Bulletin 5, 2008
Round up
2.5 – percentage that house prices fell by in March, according to the Halifax
4 - the number of
Life Insurance rate changes since the last bulletin (AEGON,
5 – the number of years Life Office, Bright Grey has been in the
protection market.
23 – the percentage of 24-34 year-old homeowners who are worried
about experiencing negative equity as a result of falling property values in 2008,
according to Fool.co.uk.
5013 – total number of Life Insurance and Protection cases LifeSearch
have placed with Bright Grey during their 5 years in the market
370,000 – the number of customers whose insurance details HSBC
recently lost on disc
335m – the value of new Life Insurance and other
Comment of the month
"We
have a clear philosophy and a proud history of paying valid
life insurance claims quickly - as a protection office, our overall mission
is to pay insurance claims. We think it’s right to highlight where claims have been
declined and the reasons for that - greater awareness - should ultimately lead to
greater consumer understanding and confidence."
Peter Hamilton, Zurich’s UK Life’s Proposition Management Director, commenting on the release of their Critical Illness claims statistics for 2007.
Protection press watch
In the last month we've counted at least 14 positive and balanced life assurance and protection articles in the consumer press. The consumer titles most likely to cover protection were The Express and The Telegraph.
Heroes
Pioneer…
…who
have not only published a new set of
Income Protection stats for 2007, showing that they paid out on 96% of income
protection claims, they have also called for more Income Protection providers to
do the same.
It is
bizarre that the industry complains not enough people buy income protection, while
at the same time many companies are refusing to disclose how frequently the policy
pays out. Keeping quiet convinces no-one, openness and transparency does.
Bright
Grey…
…who
are celebrating their 5 year anniversary of being in the protection market. To coincide
with this they have launched their first set of claims statistics. The figure show
they paid out 82% of Critical
Illness claims and 85% of Life insurance claims. Since launch, Bright Grey
has paid over £20m in life cover and over £14m in critical illness cover.
It’s also good to hear that over 86% of Bright Grey's customers who claimed in the last 12 months used its Helping Hand service. This is supplied by RED ARC and offers claimants access to a fully qualified nurse, home visits, counselling and a range of complementary therapies at no extra charge, as well as a financial payout.
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