LV= Life and CI (Protection Review: Gold, Adviser score: 7.5)
LV= has launched a new version of its Life and Critical Illness cover plan, offering greater affordability and simplification compared to its existing coverage.
Simply called Life and Critical Illness Cover, the plan sits alongside its existing life and CI product, and has been designed to offer a more affordable option.
The new product covers a total of 41 conditions, with full payouts offered for 39 of those plus two further payment conditions for early-stage breast cancer and prostate cancer. These offer cover up to £30,000 or 25% of the amount of cover if lower. The plan also includes ‘Enhanced Payments' for nine conditions including blindness, loss of hand or foot or third-degree burns. Here, LV pays 50% on top of the initial cover (max £200,000), if the condition was caused directly by an accident.
Children's cover is not included as standard, but can be added as an optional extra, covering children from birth up to the age of 23 paying out up to £35,000 (or 50% of the amount of cover under the main policy, if lower). This option is provided through LV='s Enhanced Children's Cover, which includes 57 conditions and terminal illness.
The new product sits alongside LV='s existing life and CI product, which has been renamed Life and Enhanced Critical Illness. Both products are available as part of LV='s Flexible Protection Plan, which can be combined with other types of life insurance and income protection products. The Enhanced product covers 87 conditions, including 49 full payment conditions.
Comment: Many CI insurers now offer a choice of cover levels on their CI plans, arguably allowing cover to be tailored to budgets better and simplifying the proposition. However, narrowing the cover only makes sense if you’re not going to claim for those other critical conditions and of course, that’s the big unknown.
That said, this is the way the market is developing and, overall, LV’s new plans should be popular with advisers and customers alike and we applaud any effort to make cover simpler to understand and buy.
Plus points: Simplified life and CI cover; Enhanced CI cover version also available; Good children’s cover option (if you plan to have no children you effectively still pay for children’s cover otherwise).
Not so plus points: Initially there may be some confusion over the different plans names, but that should not last long; Reduced breadth CI plans expose the customer to risk if they happen to get one of those conditions that has been simplified out.
Website: https://www.lvadviser.com/.
Rating (max 10): Overall: 8. Gold
Tags: CI; LV=
I Mark: No