Income protection will sit alongside Guardian’s existing life, critical illness, combined life and critical illness and children’s critical illness covers.
Advisers will be able to combine different cover types, amounts and terms to create bespoke, needs-based protection recommendations for clients.
The new income protection product has been created in collaboration with advisers, with Guardian taking on board their feedback to address some concerns.
Jacqui Gillies, marketing and proposition director at Guardian, said: “At the core of our design is the customer and what they should expect from an income protection policy; namely, a definition that is easy to understand and pays out when they need it to.
“So, one particular highlight of income protection, is that we’ll cover ‘own job’, rather than the more traditional ‘own occupation’.
“This distinction gives our customers more certainty that, if they need to claim, their cover will pay out based on an assessment of the actual job they do, and not just a wider assessment of their occupation.”
Guardian’s income protection also includes:
- No activities of daily working definition – if Guardian is able to offer terms, it will offer them for the client’s own job, and won’t ever downgrade new policyholders to the traditional activities of daily working definition often offered for more manual roles, as this rarely results in a successful claim.
- Premium waiver as standard – paying out after 28 days regardless of deferred period and no requirement for loss of income.
- Option to add optional children’s critical illness protection – to adult stand-alone income protection and choose the amount up to £100,000, limited to the adult’s cover amount.
- Higher cover amounts – with cover for up to 65 per cent of annual earnings up to £60,000.
- Two-year and full-term payment periods, with a variety of deferred periods.
- Choice of payment date – clients can choose which date of the month, or day of the week, they would like to receive their income protection claims payments.
- Annual statements – sent each year so clients always know what they’re covered for and to encourage them to speak to their adviser if their earnings change.
- HALO – specialist bespoke return-to-work support, available as soon as policyholders become too ill to work regardless of deferred period.
Gillies added: “Income protection completes our full protection menu and we’re looking forward to working with advisers to make sure more people get the protection they need.”
Guardian’s income protection cover is expected to go live in the coming weeks.
amy.austin@ft.com
