPDATE Talking about the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) ROYAL LONDON Keeping on top of state benefit changes CANADA LIFE Fresh thinking in underwriting for the Tenet network AIG Pushing the boundaries Plus much more...

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PROTECTION INSIGHT Welcome to the first edition of our protection special feature, The Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) came into effect on 1st October 2018, replacing the Insurance Mediation Directive (IMD). It aims to create a level playing field across all participants selling insurance products as well as increasing transparency and consumer protection. If you play a part in putting insurance in the hands of a consumer therefore, the IDD is of relevance to you. Our Q&A with Head of Policy, Simon Thomas, on pages 4 & 5 highlights the key things you need to know. The IDD brings in a requirement for 15 hours of continuing professional development for anyone distributing insurance products – which means that whether you advise, arrange, paraplan or help manage claims or complaints in connection with insurance, you need to complete 15 hours of CPD a year. This does not have to be structured, although that counts too, but it does have to be relevant to the role being performed and support competence. Advisers are already used to fulfilling a 35 hour CPD minimum requirement, so they just need to ensure that 15 hours of the 35 is insurance focussed, but it may mean that other people within a firm are now required to log CPD who haven’t done so before. Good news is that reading this publication counts towards your Access to insurance is a topic causing lots of conversation and debate around the industry. Offering insurance to as many people as possible has always been at the forefront of what AIG do, but there is a misconception that this only relates to “healthy people”. In their article they explain that increasing access to insurance is an industry responsibility and they hope that by helping to change conversations around underwriting, they can help more people get the insurance they need and build up consumer trust that insurance is for everyone. Royal London’s article ‘Keeping on top of state benefit changes’ emphasises how these changes are an ideal way to highlight that clients can’t rely on the state alone - the reduction in benefits means that for most individuals, protection should be an essential part of their financial planning. L&G highlights the importance of ‘duty of care’. Understanding when and where to give advice is key to helping clients take responsibility for their financial security and Legal & General has designed a half day CII accredited Sales Skills Masterclass to explore the issues raised in their article. For more information, go to page 7. Plus there are plenty more articles to read in this edition from other household names such as Vitality, One Family, Canada Life, LV, UNUM & Cirencester Friendly so we hope you find Protection Insight an interesting read and useful for keeping up to date with the current protection market. unstructured CPD hours. ALSO IN THIS EDITION

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Simon Thomas Head of Policy

TALKING ABOUT THE INSURANCE DISTRIBUTION DIRECTIVE (IDD)

Q&A With Tenet’s Head of Policy, Simon Thomas

The Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) came into effect on 1st October 2018, replacing the Insurance Mediation Directive (IMD). We talk to Tenet’s Head of Policy, Simon Thomas, about what

For firms that fall into this category, does it mean big changes for their business? Not big changes, no, but there are small changes in a number of areas that firms need to address. For example, one new rule requires that all products offered must be consistent with the client’s demands and needs. This should of course have been happening already but the new rules mean that firms need to ensure that the demands and needs statement or financial report is personalised - a generic statement of demands and needs without some matching of an individual client’s needs to the product offered is no longer sufficient. However, the FCA does not expect non-advised sales to go beyond the client’s recommendation should also highlight any unmet needs. Again, we would expect firms to be doing this already as part of good practice but it firms up the regulator’s approach to the process. How does the IDD affect the CPD requirements? The IDD brings in a requirement for 15 hours of continuing professional high-level demands and needs. Firms that provide a personal

development for anyone distributing insurance products – which means that whether you advise, arrange, paraplan or help manage claims or complaints in connection with insurance, you need to complete 15 hours of CPD a year. This does not have to be structured, although that counts too, but it does have to be relevant to the role being performed and support competence. Advisers are already used to fulfilling a 35 hour CPD minimum requirement, so they just need to ensure that 15 hours of the 35 is insurance focussed. However, this may well mean that additional people in a firm are now required to log CPD who have never been required to before. For network firms, we are facilitating this via the current focus:progress CPD system, which has a specific section for recording IDD-related hours. Directly authorised firms will need to keep a central record of progress in respect of the insurance related CPD requirement - this would need to cover all affected staff and would need to hold a rolling three years’ worth of records, with a named member of staff responsible for maintaining these records. The implementation date of 1st of October is obviously not going to align with many people’s CPD year, so the answer is to

this latest wave of regulation means in practice for firms.

We’ve heard a lot about the IDD, but who does it actually affect? The IDD applies to all businesses involved in the insurance supply chain. This includes intermediary firms, product manufacturers and online distribution, such as via a website or other media like price and product comparison sites. In short, if you play a part in putting insurance in the hands of a consumer, the IDD is of relevance to you.

