14th November 2008
Unum has increased the proportion of a client’s income that can be covered using its Executive Income Replacement Plan.
The move comes in response to the Government’s introduction of Employment and Support Allowance which replaces State Incapacity Benefit for new claimants from 27th October.
Previously the Plan allowed small businesses to cover up to 75% of gross earnings for an individual employee, less the Long Term State Incapacity Benefit for a single person.
Following the introduction of the new Employment and Support Allowance, Unum will increase this maximum percentage to 80% of gross earnings and won’t be taking into account any State benefits relating to incapacity.
Linton Penman, Head of Retail Marketing at Unum commented:
The Executive Income Replacement Plan allows Unum to extend its unrivalled expertise in the group income protection market to those smaller employers who wish to cover only the earnings of a specific individual as part of their overall remuneration package. The product may even provide a tax efficient alternative to traditional income protection for those businesses which are essentially one man limited companies.
He adds:
Unum currently leads the market for this type of cover by offering a maximum annual cover of £200,000. The changes announced today will allow more clients to benefit from the high level of cover that we can offer by potentially covering a greater proportion of earnings for employees with annual incomes of up to £250,000.
Advisers should contact Unum’s Adviser hotline on : 0800 783 3282 if they would like to know more about Unum’s Executive Replacement and how it can be used to meet the needs of small businesses.
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