Impartial reviews on the latest products and how they can impact consumers.
April 2019 Canada Life: CI
Canada Life has updated its existing individual life and CI product, making a number of changes and improvements. These include: • Core illnesses covered has gone up from 41 to 52. The new ones are: o Brain abscess - with specified treatment. o Brain injury due to anoxia or hypoxia - resulting in permanent symptoms. o Cauda equina syndrome – with permanent symptoms. o Heart failure. o Intensive care – requiring mechanical ventilation for ten consecutive days (not available for children who are already covered under their own definition which has seven consecutive days). o Myasthenia gravis - with specified…
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April 2019 VitalityHealth: Other
Vitality Essentials is a no additional cost product available to Vitality’s Business Healthcare clients who cover a percentage of their employees with full PMI. Vitality Essentials gives employees access to a range of lifestyle health and primary care benefits. Those benefits include discounts of 40% on Virgin Active and Nuffield Health gym membership plus up to 40% on wearable fitness devices. Employees also have access to virtual GP consultations and the online Vitality Age assessment at no additional charge, and members also get discounted annual Vitality Healthchecks. Members of Vitality Essentials earn Vitality points in the same way as other…
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April 2019 DeadHappy: Term
DeadHappy is a new pay-as-you-go life insurance plan designed for the digital age. Its product is underwritten by Covéa Life. Online only and D2C, the proposition is different from most other life products in that: · It only asks four questions on the application form. DeadHappy reckons this usually takes about a minute to complete. · Rather than use level premiums, premiums go up each year in line with the age risk, on the plan anniversary date. DeadHappy says the average increase is less than 5% a year. · The plan is set up as ten year term insurance, with…
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March 2019 Scottish Widows: CI
Scottish Widows’ new bank branch adviser only Plan and Protect product is an innovative new life and/or critical illness product range designed to make it easier for homeowners to protect themselves and their families. The particular focus is on mortgage cover, but the plan can be used for other protection purposes too. The application process is simple and clear with just seven health and lifestyle questions, and it takes just 20 to 30 minutes to get on risk. Maximum benefit is £500,000. Customers can choose to have standalone Life Cover or Body (critical illness) Cover, or combined Life and Body…
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March 2019 Iress: Apps & Technology
Iress’s new ‘Buy Now’ option for term insurance enables advisers to easily compare a ‘buy now’ option with alternative term insurance application processes. In other words, an adviser using Iress’s The Exchange can look at what term products are available for their client. They can then get a Buy Now quote (initially just from Cignpost Life – a digital protection specialist) and, if it’s competitive, the client can get immediate cover there and then. The system uses technology that builds in qualifying criteria agreed between Iress and the product provider to skip the application underwriting process completely and go straight…
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