"We encourage all our intermediary partners to familiarise themselves with these details to help potential customers make the most informed decisions when taking out a policy. "
- Julie Godley, Director of Intermediary at Legal & General Retail
Definition improvements and new terms for skin cancer, amongst other severe illnesses, have been added to Legal & General’s (L&G) Critical Illness (CI) Extra products, with medical advancements – such as early detection – leading the way in treatment for less advanced illnesses.
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L&G’s cancer definitions now include some progressive cutaneous lymphoma and sarcomas, as well as low-grade thyroid cancer. Skin cancer of a specified severity has also been added. Additionally, the definitions for Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis are now covered under the broader definition of Severe Bowel Disease – which also covers Diverticulitis and Intestinal Ishchaemia.
Meanwhile, the insertion of a pacemaker and Infective Endocarditis have been added under additional payment terms, and severe mental health issues are now included. Payments for additional conditions under CI Extra policies have increased from 50%/£30k to a maximum of 50%/£35k of the original sum assured.
For children, the maximum age of cover has increased to their 23rd birthday with CI Extra policies remaining in place whether they’re in full-time education or not. This update reflects the fact that many young people are completing their studies later or taking gap years, while others choose to live at home with their parents as ‘adult children’ for longer.
Both children’s CI & CI Extra now include coverage for children under the legal guardianship of a policyholder, alongside adopted and/or stepchildren. Payments for conditions under children’s CI Extra & Terminal Illness have increased from 50%/£35k to a maximum of 50%/£40k of the original sum assured.
“We’re happy to announce that our CI products now cover more areas and give our customers more options at a time when lifestyles in the UK are changing. Working with our intermediary partners and responding to the changing needs of our customers remains a key priority for us,” said Julie Godley, Director of Intermediary at L&G.
She believes adding broader definitions for cancer, and other serious illnesses, as well as extending the number of customers covered by its children’s CI Extra policies demonstrates “our commitment to improving our protection cover and ensuring our products match the changing needs of our customers.”
“We encourage all our intermediary partners to familiarise themselves with these details to help potential customers make the most informed decisions when taking out a policy. We’re also giving advisers the opportunity to hear directly from our experts about the changes in a series of webinars, which they can register for via our website,” Julie added.
Responding to these upgrades, Alan Lakey, Director at CIExpert, said “L&G was in danger of falling behind its competitors in the quality stakes, however, the changes introduced to their Extra plan have regained its position amongst the elite.”
“Removing the exclusion for stage 1 thyroid cancer is a major move as is the addition of a new severe mental illness condition. Severe bowel disease consolidates Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis with other conditions such as pancreatitis and intestinal ischaemia. Adding less advanced cancer of the skin and increasing the additional payment maximum to £35,000 and children’s cover to £40,000 are all very welcome,” he acknowledged.
Alan believes the new conditions that have been added serve to “plug gaps where competitors claim the edge.” With its market-leading brand & claims philosophy, “today’s changes will assist L&G in regaining market share that has been lost over the past thirteen months.”
