Bulletin 01, 2007
Round up
3 – the number of health events next month, including Eating Disorders Awareness week
4 – the number of life insurance rate changes so far this year, Bupa, Norwich Union, L&G and Friends Provident – each include cuts in critical illness cover rates
43 – the percentage of people who believe cancer is down to fate, according to Cancer Research UK
327 – the number of ASDA stories in the UK
10,411 – the number of Pension Term Life Assurance applications received by LifeSearch in 2006
NEW JOURNALIST COMPETITION
Each month we will run a prize competition for journalists writing about life insurance and related protection issues such as critical illness, income protection and family income benefit, which is free to enter. Sometimes the questions will be work related, while others will just be a bit of fun.
The prizes will vary over time, however, to celebrate our new relationship with ASDA we are kicking off with £100 of ASDA vouchers for the winner.
This month’s question is How many protection (including life assurance) rate changes will there be in the intermediary market between now and the end of February? As a guide, there were 46 changes in total last year, which averages just under 4 a month.
Please email your entry to kevincarr@lifesearch.co.uk by January 31st.
In the event of joint winners we will ask a decider question.
Pension Term Life Assurance Update
While the outcome is yet to be decided by Treasury, it is possible that Pension Term Life Assurance may survive beyond the budget; however, it is perhaps unlikely that the life insurance market will look the same as it did last year.
Either way, it is important to remember that Pension Term Life Assurance gave thousands of consumers more cover for their money, including those on lower incomes.
Comment of the week
We will test industry progress to ensure that … customers are given the assistance they need to be clear about what they are eligible for under the policy and what the exclusions are … and where advice is given, recommended a policy that meets their needs…’
FSA bulletin on better PPI sales
We agree pretty much whole heartedly with the FSA’s comments on the PPI market and wonder how much this statement implies that advice is necessary in the sale of PPI and MPPI products. While literature and web-sites can provide information, ensuring a customer understands the information and is clear about potentially complex issues such as eligibility and exclusions, is quite different. In our view human intervention is necessary to answer and explain any questions that consumers may have, and as the Ombudsman has already stated, once a human conversation is taking place the line of advice is not far away.
Heroes of the week
Pioneer
The specialist friendly society made an important improvement to its Income Protection policies last week by introducing the most comprehensive definition, known as ‘Own Occupation’ to all new and existing policies for the duration of any claim.
The occupation class is the most important aspect of an Income Protection policy, arguably more important than the premium itself, because something is not better than nothing if it doesn’t pay out when you need it to.
ASDA
Who's bold decision to break the supermarket mould and allow their customers to get advice and thus access to all life insurance and protection products was surely the most impactful example of treating customers fairly in 2006. We see our new partnership with ASDA Life Insurance as a socially important achievement because it means we are able to advise and help a huge customer base who might otherwise be baffled by what is on offer – how many people even know the difference between level term life assurance or decreasing term assurance? We believe in informed choice, and our service, coupled with ASDA’s position as a leading retailer, can only be good for the consumer.
