Scottish Widows has added a range of protection solutions to its portal for advisers in a bid to make the suite of products more accessible to intermediaries.
The addition of the Scottish Widows Protect range to the life assurers’ Webline portal are among a host of changes made by the firm – with input from mortgage advisers.
Scottish Widows has also cut the minimum sum assured on life insurance and critical illness cover to £25,000 from £100,000, and introduced a ‘price lock guarantee’ so that customers are able to budget with the knowledge that their quoted monthly premiums will not change until the policy comes into force.
Johnny Timpson, protection specialist at Scottish Widows, said: “These developments add weight to our commitment to offering well-rounded, menu-based protection solutions which suit the mortgage intermediary market just as well as the protection intermediary market.
“They’re based on the feedback we’ve had from advisers themselves, allowing us to build a better understanding of how Scottish Widows Protect can help their clients as well as help to build their business.”
According to a recent survey commissioned by the life office, which took the views of 5,161 UK adults, 50 per cent of mortgage holders have no life cover in place, while only a fifth have a critical illness policy,
A third said that if they or their partner were unable to work for six months or longer due to ill health or personal injury, they would be unable to live on a single income.
Meanwhile, 43 per cent said of these individuals said they would resort to dipping into their savings in order to survive.
Mr Timpson, said: “None of us want to think about the worst, but our findings show that there are an alarming number of mortgage holders who are putting themselves at significant risk by failing to arrange cover for the unexpected.
“Many people believe that they’ll be able to rely on the State if the unforeseen happens, but recent cuts to welfare benefits are exacerbating their vulnerability.”
Adviser view
Ben Sear, managing adviser at Cambridge-based Martin Redman Partners, said: “I have not spoken to or used Scottish Widows in a while, to be honest, but they are good at what they do. Life assurance is not particularly complex, so as an adviser, all I want is simple products that are easily accessible.”