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Is a personal pension that’s been written as a ‘contract of insurance’ an ‘IBIP’ therefore? Although a personal pension that’s been written as a ‘contract of insurance’ doesn’t fall under the definition of an IBIP, the pre-sale suitability report requirement applies as they are a ‘life policy’. Ongoing cost disclosure in terms of pensions is also strongly recommended (where available) to meet the information needs of clients, in terms of their whole portfolio and maintaining a single consistent process, rather than leaving the client wondering why they got cost disclosure information on the rest of their investments but not their pensions! How can firms be sure they are IDD ready? Firms should complete our comprehensive IDD checklist, as this maps out all the relevant points and actions for investment and non-investment firms. We don’t need a copy returned to us at Tenet but firms should keep a copy for their files. The checklist, along with all of our IDD-related support, is stored within a dedicated area of the ‘Compliance Support’ section of the extranet and of course, our compliance helpdesk is always on hand to answer any queries firms may have.

remuneration received under an insurance contract and this is applicable to all clients, not just commercial. All firms must disclose fees payable by a client in cash terms or if it’s not possible for an amount to be given, provide a basis for the fee calculation. I’ve heard the IDD referred to as MiFID2 for insurance – how does the IDD affect insurance-based MiFID investments. This means you must apply the ongoing cost disclosure and aggregation of charges processes to investment bonds as well as OIECS, unit trusts etc. Firms may have to provide part year’s figures from 1st October therefore to align with the annual review schedule for their clients, in the same way as they may have done for MiFID investments. Firms also have to issue a pre-sale suitability report for IBIPS - essentially, treat an investment bond like an OEIC from an ongoing cost disclosure and service perspective. investment products (IBIPs)? The IDD essentially applies MiFID2 standards to insurance based investment products (IBIPs) which are not themselves

simply pro-rata the requirement for the remainder of the current CPD year from 1st October. If your CPD year starts 1st January therefore, you will have 3 months left of the CPD year when the requirement comes in, so you’d need to fit in three and ¾ hours of insurance-based CPD before the end of the year (and you may have already completed some relevant hours earlier in the year that you can log) What’s happening with disclosure and remuneration? These are really linked together, on the basis that where you operate a remuneration model that includes an incentive arrangement which rewards, at least in part, volumes of sales of insurance products, then the existence of this arrangement needs to be disclosed to the client. We communicated the updated initial disclosure templates with appropriate wording last year, with a view to the original implementation date of February 2018, so firms should have already made these minor updates their initial disclosure documents in terms of their non-investment insurance services. From a remuneration perspective, firms must disclose the nature and the basis (fee, commission or combination etc.) of

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Justin Taurog Managing Director for Distribution & Sales

A CANCER RELAPSE NEEDN’T MEAN A FINANCIAL COLLAPSE INSIGHTS:

It’s impossible to be anything but positive about the changes in UK life expectancy. With more of us expected to reach the age of 90 plus by 2030 1 , your clients can face the future with a measure of reassurance and confidence. That said, we also need to accept this will mean many of us will spend more of our later years with a long-term health condition - including the big C, with the potential financial consequences that can bring. “Age is the biggest risk factor for most cancers” according to Cancer Research UK. Therefore, where it used to be that one in three of us would get cancer in our lifetime, the new figure is now one in two2 2 . Not only does this mean that more people will develop the disease in their lifetime, it also means that more people will experience it more than once. Anyone who has chemotherapy during their first diagnosis is at higher risk of getting cancer again. That’s because the drugs, which target cancerous cells, also affect normal cells. Even targeted radiation treatment can lead to a second cancer down the line 3 . In addition to this, recurrent cancers can often be more severe 4 . The good news - more people are getting through cancer with survival rates doubling in the last 40 years 5 .

An estimated 38% 6 of cancers are still preventable through lifestyle changes. 15% can be prevented through not smoking, 6% through controlling obesity 6 and 4% from eating healthily 7 . The potential for people to spend years of their middle to later life in ill health can have considerable financial consequences, because of the inability to work or the requirement to pay for care needs. The problem - and it’s one that we at VitalityLife have worked to overcome - is most protection policies cover you for one bout of cancer, with replacement cover hard to find or prohibitively expensive because of loadings applied. With the desire to keep providing cover that’s relevant to the changing public health landscape - we now include Cancer Relapse Benefit in our Comprehensive Cover, a unique option on our Serious Illness Cover. Cancer Relapse Benefit comes with three advantages: 1. Paying out should cancer reoccur following one year in remission 2. Paying out even if the cancer is at a lower severity than the previous cancer 3. Boosting the amount paid by 50%

