The provider will be able to offer life cover terms without the need for further medical evidence depending on the applicant meeting certain criteria around age, CD4 [white blood cell] count and viral load.
All cases where the applicant has HIV will still undergo an assessment by an underwriter, but Guardian expects half of the disclosures of HIV could be accepted based solely on the applicant’s responses without the need for specialist medical letters.
This change also applies to income protection.
Guardian will consider terms for income protection for people disclosing HIV. This will be subject to criteria which is available to view on the provider’s website.
Medical evidence will be required for income protection policies.
Additionally, the maximum term for applicants living with HIV has been extended from 20 to 30 years.
Caroline Froude, head of underwriting strategy and development at Guardian, said: “We’re delighted to announce these improvements today as we continuously seek to improve outcomes and the underwriting experience for everyone that applies for a Guardian policy.
“We believe the changes to our HIV rules will result in a smoother and faster journey for an estimated 50 per cent of people who apply who are living with HIV, improving this group’s experience of applying for protection and making the process as a whole much more inclusive.”
L&G Retail Protection launches online claim submission capability
Legal and General (L&G) Retail Protection has released an online claim submission function which is available through its protection self-serve portal, My Account.
Policyholders with eligible products can now submit a claim and any supporting information online and once submitted, they can track the progress of the claim and view real-time updates.
This change is expected to give customers 24/7 access, reduce average claim timelines and allow customers to upload documents which support the claim.
Karen Fuge, head of claims, retail protection at Legal and General, said: “We’ve listened and responded accordingly to how our customers wish to interact with us and have received some great feedback during the pilot and initial testing, with 96 per cent of those asked stating that they found the process easy or extremely easy. Since the launch of our pilot at the end of August, we’ve already seen improved referral to submission times and have successfully paid a claim within the same day based on the information submitted by the customer.
“Our customers are used to being able to do things digitally and the introduction of online claim submission further demonstrates our commitment to providing better customer outcomes. The advanced digital solution is an alternative to and simplifies the traditional paper-based claims process. Allowing policyholders to easily navigate their claim submissions at a time that suits them.”
