Stop the ASU deception
Issue of the month
Several major sites are selling ASU products but labelling them as Income Protection. There is a huge difference in these products as ASU is vastly inferior for almost all consumers.
It is fair to assume that the reason these distributors are blurring the names of these products may be because of the credibility damage that the ASU / PPI brand has suffered, causing them to poach the much more respected Income Protection tag, confusing consumers in the process.
Moneysupermarket, Churchill and Ant Insurance are three such offenders who appear on the first page of Google when the term ‘Income Protection’ is typed into the search engine. Yet their Income Protection product is actually ASU if you look closely and read the small print. Would most consumers do this and understand the difference? No.
This is wrong, misleading, it is not TCF and shouldn’t be allowed to continue.
Round up
1 – the number of providers who cut Income Protection premiums on policies when certain exclusions have been added – Fortis
2 - the number of providers who cut Critical Illness premiums on policies when certain exclusions have been added – Fortis and BUPA
5 – the number of banks who have agreed to stop selling single premium PPI with unsecured personal loans by the end of January 2009 (Alliance & Leicester, Barclays, The Co-Operative Bank, Lloyds Banking Group - including Lloyds TSB, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland - and RBS/Natwest.
22 - the number of positive protection stories we spotted in the consumer press since the last bulletin.
23 – the percentage of advisers who say that protection sales are currently better than usual, according to L&G research.
Case study of the month
Client: Stephen Sweeney
Needs: his partner contacted ASDA Life (which is provided by LifeSearch) to enquire about cover for both of them after filling out an instore leaflet. Stephen had a poor MPPI policy that was costing him £58.60 per month.
Our recommendation: we switched him to Income Protection with Pioneer for £28.97, saving him £30 per month.
Result: not just a cheaper policy but also a much better level of cover as it is an own occupation definition and he is an aerial fitter, a job with plenty of risk of injury involved. They both also took out separate Life Cover with Critical Illness policies.
(If you need a case study, feel free to get in touch and we’ll find one for you).
LifeSearch Comment
It’s easy to be down on the insurers, but they do get things right, as LifeSearch Head of Life Office Relations, Emma Thomson, explains here.
Hero of the month
- Pioneer…
…for increasing the maximum age of their Pure Income Protection policy to 68. People are living longer and working for longer so it makes sense for Income Protection policies to run for longer too.
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