The expansion also introduces Scottish Widows to the service, bringing the total number of supporting insurers to nine, including Aviva, HSBC, Legal & General, Royal London, Vitality, Zurich, National Friendly and Walsham Brothers.
The company first introduced ex-smoker pricing on The Exchange and Xplan Mortgage in 2024, adding specific fields for ex-smoker and mixed-smoker statuses across term, critical illness and income protection comparisons. This helped address long-standing inconsistencies between insurer rules, which often caused delays and inaccurate quotes. Following the initial rollout, Iress recorded a reduction in average quote-to-apply times from 25 minutes to 20 minutes.
Jacqueline Durbin, head of product for sourcing at Iress, said: “We’re delighted to continue rolling out ex-smoker pricing and to gain the support of almost all insurers. This is an important initiative in our commitment to tackle complexity in protection. With accurate ex-smoker data, Scottish Widows and the other insurers on the service are well positioned to deliver greater certainty and transparency to their customers, which also helps build greater trust in advisers.”
With the new update, ex-smoker pricing is now supported across all term, critical illness and income protection services within The Exchange’s Multi-Benefit tool. The development, backed by major insurers, is expected to improve price accuracy, reduce processing times and enhance the client experience.
Scott Taylor, head of commercial, protection at Scottish Widows, added: “We’re proud to work alongside Iress to enhance the adviser and customer experience through multi-benefit protection. By combining multiple cover types into a single streamlined policy, we’re helping advisers deliver more holistic, efficient solutions that reflect the full scope of their clients’ needs. The addition of ex-smoker pricing to this service is a powerful example of how technology and insurer collaboration can reward customers for making positive lifestyle changes, ensuring premiums are fair, personalised, and aligned with their health journey.”
