CI: Bupa to reduce rates for MS and cancer patients
Bupa Individual Protection will be offering premium reduction of up to 25% on its critical illness (CI) cover for policyholders with cancer or multiple sclerosis (MS) exclusions.
The insurer has announced that it will be providing a reduction in premiums if, at assessment stage, underwriters exclude either cancer or MS when applying for the firm's new CI cover, launched on 25 April.
While the reductions vary according to product and gender, it could mean costs could be slashed by as much as one quarter for a female life on a CI stand-alone basis.
Commenting on the decision to offer reductions, Steve Casey, product manager at Bupa Individual Protection, said: "We have been thinking about going down this route for a long time. This is about treating customers fairly, but, as far as we are aware, we are the only provider to offer this sort of discount."
Peter Chadborn, principal of adviser firm, CBK, said he was delighted with Bupa's move. He said: "I think this is a very fair approach. There are a lot of companies that have only used the new Statement of Best Practice as a marketing gimmick to promote their products, so fair play to Bupa for actually providing something different."
He added that he hoped other providers would follow in Bupa's footsteps and start offering fairer deals to policyholders who would only be able to buy a policy with an exclusion.
The enhanced CI product covers another six illnesses taking the total numbers of condition covered up to 37. It also provides a family income benefit version of life insurance with CI cover.