Our plans can reward your clients for making the positive lifestyle choices that can help reduce their chances of getting cancer in the first place. Vitality members can get help to stop smoking; discounts on healthy foods, to help them eat well; discounted gym membership and activity trackers, to help them get active - all proven ways to promote better long-term health. None of this can guarantee that your clients stay cancer-free. But, in the unpleasant event that it should happen, Vitality’s Cancer Relapse Benefit which is included within our Comprehensive Cover, means they will be provided with the support to focus on getting well, free from any unwelcome financial pressure. Sources 1 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-39040146, July 2018 2 https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health- professional/cancer-statistics/risk, July 2018 3 https://www.livestrong.org/we-can-help/healthy- living-after-treatment/second-cancers, July 2018 4 https://www.macmillan.org.uk/information-and- support/understanding-cancer/why-do-cancers-come- back.html, July 2018 5 http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health- professional/cancer-statistics/survival, July 2018 6 http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health- professional/cancer-statistics/risk/preventable-cancers, July 2018 7 https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/feb/23/five- day-10-portions-fruit-veg-cut-early-death, July 2018

To find out more on Vitality Serious Illness Cover visit adviser.vitality.co.uk

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FOR WHEN LIFE HAPPENS

‘Duty of Care’ has been around for a number of years now and is regularly used to ensure our clients are placed in an informed position in relation to their Protection needs. The FCA describes Duty of Care as: “a duty to use reasonable skill, care and diligence when providing advice, to demonstrate a standard of care as exercised by a reasonably competent adviser, highlight what they have observed including outstanding debt or lack of protection.” Simply put, it’s about making sure our clients understand all the options when it comes to their protection,

and pointing out that perhaps they may not be as realistic as they might think.

For example, according to our Deadline to Breadline research* the average employee in the UK has savings that would last them just 32 days. And then there’s the State Benefit which is currently just £92.05 per week sick pay – so with the average salary in the UK is £517 per week according to the Money Charity*, could your clients survive a pay cut of 82%? Understanding when and where to give advice is key to helping clients take responsibility for their financial security. Legal & General have designed a half day CII accredit Sales Skills Masterclass to explore all the points raised here. It’s our commitment to helping more advisers talk to more of their clients about protection needs. For more information contact your Key Account Manager or call us on 0345 2730010.

Richard Kateley Head of Intermediary Development, L&G

so they can take responsibility for their own financial futures and that of their families, or take no responsibility and hope nothing happens, or in the worst case, put the problems with other people who hopefully can resolve it for them. But to do this our clients need to have the knowledge, or at least the awareness, of the issues/risks - and that’s where our real duty of care, as professional financial advisers, comes to the fore. But what if our clients don’t want any advice? Then it might be a good idea to talk about the other options they could choose (e.g. Savings/Assets, Bank Of Mum and Dad, State Benefits)

*Source: The Money Charity report August 2018 (www.themoneycharity.org.uk) Legal & General Deadline to Breadline Research 2017

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Tenet’s marketing toolkit offers a wealth of support available for writing protection business. If you’re looking to grow your business by recruiting new clients, or stay in regular contact with your existing clients, then a wide range of support is available. Protection marketing toolkit support The support includes toolkit items; leaflets, posters and press adverts that you can use with your own firm’s logo and contact details to help you generate more business. We have also developed a detailed protection guide for clients to help them recognise the importance of having cover in place. Plus, for advisers not providing protection advice, we have created an introducer leaflet to help you refer business to the helpdesk. As with the rest of our toolkit, the support is available free of charge and a key benefit is that we streamline compliance processes by pre-approving most of the items for you. This means you can take the marketing support and use it straight away. We can also add your logo and contact details for you if you wish. A wealth of support available for writing protection business Client communication package for mortgage and protection firms The mortgage and protection client communication package, developed in conjunction with The Outsourced Marketing Department, is designed to help you keep in regular contact with your clients, add value to your overall service and help maximise business opportunities. Subscribe to the package you will get unlimited access to the following items: • Monthly Property Market Review Further protection support

Our protection support covers the following topics: • Life cover • Critical illness • Home and contents insurance

• Income protection • Business protection

• Monthly Residential Property Review • Two newsletters published quarterly (Your Money & Your Home Finance) • Budget & other relevant updates • Tax guides • Mortgage & insurance related guides

All of this is available on an annual subscription basis for only £650+VAT, or you can do it on a ‘pay as you go’ basis if you only want to use individual items. For more details, simply visit this website: www.tenetmarketingstore.co.uk. You can also speak to someone or arrange a demonstration of the service, by calling 01279 657555.

