Bulletin 4, 2008
Round up
1 - The number of life insurance rate changes since the last bulletin (Legal & General)
2 - The number of days it took Unum to process, underwrite and start a £67,000 per annum Income Protection policy
8 - Per cent of people hide the fact that they smoke when buying life insurance, either because they aim to give up soon or because they consider themselves a ‘social’ smoker rather than a ‘real’ smoker, according to L&G
175m - the number of working days lost last year due to absence, costing the economy £13.4 billion, according to CBI estimates
Comment of the month
"From today consumers will be tightening their belts. Many people face higher taxes and tough news about the economy. Consumers need to protect themselves, especially those who hold part of the UK’s £1.4 trillion of consumer debt. They should review their finances and consider whether to buy life insurance or income protection, to guard against losing their job or becoming ill.”
Budget response by Stephen Haddrill, the ABI’s Director General
Protection press watch
In the last month we've counted at least 19 positive and balanced life assurance and protection articles in the consumer press. The consumer titles most likely to cover protection were The Independent and Mail.
Hero of the month
Legal & General…
…who revealed earlier this month that they paid 88.2% of their Critical Illness claims in 2007, up from 83% in 2006. The insurer says 7.7% of claims were declined for non-disclosure - down from 12.1% in 2006. In total they paid £110 million, up from £92.1 million the previous year, and the average claim is £60,000.
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