Royal London has removed an age restriction on its income protection (IP) and key person income protection products.
Previously, some occupation classes were only able to secure cover to a maximum age of 55.
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That restriction has been removed and all occupations now have a maximum age of 70.
Occupations that have had the age restriction removed include: professional drivers; fitness instructors; nurses; teachers; and security guards.
The products that have changed are:
- Personal Menu Plan
-Income Protection
- Business Menu Plan
-Income Protection
-Key Person Income Protection
Debbie Kennedy, group head of protection strategy at Royal London, said as people are living and working for longer it made sense to increase the maximum age to 70 to make sure that Royal London’s range of income protection covers meets the needs of today’s customer.
Kennedy said: “Income protection is the one protection product that every working adult in the UK should consider but our State of the Protection nation report revealed that just 4% of adults have an income protection policy compared to 6% with critical illness cover and 26% with life insurance.
“There is more that the industry needs to do to get across the message that insurance is important and making our IP more accessible is a step in the right direction.”
Royal London’s State of the Protection Nation results also revealed that:
- one in five (17%) agreed everyone in employment should consider buying IP, yet 56% said they don’t need it
- 7% of people don’t have income protection because they don’t like to think about getting ill or dying;
- 18% don’t know why they don’t have income protection