We’re delighted to invite all advisers and support staff to our annual Adviser Forum, which will be held at the Queens hotel, Leeds on Thursday 6th December. At the forum we will take a closer look at the current regulatory landscape and provide expert insight on how things may evolve over the year ahead, with support from our provider, fund manager and lender partners. We’ll also focus on the practical elements, with sales tips, product updates and that all-important CPD.

You’ll also be able to benefit from: ■ Our ever popular business fair with networking opportunity ■ Keynote speakers including Robert Peston, ITV’s Political Editor and host of Peston on Sunday ■ After dinner speaker, Jason Fox from Channel 4’s SAS: Who dares wins ■ CPD breakout sessions enabling you to create your own agenda ■ Gala dinner with awards ceremony and entertainment

BOOK YOUR PLACE TODAY. https://events.tenetgroup.co.uk/adviserforum2018 If you have any queries, please call the events team on 0113 239 5334 or email [email protected]

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KEEPING ON TOP OF STATE BENEFIT CHANGES

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Most people assume the government will take care of them and their families if they die or become too ill to work, but this isn’t always the case. Revisions to state benefits over the past couple of years have made the financial safety net less robust than before. The introduction of Bereavement Support Payments in 2017 represented a fundamental change to bereavement benefits (which are now only available for a maximum of 18 months) while the switch to Universal Credit has created uncertainty around what benefits are available now and in the future. More recently, in April 2018 the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) introduced Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans to help people cover their mortgage payments if they’ve stopped earning an income. This replaced previous state benefits to cover mortgage interest payments. A crucial point that mortgage holders need to be aware of with this loan, is that the DWP will put a charge on the property. It’s reassuring to know that your clients could still get help with mortgage payments if they find themselves in a tough financial situation. But the flip side is they now need to pay this money back with interest, charged currently at 1.7% per annum. It should therefore only be treated as a last resort, making it more important than ever that your clients protect their income to avoid getting into debt or losing equity in their homes. How the government loan works To qualify for an SMI loan a claimant needs to be getting one of the following benefits: Income Support, Income-based Jobseekers Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Universal Credit or Pension Credit. As mentioned already, in contrast with how the state helped with mortgage repayments before April this year, the amount received is treated as a loan and must be repaid when the person dies or sells their home. So, unless the home owner has protected their mortgage, the equity in the property will get eaten into, especially if they’ve not been able to work for a number of years.

However, if the person has a choice over how to spend the payments, then only the amount the DWP decides has been used for the mortgage cover will be disregarded. The DWP will also take into account the amount of insurance paid out when looking at an application for an SMI loan, although this situation is unlikely to arise as someone getting an insurance payment to cover their mortgage is unlikely to need a loan. Opportunities for advisers In the longer term we could see new mortgage-specific products being brought to market. In the meantime, it’s important to continue making sure people are aware of the risks of not protecting their mortgage should they die or find themselves unable to work because of sickness or injury. Unfortunately, many people still believe that whatever happens the government will look after them and fail to take out any form of protection. Recent figures suggest only 35% of adults have life insurance, 12% critical illness cover and 9% an income protection policy. 2 These changes are an ideal way to highlight how clients can’t rely on the state alone - the reduction in state benefits means that for most individuals protection should be an essential part of their financial planning. Sources 1 Conversion of Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) from a benefit into a loan, gov.uk, April 2018

Although the DWP don’t make any credit checks before offering someone a loan – so a person’s credit rating won’t be affected – they will apply a daily rate of interest to calculate how much the home owner will receive. The current standard interest rate used to calculate SMI is 2.61% per annum. This is an important point to consider, because this rate might well be lower than the actual interest rate for the loan with the mortgage lender. If this is the case, there will be a shortfall between the SMI payments and what someone has to pay their mortgage lender. So, for some people, taking out an SMI loan might not be their best option. There’s also an upper limit on how much of their mortgage someone can get help on through SMI. For people getting Income Support, Income-based Jobseekers Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit the limit is £200,000. But for people receiving Pension Credit, the upper limit is usually £100,000, unless the client was getting one of these other benefits when they first applied for the SMI loan. It’s also worth bearing in mind that there’s a long wait of 39 weeks, or nearly 10 months, from when someone makes a claim for the SMI loan until they get their first payment (unless they’re getting Pension Credit, in which case payments are made straight away). What’s more, the DWP’s own figures show that the number of people accepting loans has ground to a halt in recent months, with 21,000 people either accepting or intending to accept the loan but nearly three times as many (61,000) having declined one. Unless people have some form of protection in place it’s hard to see how they will avoid falling into arrears. 1 How will any insurance payments affect means-tested benefits? The DWP has confirmed that any income people get from an insurance policy that specifically covers their mortgage payments won’t be taken into account when assessing means-tested benefits. This applies to both legacy benefits and Universal Credit. This means that people can take out insurance that’s intended to cover their mortgage payments without any fear that their benefits will be cut if they can’t make the repayments and need to make a claim.

