Scottish Widows Protect has joined Iress’ online comparison quote and transaction portal The Exchange.
The system returns a partially underwritten quote that takes body mass index (BMI) into account, enabling advisers to provide their clients with a more accurate quote at outset for term, whole of life, income protection, critical illness, multi-policy and multi-benefit products.
Scottish Widows joins a number of major firms now using the service to provide partially underwritten protection quotes, including AIG Life, Aegon, Aviva and The Exeter.
Intermediaries can access the service either directly via The Exchange or through XPlan and XPlan Mortgage.
Scott Cadger, head of underwriting and claims at Scottish Widows, said: “When it comes to price, creating certainty is key.
"We know from our own analysis over the last year that BMI is one of the most common reasons for customer pricing to change from the initial quote, which is why, by joining Iress’ enhanced underwriting service, we can give more customers a clearer view on their personal price for financial protection.”
Alan Lakey, director at Hertfordshire-based CIExpert, said: “With critical illness and income protection, a very large number of applications do not get the rate or terms that we applied for.
"It could be BMI, or it could be they have disclosed a family history of breast cancer, for example.
“While experienced advisers will know when a client gives them information that means they may fall outside the normal parameters, we can’t measure it.
“A client may have a BMI of 32 that might be outside the norm, but if they also have high blood pressure, they might be more outside the norm.
“While you have a clue of what that might do, part of the problem is if you give people raised expectations and then the outcome is slightly different, they can be upset by that and may not go ahead.
“This is a good move all round and I am sure other providers will follow suit.”
simon.allin@ft.com
