Guardian is expanding its product range with the launch of low-cost life cover, known as Life Essentials.
The new cover, which will be introduced in the coming weeks, offers customers a choice between Life Protection, premium cover prioritising quality, and Life Essentials, low-cost cover prioritising price.
In offering this choice, Guardian seeks to “better meet the needs of a wider range of clients”, including those who have been impacted by the higher cost-of-living.
Guardian marketing and proposition director, Jacqui Gillies, said: “The time is right to be offering this choice; the higher cost-of-living means that many clients simply have less budget available for protection.”
Gillies added the launch will also broaden the company’s appeal within client segments traditionally focused on affordability, thereby “helping us reach a wider market and accelerating our distribution growth”.
Differences
Guardian explained the Life Essentials cover will have many of the same benefits that its Life Protection does, such as premium waiver and optional Children’s Critical Illness Protection.
However, there are some notable differences between the two covers, such as in their terminal illness definitions.
Life Essentials defines terminal illness as “being terminally ill and, in the opinion of your attending UK consultant, your illness has no known cure or has progressed to the point where it can’t be cured and is expected to lead to your death within 12 months”.
This is in contrast with the enhanced terminal illness definition of Life Protection which does not require the 12-month prognosis for incurable stage 4 cancer, motor neurone disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease or Parkinson-plus syndromes.
This is not the only difference between the two however, as an imbalance also exists in the covers’ exclusions.
Life protection offers no standard exclusions, while Life Essentials does not pay out if death is due to suicide or is a result of intentional self-inflicted injury in the first 12 months of the cover.
Similar differences exist in the immediate cover of both plans, with Life Protection paying out a maximum of £1mn before Guardian offers terms, while Essentials offers £300,000.
Gillies added: “We believe that by offering this choice we’re supporting advisers to better meet the needs of a wider spectrum of clients - so whether their priority is quality or price, we now have cover to suit both.”
tom.dunstan@ft.com
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