"We built our proposition to support these types of customers as the process of applying is one of the main reasons they give for not taking out life cover."
The mutual says people with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes can find the process of applying for life cover off-putting due to requests for medical evidence.
The customer journey is underpinned by the Kalibre insurtech platform which uses a risk assessment approach and improves the time taken to accept an application from weeks to less than an hour.
There is also flexibility to reduce premiums by up to 40% to reflect how well the customer is managing their diabetes by simply sharing their annual HbA1c test result.
Premiums are guaranteed never to rise higher than the starting premium to give clients certainty that they will be able to maintain their cover.
The product is available from a small number of adviser firms with plans to launch to the wider market later this year.
Debbie Kennedy, Group Head of Protection Strategy at Royal London, said: “Our Diabetes Life Cover is specifically designed for people who have diabetes, using a real time, robo-underwriting process to make it easier for advisers to secure life cover for their customers at point of sale.
"According to Diabetes UK over 4 million people in the UK are living with diabetes. Securing life cover for people who have been diagnosed with a chronic condition is not always straightforward and can involve detailed medical questionnaires, followed by exclusions, additional premiums or being declined cover, depending on the nature of their condition and how well they manage their health.
"We built our proposition to support these types of customers as the process of applying is one of the main reasons they give for not taking out life cover. At Royal London, we want to provide products and services that help customers with chronic conditions get the cover they need at an affordable premium.”
Denis Shail, Director of Cover Choice, commented: "It’s really reassuring to see Royal London leading the way in providing cover on a realistic basis for those clients diagnosed with diabetes. Too often clients are penalised for having a condition that is most probably well under control and always will be. At least 15% of our clients have the condition, whether it be Type 1 or Type 2, no doubt this number will increase with diabetes considered to be the fastest growing medical condition.
"Sufficient levels of cover, placed immediately on risk, at a fair price with guaranteed premiums can only be beneficial for all clients and the market as a whole. For us as advisers it will certainly help and also strengthens our Cover Choice Brokers proposition as we can take more cases from more intermediaries that cannot help protect their clients."
