Our resident protection detective, Kevin Carr, runs the rule over five developments in the last month…
1 Warning signs
Speaking to a number of advisers and industry groups in recent weeks, one of the main worries about ‘G-day’ – 21 December, when the Gender Directive is implemented – is that some providers may take on too much business and not be able to process it in time. They may not be able to ‘honour’ the original rates, so keep an eye out as it is really hard for a company to turn off the new business tap. If a provider’s admin starts to really slip, it might be worth placing the business elsewhere just in case they can’t get the pipeline through in time.
Verdict: Back to the lab (maybe)
2 Simple products
The proposed simple life insurance product will indeed be simple – no joint life, no waiver, no terminal illness benefit, no decreasing or increasing cover, and so on. It is also likely that the product will not be permitted to have exclusions, meaning it will be underwritten, at least to an extent, which should keep the price low. Whether or not this is more about large institutions selling lots of products than a genuine attempt to close the protection gap probably isn’t the point. The industry is engaging with government like never before, which can only be a good thing.
Verdict: Promising lead
3 Around the world
I’m told the leading life insurer in Germany took a different stance on ‘G-day’ compared to the UK. Firstly, as I understand it, they have been offering both pre- and post G-rates for some time on the assumption that, unless the broker says otherwise, the cheaper of the two will be used (an option which was discussed with UK providers at F&TRC’s Protection Forum and rejected). Secondly, clients have up to six months to switch after G-day – without underwriting – if the new rate is better, which all sounds very sensible, doesn’t it? Verdict: Back to the lab
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