Impartial reviews on the latest products and how they can impact consumers.
December 2013 Aegon: Term
Aegon’s updated Relevant Life plan, introduces an improved trust and is now portable too. Relevant life plans bring the tax advantages of having life cover that those in big pension schemes enjoy to smaller businesses and to firms that want to provide more life cover for their top people. Aetna has added portability to the plan, which means the employee can take the plan with them if they change employer. This avoids having to be re-underwritten, with the risk that their health may have deteriorated and existing terms might no longer be available. The new employer then takes over paying…
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November 2013 Universal Cover: ASU
Universal Cover is a new accident, sickness and unemployment policy for people with mortgages from Simon Lance Burgess’s organisation. A few years back, Mr Burgess was a high profile purveyor of ASU and PPI plans that significantly undercut lenders’ own plans and he also offered more obscure covers such as alien abduction insurance and once insured a chicken for £1m(!). In a now rather discredited PPI sector, his products were better than most. This new plan is underwritten by Cigna Europe Insurance Company and is administered by Cigna Insurance Services (Europe). The plan is a one month deferred back to…
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November 2013 Simplyhealth: PMI
Simplyhealth has replaced its Preferential, Accessible and Simply Private Health plans, which closed to new business on 1 July, with Simply Personal Health. In concept this follows the modular approach of the Simply Employee Health Plan we reviewed in June. Existing clients have started to migrate to the new plan since September. The plan offers three hospital networks: National (giving national coverage), Metropolitan (which adds more expensive hospitals around London) and Connections (this is Simplyhealth’s ‘assisted referral option with a more limited hospital choice’). The core (mandatory) benefit is Diagnosis cover. Unusually, for a core plan this pays for specialists’…
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November 2013 Reliance Mutual: WL
Reliance Mutual’s new plan is a whole of life guaranteed acceptance plan for people from age 50 up to age 74. The plan is available from £10 a month and pays up to £20,000 on death. Premiums are payable to age 90, but cover is for whole of life. During the first two years the plan pays on death due to accident only; otherwise premiums are simply returned. The policy has no surrender value at any time. Comment: Guaranteed acceptance plans are poor value if you live too long, but they can make sense if your health is poor and…
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November 2013 Crewsure: Other
Actually launched a year ago (we missed the boat…), Crewsure is an international health plan for seafarers. The plan was launched to enable shipowners and managers to meet new legal obligations under the Maritime Labour Convention, which came into effect from 13 August. Then plan is underwritten by Globality Health and KA Köln Assekuranz Agentur GmbH on behalf of Great Lakes Reinsurance (UK), all part of Munich Re. Crewsure Marine (there is also a Crewsure Yacht plan) covers a ship’s crew and provides: • Health cover up to $500,000 (or higher on request). A $250 deductible applies • A lump…
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