WOL
Legal & General has launched a new whole of life (WOL) product with guaranteed premiums for the length of the policy. The Whole of Life Protection Plan is a pure life assurance policy with no investment element or surrender value. Legal & General is marketing the product as a means of managing any Inheritance Tax (IHT) liability.
Legal & General's move into the small WOL sector sees the company join Skandia and Canada Life as the only providers offering guaranteed premiums.
Simon Gadd, protection products director at Legal and General, said the need for such a product was greater than ever.
"With the sharp rise in house prices over the last decade more people than ever are now liable to Inheritance Tax," he said. Research carried out by Halifax Financial Services in 2004 estimated that as many as 2.4 million homes in the UK now have an IHT liability, while just 230,000 new WOL policies were sold in the UK in 2003.
Peter Richmond, director of business development at Legal & General confirmed that healthcare - currently accounting for 9% of business - would be a growth area for the provider in 2005. "A lot of our distribution is through the direct sales force but there is more potential available." New director for healthcare, Chris Rolland, confirmed that initiatives were likely to focus on new products and that announcements to this end could be expected later this year.
