Dr Marius Barnard, the medical professional credited with inventing critical illness cover, has given his support to the Seven Families campaign, Peter le Beau has confirmed.
Mr le Beau, chairman of the Income Protection Task Force, said the Seven Families initiative has now reached the required level of funding to proceed. The campaign aims to give money for a year to seven families whose bread-winner has been forced out of work by an accident or illness and has not had any insurance payout. The first two families should be announced later this month.
So far 17 supporting companies have pledged funding: Aviva, Friends Life, Scottish Widows, Ageas Protect, British Friendly, Canada Life, Cardif Pinnacle, Ellipse, Exeter Friendly, Hannover Re, UK Life, LV=, Pacific Life Re, PruProtect, RGA, Unum, and Zurich.
Kevin Carr, spokesman for the campaign, said: “The Seven Families team has been busy working with the charity DRUK, and working on the legal documents, branding, communications and more. We are hopeful that additional companies will add funding to the project, which should launch officially in the near future.”
Industry view
Dr Barnard said: “The Seven Families campaign is a fantastic initiative that I fully support. Many people simply do not realise the financial impact of long-term ill health, and anything the industry can do to improve public awareness should be commended. Insurance products such as income protection and critical illness cover can provide essential financial support at the most difficult time in a family’s life. I hope the campaign is successful and that more families become better protected as a result.”