2 State of the Protection Nation Report 2018, Royal London

Ian Smart Product Architect, Royal London

For more information about the SMI loan visit: https://www.gov.uk/support-for-mortgage-interest/what-youll-get

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EVENTS coming up this Autumn Attending our events will provide you with an excellent insight into current markets, new legislation, new products and services. It is also a chance to network with your colleagues, product providers and Tenet staff, plus you get 3-4 hours of CPD awarded and recorded for you. All events are free of charge and your support staff can attend too, so don’t miss out – book your place(s) today!

NON-INVESTMENT ROADSHOWS With autumn fast approaching we are gearing up and planning for the second round of our popular Non-Investment Roadshows. These events cover topics such as Mortgage, Protection and General Insurance and combine formal presentations from Lenders, interactive round tables and plenty of tips to help you provide the best service for your clients. Starting in Durham on the 16th October, our Roadshows are free and open to all advisers, staff, paraplanners and directors/principals so book yourself a space now. Target audience: Mortgage and Protection advisers Timings: 9.30am – 3.30pm

MASTERCLASS ROUND TWO Tenet will utilise the expertise of providers and fund managers, to create a valuable event; giving key industry insights, technical guidance and sales support. The purpose of these events is to provide a higher level of education, through the use of case studies, planning scenarios to provide you with a greater understanding of each product and a proposition’s place in the market. Target audience: Investment, Pension and Protection advisers Timings: 9.30am – 2.50pm

Date

Location

Venue

06/11/2018 Leeds

Village Leeds South

07/11/2018 Manchester (Merseyside) 08/11/2018 Glamorgan

Haydock Park Racecourse

Date

Location

Venue

16/10/2018 Durham 17/10/2018 Leeds 18/10/2018 Manchester (Merseyside)

Ramside Hall

The Vale Hotel 13/11/2018 Cumbernauld The Westerwood 15/11/2018 Belfast Stormont Hotel 20/11/2018 Exeter

Village Leeds South

Haydock Park Racecourse

Sandy Park Conference Centre Millennium Hotel London Knightsbridge

30/10/2018 Belfast

Stormont Hotel The Westerwood

01/11/2018 Cumbernauld

21/11/2018 London

06/11/2018 Exeter

Sandy Park Conference Centre Millennium Hotel London Knightsbridge

22/11/2018 Birmingham Village Solihull

07/11/2018 London

Book here: https://events.tenetgroup.co.uk/masterclasstwo2018

13/11/2018 Glamorgan 14/11/2018 Birmingham

The Vale Hotel Village Solihull

Book here: http://events.tenetgroup.co.uk/roadshowtwo2018

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WEBINARS - WATCH LIVE OR ON-DEMAND

Plus you get 30 minutes of CPD for each one you view! Throughout 2018, Tenet will be hosting a series of CPD webinars which are available to view from the comfort of your home or office, at a time to suit you. So if you need to top up your CPD, take a look at the webinars that are available. All you need is a device to view it on and your headphones! Webinars now available to watch on-demand Tenet Webinar – View our Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) webinar The Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) - essentially MiFID2 for insurance! – came into effect on 1st October 2018. It aims to create a level playing field across all participants selling insurance products to ensure consistent standards, increased transparency and consumer protection and to promote competition within the market. In brief we believe that the IDD will have minimal impact on firms’ day-to-day operations, but the broad scope makes small changes in a number of areas. To outline these changes, we have hosted an IDD webinar, presented by our Group Risk and Regulatory Director, Caroline Bradley.

NO 3: Shawbrook - ‘The Specialist BTL and Short-term Loan Landscape’ Presented by Sarah Woolf, Senior Development Manager on 25th May 2018 http://webinars.tenetgroup.co.uk/webinar-3-2018

NO 4: Legal & General - ‘Survive? The value of critical illness cover’ Presented by Steve Fallon Market Development Manager on 29th June 2018 http://webinars.tenetgroup.co.uk/webinar-4-2018

NO 5: Together – Understanding the specialist lending market Presented by Keith Jones National Account Manager on 28th September 2018 http://webinars.tenetgroup.co.uk/webinar-5-2018

WEBINARS COMING NEXT… We recommend registering for all the webinars, then opt out as and when, if you are not available or the content is not relevant.

