"The changes we’ve made are part of our commitment to provide evidence-based outcomes and to broaden access to insurance by offering cover to as many customers as we can."
- Craig Paterson, Chief Underwriter at Royal London
Royal London’s adjustments allow the mutual to expand the instances it can offer terms for Critical Illness (CI), and Income Protection (IP) where it may have previously been unable to. This will improve terms for customers who’ve previously been diagnosed with cancer, including of the breast, colorectal, and skin.
This latest underwriting update follows Royal London’s recent propositional updates to ensure its IP offering provides better outcomes, especially for self-employed customers.
"The Pandemic followed swiftly by the Cost-of-Living Crisis has impacted almost everyone’s everyday finances. It has focused people’s minds on the need for longer-term financial resilience and protecting themselves and their loved ones should hard times hit, said Jennifer Gilchrist," Protection Specialist at Royal London.
READ MORE: Royal London improves IP proposition to support self-employed customers
Cancer can be complex to underwrite, with 200+ types, all with their own staging/grading, but updated guidance for cancer will be a development welcomed by advisers and their customers.
Notably, recent cancer diagnoses were the most common trigger (66%) for CI claims amongst Royal London’s customers in 2023, followed by heart attacks (9%), and strokes (9%). Cancer also accounted for 10% of IP claims paid by Royal London last year.
Craig Paterson, Chief Underwriter at Royal London, explained that "Improving cancer survival rates has led to a growing protection need for those who have previously had the disease that could also help address the protection gap."
He said: "It’s important we continue to keep pace with medical advancements to offer fair and accurate decisions that benefit customers with a history of cancer. The changes we’ve made are part of our commitment with a history of cancer.
"The changes we’ve made are part of our commitment to provide evidence-based outcomes and to broaden access to insurance by offering cover to as many customers as we can," Craig concluded.
