"These enhancements reflect our ongoing commitment to the intermediary – we’re committed to delivering great value and positive outcomes for our advisers and their customers."
- Julie Godley, Director of Intermediary, Retail Protection at Legal & General
Legal & General (L&G) has announced various product enhancements to its protection offering, upgrading its Critical Illness (CI) Extra, for both adults and children, and Income Protection (IP).
“These enhancements reflect our ongoing commitment to the intermediary – we’re committed to delivering great value and positive outcomes for our advisers and their customers,” said Julie Godley, Director of Intermediary, Retail Protection at L&G (pictured).
L&G has improved its CI Extra plans from the lower of £35k or 50% of the sum assured to 100% for adults, and from the lower of £40k or 50% of the sum assured to 100% for children. Children’s Terminal Illness has also been boosted from the lower of £40k or 50% of the sum assured to £40k or 100%.
This has a major impact on sums assured below £70k and for decreasing term plans where, for higher original sums assured, the adult additional payment conditions stay at a higher level once the residual amount falls below the £70k threshold during the term.
Furthermore, L&G’s CI Extra plans have been updated to include Edwards’ syndrome, Patau syndrome, osteogenesis imperfecta and the surgical repair of an atrial or ventricular septal defect for children.
The provider will now pay IP customers' monthly benefit even if their income has decreased by the time they make a valid claim – if the difference between the settled amount and the policy sum assured is less than 10%.
L&G has also simplified the wording in policy documents and annual reminders will be sent to customers encouraging them to review protection policies.
Moreover, L&G’s quote validity period has been extended from 90 to 120 days to provide customers with greater certainty for a longer period. The provider said this is especially beneficial to those affected by delays associated with mortgage completions.
To safeguard policyholders against the impact of inflation, L&G is giving customers with indexed plans the option to decline increasing their cover up to three consecutive times before the benefit is removed.
This change will apply to new applications for indexed products only, with plans to provide existing customers with this option “in the near future.”
Fracture Cover is no longer available to new applicants or existing policyholders at renewal.
Reacting to these enhancements, Alan Lakey, Director at CIExpert, said the increase in L&G’s additional payments and children’s cover to 100% is “quite significant for lower sum assured policies. This change highlights the importance of understanding how payment levels can vary depending on both the initial sum assured and the progression of decreasing term plans over time.”
He said: “For example, a customer seeking a £40k sum assured with children’s cover will now see a substantial improvement in potential payouts. L&G bases the children’s payout level on the initial sum assured throughout the term. Therefore, with this change to 100% of the sum assured, a payout of £40k would now be available.
“Similarly, for adults, the additional payment benefit would previously have been capped at £20k. Under the new terms, it now starts at £35k until the sum assured drops below that threshold, enhancing the value available during the majority of the plan’s term.
Alan explained that CIExpert “automatically takes account of these varying payment levels within its comparisons, ensuring advisers receive a fully accurate and realistic assessment of customer outcomes when evaluating policies.”
“It’s good to see major insurers pursuing those advisers who favour quality over low premiums. Whilst we are all living longer, the chance of being diagnosed with one or more critical conditions is rising and the financial implications can be worse than death, so the higher levels of cover now available from L&G for the additional payment conditions & children’s cover is a very positive consumer outcome,” he concluded.