Webinar details: Use this link to view: webinars.tenetgroup.co.uk/idd

Webinar Date

Link to View

No 6: Bank of Ireland

26/10/2018 http://webinars.tenetgroup.co.uk/ webinar-6-2018

NO 1: Bank of Ireland - ‘Small Portfolio Landlords Are Confident About The Future – So You Can Be Too!’ Presented by David MacKenzie, Corporate Account Manager on 23rd February 2018 http://webinars.tenetgroup.co.uk/webinar-1-2018

No 7: VitalityLife

30/11/2018 http://webinars.tenetgroup.co.uk/ webinar-7-2018

NO 2: The Exeter - ‘Life Cover For Hard To Insure Risks!’ Presented by Adrian Thorley, Regional Account Manager on 27th April 2018 http://webinars.tenetgroup.co.uk/webinar-2-2018

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Jon Ford Director of Individual Protection

CANADA LIFE INDIVIDUAL PROTECTION brings a fresh approach to underwriting

“At Canada Life, we understand that the underwriting of an application can often be frustrating for advisers and their customers. We’ve invested heavily in technology to make our application process as straightforward as possible. And we’ve removed barriers to help your customers secure acceptance terms quickly and easily.”

But, we won’t ask for doctor’s reports. Nearly a third of the customers we insure have a significant medical disclosure to make, but they are still given immediate acceptance. By significant, we mean conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, moderate mental illness and irritable bowel syndrome. Summary Our fresh thinking and clever use of technology are making protection easier to buy. We’re putting customers first and helping more of them get their protection needs sorted in a short space of time. Email us at [email protected] for login details to our Quotation Extranet to quote and apply today. More about Canada Life Canada Life has over 45 years’ experience in the insurance industry, supporting over 2.8 million people and families in the UK. Last year they paid out £253 million in Life Insurance claims and £21 million in Critical Illness claims. They have offices throughout the UK, Canada and Europe specialising in a wide range of financial services, from pensions to investments. Canada Life holds strong financial ratings through their parent company Great-West LifeCo. To find out more, explore their adviser site and download your adviser resources, please visit www.canadalife.co.uk/ adviser/individual-protection

Our products • Life Insurance and • Life Insurance plus Critical Illness

Plus a range of support services, including an app which provides customers with access to a range of discounts from major high street retailers. What’s different about us? • Over 80% of applicants will receive an instant online decision • As medical or lifestyle disclosures are made, the likely terms are updated in real time – keeping you and your customer informed when the customer is most engaged • Our friendly underwriting team, based in Bristol, will assess cases that need some additional evidence to support the application For example, we may request: • some additional questions for you to ask your customer • a nurse screening in order to get an up-to-date picture of the customer’s health • a tele-interview at a time that suits your customer

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Pushing the boundaries: opening up more access to insurance

Access to insurance is a topic causing lots of conversation and debate around the industry. Offering insurance to as many people as possible has always been at the forefront of what we do, but there is a misconception that this only relates to “healthy people”. It’s becoming more apparent that our focus now needs to be looking at ways to reach out to those who think they are unable to get cover, when in all likelihood, they can. More than 90% of people who apply to AIG Life for insurance are accepted, and over 70% are accepted at standard rates. Yet there is still a perception that only healthy people can get insurance, or that insurance becomes too complicated once medical conditions are disclosed. With phrases such as “clean lives” and “impaired lives” regularly used, it’s no surprise that the perception is misaligned to the reality. With an ever-growing protection gap we have a responsibility as an industry to address this, but how? Raising awareness of underwriting stances and being open and honest about underwriting needs to be our key focus. Historically, underwriting has been hidden away behind closed doors but there’s

been a welcome step change over recent years, with insurers talking more about their underwriting and more influencers commentating on underwriting stances, changes and issues. In reality, more than 50% of applicants tell us about a medical condition on their application, so medical underwriting is our bread and butter, both for our expert underwriting system and for our underwriters who work to the ethos to “Start from Yes”. #DidYouKnow that someone with diabetes can apply for income protection? #DidYouKnow that someone who is HIV positive can get life insurance?  #DidYouKnow that more than 80% of people with raised blood pressure are accepted at standard rates? How can we help support the difficult conversations with the less straightforward applicants? We’ve launched our new dedicated underwriting webpages to raise awareness of underwriting with a focus on providing underwriting facts, talking about acceptance rates for our most common disclosures, myth busting around the

underwriting of some serious medical conditions and providing guidance to help intermediaries and their customers. This area of the website currently focuses on a few areas of medical underwriting but we are committed to developing this further, to take it beyond medical underwriting and have real insight from the people who use it. So, next steps for you - let us know what underwriting information you would like to see, what would add value to your sales process, and most importantly, what would help shift the perceptions of who can and can’t get insurance.

Increasing access to insurance is an industry responsibility and we hope that by helping change conversations around underwriting, we can help more people get the insurance they

need and help build up consumer trust that insurance is for everyone.

