Life insurance rated most important by 35% of people
Round up
2 - The number of Life Insurance rate changes since the last bulletin (Friends Provident, L&G).
32 - The percentage of group Income Protection claims as a result of mental health problems in the workplace processed by Canada Life in 2007.
35 - The percentage of people who value life insurance as the most important protection product, according to Prudential.
2,100 - The number of families the LifeSearch Leeds office has protected, through arranging Life Insurance, Critical Illness and Income Protection, since the branch opened one year ago.
1million - The amount to which Royal Liver has increased the maximum sum assured for advisers recommending their Critical Illness Cover
1.1million – the fine the FSA imposed on HFC Bank for mis-selling Payment Protection Insurance (£1,085,000 to be exact)
Comment
"We are determined to see much better practice in the Payment Protection Insurance Market. We announced in September that we would be imposing higher fines for serious failings in the retail market including against firms who fall short in relation to Payment Protection Insurance. The fine against HFC – the biggest PPI fine to date and first since our September announcement – is evidence of our determination in this area. HFC's failings put its customers at risk of buying unsuitable Life insurance products and the financial impact on them of unsuitable advice was likely to be significant."
Margaret Cole
FSA Director of Enforcement
Hero
ABI…
…Who published their new guidelines on non-disclosure and treating customers fairly last week, in regards to Life Insurance. It’s a big step forward for the industry and should lead to more Life Insurance claims being paid and less cases being referred to the Ombudsman.
There are now three recognised levels of non-disclosure - ‘Deliberate or without any care’, ‘negligent’ and ‘innocent’. The ABI make clear that an innocent Life Assurance claim should be paid in full and a negligent one should result in a proportionate payout. Deliberate will lead to the claim being declined. Previously, proportionate Life Insurance claims were much more of a grey area without sufficient rules or guidance. This has now been clarified.
This new guidance should also stop life insurance companies ‘fishing’ for reasons to decline claims. Insurers must now have a specific reason for requesting a claimant’s medical records and must confine a request to information relevant to the claim. This new guidance applies to new and existing life insurance policies and can only boost consumer confidence.
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