Guardian has teamed with Medical Screening Solutions to pilot a remote screening service for policyholders.
The service, launched by MSS in April, aims to improve access to insurance during the Covid-19 disruption, helping advisers get their clients the cover they need without having to leave their homes.
Although lockdown is set to be easing up in the UK, many people still feel nervous about going out - especially to places such as hospitals and local GP practices.
The MSS service consists of a remote digital, video assessment in place of face-to-face nurse screening examination, and comes with a 'customer kit pack’ for examinees. This contains a disposable tape measure (for waist / hip measurements), along with home test, self-collect, finger-prick and a blood testing kit.
Designed to improve access to insurance during the Covid-19, the remote service means applicants who require a medical screening can now proceed with their cover applications.
Protection challenger Guardian, along with its partner, MSS, focused the pilot screening originally on customers identified as suitable and, if successful, it will be rolled out more widely.
Julie Hopkins, Guardian’s director of underwriting and claims strategy, said: “Covid-19 has made it significantly more difficult for those requiring medical screenings to get access to insurance. At Guardian we feel strongly that those who need life and critical illness cover should be able to access it."
She praised MSS's ability to "move quickly" to find an alternative to face-to-face screening, and said while April's testing was only a pilot arrangement, she could see the service become an "important part of our toolkit".
Jonathan Benton, managing director of MSS, said: "While a remote approach is unlikely to ever fully take the place of face-to-face contact, the reality is that – at the moment due to Covid-19 – without it, we are leaving a big proportion of people who require medical screening behind in terms of access."
Earlier this year, Guardian told FTAdviser insurers who do not engage deeply enough with technological advances, and are not agile enough to adapt to meet consumers' and advisers' needs will not survive.
At the time, Katya MacLean, chief executive of Guardian, said companies which were agile enough in terms of technology, processes and people would be able to better weather what the market - or economy - throws at them.
Moreover, she said it was important for advisers and the end client that companies "constantly adapt" their businesses based on insight and feedback.
simoney.kyriakou@ft.com
