24th January 2007
Leading income protection provider, UnumProvident, is the latest insurer to review the events covered by its standalone individual critical illness plan, Elixia 123, in line with the ABI’s revised Statement of Best Practice for this type of cover.
The ABI’s Statement of Best Practice aims to establish greater consistency among providers by setting down minimum standards for the medical definition for each of the critical illness events that they cover, making it easier for customers to draw comparisons between providers and their products. The ABI has given providers until April 2007 to adopt the new definitions.
UnumProvident’s Elixia 123, meets the ABI’s new standards but also maintains its unique flexibility, offering additional value through innovation. The Elixia product is unique as it groups the critical illness events into three categories according to their relative severity and impact on style and life expectancy, and then allows customers to vary the level of cover for each category.
Traditional standalone critical illness plans pay out the same amount, regardless of the condition and the impact that it has on the claimant’s future. But Elixia allows the adviser to manage the overall cost of cover for their client by selecting a greater amount of cover for more serious conditions and taking less cover for those conditions that will have less significant long term financial repercussions. This not only helps to keep costs down, but also allows the client to select a higher amount of cover for serious conditions than they may have otherwise been able to afford. It’s also possible to claim more than once, by claiming under different categories.
UnumProvident’s Head of Retail Marketing, Linton Penman comments:
Advisers should be in a much better position to make comparisons between critical illness products as providers fall into line with the ABI’s Statement of Best Practice. We have taken on board the new standard illness definitions, but minimum standards can sometimes lead consumers – and advisers - to think that all products are the same. Elixia’s unique flexibility offers an important advantage over other products by allowing cover to be tailored to the client’s individual requirements as well as their budget.
For further information about Elixia 123, contact the UnumProvident Adviser Relations team on 0800 783 3283 or log onto www.Elixia123.co.uk