Bulletin 27, 2006
Round up
2 - the number of life assurance rate changes announced since the last bulletin, Scottish Provident and L&G.
8 in 10 - the number of people who already have PMI who said that faster access to specialists was a key reason for buying health insurance, according to research from Bupa.
£1,500 - the amount raised so far for Richard Walsh's nominated charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, the independent international humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural or man-made disasters in more than 70 countries.
4,000 - the number of job cuts announced by life insurance company Norwich Union, with a further 1,000 jobs moving to India.
£30,000 - the yearly amount Briton's need to live comfortably, according to research from Scottish Widows
Comment of the week
'Those who are not 100% sure of what they are doing should seek advice.'
Nigel Greenwood,
Head of Channel Management, HBOS
LifeSearch says...
Given the vast majority of consumers don't know about trusts, family income benefit, pension term assurance, income protection, single life insurance policies v joint life insurance policies, underwriting, occupation classes and much more, and given the potential financial and emotional consequences of getting it wrong, we think this comment could apply to just about everybody.
Villain of the week
The Government
Rumour has it the Government are keen to make MPPI compulsory on all new mortgages. What an amazing contradiction this. On the one hand the OFT and the FSA are looking to clamp down on sales of what is all too often an overpriced and unsuitable product, while at the same time the Government could be planning to make sales compulsory. If true, a million mortgage sellers will soon be celebrating hugely inflated profit margins.
If anything we need the Government to restrict the mass sale of unsuitable products, not promote them. Something is not better than nothing if it doesn't pay out, and cheap rubbish is still rubbish.
In our view, the Government should be educating consumers about the benefits of long-term Income Protection while adding tax-relief on the premiums to encourage consumer interest in a product that provides real value for money. The Government should also be thinking about raising general consumer awareness of the need for life insurance and other suitable protection products like critical illness cover.
Hero of the week
Legal & General
L&G launched a new interactive underwriting tool this week within their on-line life insurance protection system. The tool has been designed to enable IFAs to give more up front underwriting decisions to their customers and decrease the need for manual underwriting. The system will only ask a question relevant to the individual and moves away from the need for lengthy life insurance applications and helps shorten the customer journey.
L&G are looking to achieve a 20% improvement on 1st line life insurance application acceptance. The system will also accept with ratings and exclusions, will decline applications and refer where necessary.
We've already seen a 17% increase in the number of life insurance applications that L&G's new underwriting system accepts straight away, making it quicker and easier for consumers to buy life insurance and protection products through advisers.
