Many IP products are now expanding to offer support when a policyholder’s life and income might be impacted by life events happening to those around them – such as carer cover (if they need to take time out to look after a dependent relative) and parent and child cover.
We are also seeing IP offering more everyday ‘living’ type of protection – offering access to more practical support and to experts for life’s everyday worries.
Such services deliver meaningful value for clients, and can include the likes of remote access to GPs, physiotherapy and psychological/counselling support, legal helplines and second opinion services.
Income protection, critical illness cover and cancer
The most recent estimates suggest that one in two of us will be diagnosed with cancer in our lifetime.
The disease leads to nearly a quarter of all our white collar IP claims at LV and it remains the leading cause of critical illness (CI) claims.
In fact, CI is often associated with cancer – and considered the ‘go-to insurance solution’ – and as the role of CI cover evolves and cancer survival rates improve, we are seeing the product being used more to offer choices to the policyholder while they recover from what is often a life-changing event.
With Macmillan Cancer Support reporting that cancer patients are £570 a month worse off, this highlights the need for and value of all-round protection, and the respective roles of both CI and IP in supporting a policyholder’s income and their recovery.
Looking beyond the claims statistics
What this analysis shows is that protection is so much more than making sure our life insurance provides for our loved ones should the worst happen.
We have demonstrated that through IP and CI, protection is very much for the living and not just following a death.
Although there are similarities in product design and causes of claims, there are key differences in the types of IP that best suit your client depending on their occupation.
It is also important to understand how protection products are evolving to deliver a service that is much more than just financial cover and a payout.
These additional services are often available without making a claim, but customers tell us they often value them more highly than any financial benefit they may receive from a policy.
The lesson is that protection claims statistics can tell us a story, but to provide the best advice to clients it is important to understand the entire proposition and service offered by these products.
Justin Harper is head of protection marketing at LV