Helen Croft Underwriting and Claims Strategy Manager

Email us at [email protected] with your suggestions

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Graham Taylor LV= National Account Manager

LV= have exteeeeended their income protection to help you reach more clients

4) Extended maximum cover Now at £250,000 pa for level cover and £175k for inflation linked cover; opening up more opportunities for your higher earners. 5) Reviewed the way self-employed receive their income A simplified process for self-employed clients; we now only look at last 12 month’s income to assess their claim. Take me to more information about our LV= Income Protection Changes LV.com/extendedip And don’t forget our income protection also includes: LV= Doctor Services, Fracture Cover, Death Benefit, Unemployment Payment Holiday, and LV= Member Benefits. Due to the challenges and uncertainties we face today, having an income protection policy that pays can help your clients to be better prepared if they were to lose an income. If you would like to find out more about LV= Income Protection, contact your usual LV= Account Manager or call 0800 032 4219

We’ve conducted new research to examine financial resilience across three key segments of consumers in the UK. The findings revealed that less than half (44%) surveyed have the recommended Money Advice Service guideline of 3 months of outgoings in savings. With accident and illness looming over us all, it’s important that clients understand the importance of protection and bridge the income gap if they were unable to work. This is where income protection can help as it provides a guarantee of an income if a client is unable to work due to injury or illness. However, our research also showed that only 14% of those have income protection in place, which is why your advice is so important. To help you recommend income protection to more of your clients, we’ve extended our income protection proposition. Our new changes mean more benefits, as well as wider eligibility than ever before! LV= Income Protection – now exteeeeeeended! 1) Parent and Child cover – at no additional cost: Children are the most important thing in your client’s life… so, what would they do if their child was diagnosed with a serious illness? To support your clients if this were to happen, we’ve added Parent and Child cover to our income protection product. The extended cover is there to provide a lump sum payment of up to 6 times the monthly

amount of cover to your client should their child suffer from one of the listed illnesses or undergo one of the listed operations, or medical procedures. The max payment is £25,000 and is limited to one payment per child per policy. What’s more, your client doesn’t need to be unable to work to claim this benefit on their Income Protection policy and if your client has Critical Illness cover with us their children will be covered under both the IP and the CI policy, meaning your client can claim on both policies. That’s not all… We’ve extended our income protection cover to also include: 2) NHS Sick Pay Guarantees Now include Dentists as well as Doctors and Surgeons whose sick pay arrangements match the NHS sick pay arrangements, regardless of being employed by the NHS. You’ll be able to recommend a 12 month waiting period knowing we’ll pay out alongside their sick pay arrangements. 3) Rehab support services These valuable services are now available during the waiting period, helping clients realise the true value of their income protection policy, with support such as physiotherapy, psychological support, and return to work services. The payments may be limited to a maximum of 3 times their monthly amount of cover.

PROTECTION INSIGHT - 17

MY EARNINGS PROTECTED A safe way to insure your clients’ earnings

Susie Beard- Moore Head of Sales

We are delighted to introduce our latest income protection product - My Earnings Protected. Following adviser feedback, we have made enhancements that will offer your clients more flexibility, certainty and cover. This comprehensive product will give your clients a range of features, such as a wider choice of deferred periods, an increased maximum benefit level of £52,000 p.a., guaranteed insurability options for lifestyle events, improved relapse benefit, removal of the initial waiting period and no state benefits deduction at point of claim. Building on My Earnings Insurance, all of these enhancements will come with existing benefits, such as guaranteed premiums and no loadings for occupation, hazardous pursuits or smoking; as well as the recent increase in initial commission and not to mention the personal service that’s always been at the heart of Cirencester Friendly. Doing More for our Members As a Friendly Society, we are owned by our Members – your clients and we are always looking to add value for those Members.

My Extra Benefits - Our range of enhancements that your clients can add on to their income protection contracts. For £9 per month they can take out Fracture & Hospitalisation Benefit and Immediate Death Benefit as a package. Member Rewards – Your clients will have access to a whole range of discounts, cash back and offers on popular brands and services such as M&S, Fitness Centres, Fiat, Apple and a free telephone legal advice service. Friendly Voice – We know that serious illness can be a worrying time, so your client and their spouse can get long term practical advice and emotional support from a Personal Nurse. This is a completely free and confidential service. 125 Foundation – Commemorating our 125th anniversary in 2015, this foundation provides financial support to good causes, benefiting your clients and their communities. Fitbit discounts – Your clients can receive up to 22% off a range of Fitbit devices. We’re here to help, no call centres or hassle, just friendly, personal service. We work hard to inform and educate, and to help you guide your clients to make the best decisions. We provide a wide range of information, tools and resources, including

detailed product literature. These include our client-specific Sales Leaflet, as well as sales support materials to help you grow your income protection business. You can talk directly to our Underwriters if you have a client who has an unusual occupation or a complex medical history. Alternatively, you can chat via our Online Chat Tool which is an easy way to receive a quick response to your medical queries. You will also have access to our dedicated Adviser Support Team, who are on hand for all product queries and support, they’ll pull out all the stops for you. 0800 587 5098 www.cirencester-friendly.co.uk @Ciren_friendly

