Friends Life says it has simplified and clarified the process of submitting income protection applications through its quotation platform’s maximum benefit calculator.
The company – which became part of Aviva Group last April – claimed that the improvements helped advisers to generate their clients’ maximum benefit more speedily by simply entering their gross annual salary and any other income, alongside their annualised net sick pay figure.
Advisers will now also be able to see clearly how much income benefit their clients are eligible for while they receive sick pay, as well as when their benefits cease, enabling them to exploit the Protect+ product more confidently to tailor the benefit level and its start date in line with the client’s employee benefits.
Aviva managing director of protection Louise Colley said: “Making the process of applying for protection easier and clearer for both advisers and their clients is one of Aviva’s key steps towards improving the level of protection in the UK. These enhancements to the benefit calculator will make offering high-quality protection cover through Protect+ a much more straightforward and positive experience for advisers.”
Jeremy Edwards, financial adviser at Leicestershire-based Martin Redman Partners, said: “Anything that simplifies the process for income protection is worth doing because it is one of those products that is rarely taken up. More people have their pets insured than have their income insured.”
