"The interface is user-friendly, well-made, and aesthetically pleasing. That may seem like a minor point, but to the average working adviser, it makes a huge difference."
- Michael Chapman, Head of Protection and General Insurance at Dynamo
The Exeter has today revealed various enhancements to its protection proposition, especially to its Real Life & Income First products. It has also made a new multi-benefit platform available to advisers writing both Income Protection (IP) and Life Insurance with The Exeter.
This platform will allow users to generate multiple quotes simultaneously whilst automatically carrying details through to application – advisers will receive upfront visibility of ratings, exclusions, and medical evidence requirements.
As part of its enhancements, the mutual has made its Life Insurance offering more widely accessible. For the first time, Real Life is available on aggregator quote portals, which means that it can be written as part of a multi-benefit selection.
Furthermore, Real Life now offers both dual cover and joint life options, where joint life pays out on the first death or terminal illness diagnosis and dual life allows couples to apply together but hold separate policies, each with their own sum assured.
The Exeter flagged financial abuse as the motivation behind a joint life separation option, which only requires consent from one policyholder.
The mutual has also introduced beneficiary nomination to Real Life, enabling policyholders to select beneficiaries at the point of application without the need to complete a trust form. Similar to trusts, which remain available via the mutual, beneficiary nomination ensures payouts can bypass probate and remain protected from Inheritance Tax (IHT) in the event of the policyholder passing away.
If a policyholder claimed on their IP policy provided by The Exeter, as a result of ill-health or injury, their premiums would be waived for Real Life as well.
In terms of Income First, the mutual has increased its fixed benefit option so customers can secure 100% of their monthly IP benefit (up to £7,500) within six months of the policy starting; reduction from three to two years in residency duration for the UK for IP applications; policies will now track Consumer Prices Index, including owner-occupier housing costs (CPIH).
“We’re delighted to announce the latest enhancements to our protection proposition, which underline our commitment to providing advisers with innovative and accessible solutions to help them meet customer needs,” explained Steve Bryan, Director of Distribution & Marketing at The Exeter.
He said: “The new adviser protection portal allows advisers to obtain multiple quotes for IP & Life Insurance and carry these through to application. The experience has been designed to be intuitive, providing advisers with information about ratings, exclusions or any further information needed.
“This allows advisers to manage customer expectations around the cost of cover and when they can expect to receive an underwriting decision. These developments are further complemented by enhancements to our IP & Life Insurance products. The ability for applicants to now fix 100% of their IP benefits within six months of the policy starting provides greater reassurance at the point of claim,” Steve added.
From experience, Michael Chapman, Head of Protection and General Insurance at Dynamo, applauded the “excellent new system” designed with “advisers’ ease and convenience top of mind. Today, advisers can source a recommendation for IP & Life Insurance offerings on a single platform, saving valuable time that would have been wasted on duplicating previously submitted work.
“The interface is user-friendly, well-made, and aesthetically pleasing. That may seem like a minor point, but to the average working adviser, it makes a huge difference,” he concluded.
