Customers who use a financial adviser when buying life and critical illness insurance can now learn of the
lesser-known perks and add-ons available from the larger insurers.
Some of the ancillary benefits now included in life insurance cover and critical illness insurance can be a
considerable factor in deciding which policy is best for you.
For new parents, for example, Aviva is now offering free life cover of £10,000 to those who contact the company before their child is 6 months old. The free cover then runs until the baby’s first birthday.
Many of the larger insurers, including Aviva and Prudential, include cover for your children, when you take out a critical illness insurance policy. This provides your children with critical illness insurance free of charge until they turn 18. Around 2% of claims for critical illness relate to children, and policies generally include conditions often associated with the young, such as leukemia.
Staying with the area of criticial illness insurance, LV= offers critical illness and income protection customers
who make a claim some attractive options, once their claim is complete. Their Extra Care service offers customers oncology, cardiology or neurology care, as well as access to therapeutic, physio or counselling expertise.
Those who buy life insurance cover through Scottish Provident are also offered the Lifeline service, which offers access to experts giving life and health-related information relating to legal issues, employment, and counselling services.
Bright Grey offers its Helping Hand service, which give customers access to a personal nurse adviser. This advice is also available to your partner and children, even if you have divorced since taking out your life and critical illness insurance policy.
Aside from pure life and critical illness insurance, there is another useful option for parents contained in the income protection insurances by Royal Liver. A lump sum of four times your gross monthly income protection benefit (up to £25,000) is available to parents who want to give up work to care for a seriously ill child.
Insurance specialist LifeSearch, which highlighted these optional services, pointed out that ‘a good financial
adviser will be able to identify the most suitable policy for a client that many direct sellers just don’t have the expertise to do.’
