"Like most other insurers, Scottish Widows has chosen not to adopt the Thyroid exclusion."
- Alan Lakey, Director at CIExpert
Scottish Widows’ Protect plan has been updated to comply with the Association of British Insurers (ABI) minimum wording requirements for Cancer, Heart Attack, and Dementia. Consequently, cover has been extended to include less advanced cancer of the prostrate that’s treated by prostatectomy – all treatment types are covered within the additional payment condition ‘Low Grade Prostrate Cancer – requiring treatment’. Neuroendocrine and gastrointestinal tumours have also received revised definitions to meet World Health Organisation protocols, while the exclusion for Urothelial tumours has been clarified.
Meanwhile, ‘myocardial injury’ has been reworded to state that it’s only where there is not a heart attack, and mild cognitive impairment has been confirmed as a further exclusion. Both Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumour and Neuroendocrine Tumour have received a more precise definition of the claim wording.
In response to Scottish Widows’ improved wording, Alan Lakey, Director at CIExpert, said the changes to Cancer, Heart Attack, and Dementia mandated by the ABI “are, or will be, adopted by the majority of insurers with many opting to go beyond the minimum standard.” He believes Scottish Widows has maintained its position as offering one of the leading plans in the budget arena, demonstrated by its 93% critical illness claims paid figure for 2022.
“A few years ago, there were concerns amongst reinsurers that it could give rise to unwarranted claims occurring, as in South Korea, but there now appears to be little appetite to adopt this exclusion and the resulting complexity of trying to explain the subtle reduction in coverage to both advisers and consumers,” he explained.
