Norwich Union (NU) has entered the impaired life annuity market. Available to those aged over 50, wi...
Norwich Union (NU) has entered the impaired life annuity market. Available to those aged over 50, with no minimum age for those forced into retirement by ill health, impaired life annuities provide an enhanced level of income in retirement for those whose illness means a significantly reduced life expectancy.
Commenting on the launch, Sandy Johnstone, retirement strategy manager at NU, said: 'We have experience of the principles of impaired life annuities through our long term care experience, which uses annuities to fund long term care in nursing homes.'
The company believes that in some cases clients could double their annual income through this product as each case is individually underwritten, instead of offering set rates once certain criteria are met.
On joint life cases NU will still consider offering improved terms, even if only one partner suffers a life expectancy impairment.
The company estimates that approximately 10% of those purchasing a pension suffer an impairment, and yet the impaired life annuity market makes up only 5% of the total annuity market.
Johnstone added: 'We hope IFAs will make more enquiries about a person's health when it comes to approaching retirement, than perhaps might have been the case in the past.'
