The pace of change has picked up since then with insurers more focused on improvements than during the previous two years’ Covid-induced lethargy.
Plan improvements
During March we saw Royal London unleash an assortment of plan improvements with the addition of two 100 per cent paying conditions – Crohn’s disease and syringomelia/syringobulbia. Five existing 100 per cent conditions enjoyed augmented claim wordings as did two additional payment conditions. Furthermore, three new additional payment conditions – less severe cardiomyopathy, less severe heart failure and severe sepsis – were included within an increasingly impressive policy.
March also found AIG making plan adjustments. To assist in reducing the additional cost of children’s cover the payment levels underwent two changes. AIG offers two levels of payment for children – Group 1 and Group 2 conditions and the payment levels were altered from a fixed payment of £50,000 and £25,000 respectively to the lower of £50,000 or 50 per cent for Group 1 and lower of £25,000 or 25 per cent for Group 2 conditions.
AIG elected to make further changes during September. Since 2016 the majority of insurers have operated a twin policy approach with a high quality plan buttressed by a budget version and whilst AIG pursued this approach it retained a single level of children’s cover. To better reflect this dual approach they have split children’s cover into high quality and budget ranges.
Advisers can now choose a high quality plan with additional high quality children’s cover or a budget plan with budget children’s critical illness cover (CIC).
Not only did this simplify matters but it also enabled AIG to reduce the additional cost of children’s cover.
Reacting to industry change
The ABI regularly reviews critical illness minimum standards and in mid-September it introduced alterations to the wordings for cancer, heart attack and dementia. Aviva was quick out of the blocks reacting to the ABI changes as well as introducing numerous upgrades and adjustments.
The revised cancer wording now includes early-stage prostate cancer if treated by prostatectomy surgery. The heart attack wording is primarily a tidying up exercise to add clarification whereas the dementia wording no longer insists on ‘permanent clinical loss’.
In addition to the ABI-provoked changes, the pulmonary artery surgery wording now includes pulmonary endarterectomy with the requirement for underlying disease being removed.
Aviva’s enhanced plan benefits from the addition of necrotising fasciitis as a 100 per cent condition and skin cancer as an additional payment condition. Neuromyelitis optica and psychosis and bipolar affective disorder have revised claim wordings, both of which should increase the claim potential.
In addition, their Enhanced high quality plan enjoys a payment increase, rising from £25,000/100 per cent to £30,000/100 per cent for additional payment claims. Finally, cancer care, in conjunction with MacMillan Cancer Support has been added to the valuable DigiCare additional benefits package.
Positive amendments
The effect of all these changes is positive.
Critical illness plans are far too complex, so every attempt to simplify them chips away at one of the biggest barriers that both advisers and consumers encounter. Similarly, every condition wording adjustment that better explains the claim triggers will assist with a better comprehension of the plan coverage as well as reducing the scope for complaints.
The future for critical illness plans looks rosy and I anticipate future plan adjustments continuing to increase the range of cover whilst pushing simplification within the policies and within brochure design.
