"Protection cover has immense value and enables households to improve their financial resilience."
- Mike Farrell, protection sales director at LV=
Of those surveyed (4,000) as part of the LV= Wealth and Wellbeing Research Programme, the insurer found that over four in ten working adults felt more stressed and anxious in the last year which has led to 9% (2.8m) of adults in the UK have taken time off work for mental health reasons.
In 2022, uptake of mental health support via LV= Doctor Services rose by 71% compared to 2021. But in the last 12 months, only 59% of protection policyholders have used the added value services included in their policy. Shockingly, 77% of adults weren’t aware that insurers offer mental health support as an additional benefit.
Commenting on these findings, Mike Farrell, protection sales director at LV=, has said:
“Our data shows that a small fraction of policyholders know about the true value that protection cover can offer to support them and their families. At LV=, policyholders can be referred to specialists for rehabilitation and extra support. Remote GP access is also available using LV= Doctor Services, in addition to mental health support and physiotherapy.
“In Fuel for Life we also highlight LV= product features such as Enhanced Claim Payments under our Life & Critical Illness products, included at no extra cost for nine conditions that are as a result of an accident and will pay an additional amount on top of the original level of cover. This could make the world of difference to clients in high-risk occupations. Advisers need to demonstrate that their client’s money can work harder as part of an income protection or life and critical illness policy.”