18 - PROTECTION INSIGHT

Unum launches Excepted Group Life Policy Master Trust Simplified Trust solution designed to enhance the Excepted Group Life offering for employers and help close the protection gap

Ambika Fraser Head of Proposition

Employee benefits specialist, Unum, launches Excepted Group Life Policy (EGLP) Master Trust, a life insurance solution designed to simplify the employer experience when providing life cover for employees. The offering allows Unum to write multiple group life policies under a single master trust, saving employers time and reducing the administrative burden associated with setup, on-going management, and benefits payments. By simplifying the employer experience with Excepted Group Life, Unum aims to make it easier for employers to offer this important financial protection to staff. According to GRiD’s 2017 Employer Survey, 46% of employers do not offer group life insurance protection to their staff. Nearly one in five employers (24%) that don’t offer group life insurance to their staff say it’s too expensive to set up and maintain, and there’s no internal resource to administer.

• No additional cost for using Unum’s Excepted Group Life Master Trust. • Reduced administration, as we deal with all ongoing trust administration. • Kept up to date. The use of a professional trustee ensures that the trust is updated to take account of current legislation. The trust is administered by PTL Governance Ltd, an award-winning provider of trustee and governance services. To find out more about Unum’s life assurance solutions, visit unum.co.uk/group-life-insurance

Our long-term goal with group risk product enhancements is to help close the protection gap among UK workers. GRiD’s research indicates there’s a sizeable portion of the UK’s workforce that is under-protected, and by streamlining the customer experience, we hope to increase the number of workers who have access to this important cover. The peace of mind of knowing that loved ones will be provided for in the event of untimely death is a valuable financial protection benefit that a company can offer its staff. Further, access to Unum group life insurance provides employees access to bereavement support and employee assistance programmes. Unum’s EGLP Master Trust has several benefits to employers. • Ready to go. The master trust can be used straightaway, there’s no need to set up a new trust. • No need for employers to appoint or act as trustees. Professional trustee services are provided as part of the master trust.

PROTECTION INSIGHT - 19

Chris Brown Strategic Account Manager

Over 50s Life Cover from OneFamily

With OneFamily Over 50s Life Cover, you can offer your customers a product that reassures them about some of their biggest worries – like rising funeral costs, being diagnosed with a serious illness, and providing their loved ones with a lump sum as a gift or to help with small amounts of debt.

Here’s a quick overview of our Over 50s Life Cover: • Guaranteed acceptance with no medical as long as your customer is aged between 50 and 80 and is a UK resident • Guaranteed cash lump sum after two years of starting their policy • Fixed monthly premiums from as little as £10 a month to a maximum of £75 a month, to suit their budget and level of cover • Early pay-out for serious illness (20%) or terminal illness (100% or whatever is remaining) after two years • Up to £48,000 accidental death cover in the first two years • 5* Defaqto rating • Option for customers to add nominated beneficiaries with pay-outs of up to £5,000 without the need for probate • Quick and easy application process so your customers could be covered within seven minutes Plus, we offer support and advice as part of the service. Whether they claim or not, your customers benefit from free access to: Health support We give our over 50s customers free access to our health support service, provided by RedArc. RedArc’s team of highly experienced registered nurses can offer emotional support and practical advice to your customers. This is provided by a personal nurse adviser, who will keep in touch for as long and as often as your client needs.

Care advice service Usually £120. Free, impartial advice on choosing care for your customer or their loved ones. Funeral funding option Ensure the proceeds from the policy help pay towards their funeral via their chosen funeral provider, who will also add a £250 contribution. Please note though that this isn’t a funeral plan. To find out more about our Over 50s Life Cover please visit onefamilyadviser.com or call 0808 100 5075* *Lines open 9am - 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. We might record your call to help improve our training and for security purposes. Calls to 0800 or 0808 numbers are free from UK landlines and personal mobiles. With business mobiles the cost will depend on your phone provider. If you’d like to know more, please ask your provider. OneFamily is a trading name of Family Assurance Friendly Society Limited (registered and incorporated under the Friendly Societies Act 1992, registered number 939F). Registered in England & Wales at 16-17 West Street, Brighton, BN1 2RL, United Kingdom. Family Assurance Friendly Society Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority.