They are predominantly designed for those without pre-existing medical conditions, with those that have more than minor conditions usually being rated or declined, says Higgs.
Typically, these plans will have lower sum assured limits, lower maximum age at entry/expiry and maximum term. They will also not include most of the non-core benefits such as guaranteed insurability options, waiver of premium and the wider support services offered within the full plans.
Our adviser commentators highlighted the products that they favour.
“Firstly, we find AIG’s Instant Life Cover very good for some clients as it presents a different underwriting journey that can in fact result in favourable terms for some clients,” says Knowles. “It has a smooth customer handover journey, where the customer can complete the application themselves and they also still offer access to their Smart Health for customers who take this cover.”
Secondly, Knowles favours Metlife’s MortgageSafe because he says it is their only offering of income protection and “it’s not deliberately stripped back to save a pound or two. The five simple medical questions mean that some clients who are unable to obtain longer-term income protection can get cover at least for their mortgage payments, so this adds real value to the market”.
Talking of mortgages, Nicola Kingsley-Rowe, protection analyst at L&C Mortgages, says that they do not use many simplified products because in the context of the advice they give, they often recommend multiple policies.
“This means that multi-benefit discounts can eat into the cost advantage of the simpler plans,” she adds. “However, where we do recommend life only business, we do really like the AIG Instant Life option.
"Not only does it give the customer a fast and short application journey and instant decision at a really cost competitive price, it also still provides the additional benefits of Best Doctors and Smart Health, which are usually sacrificed in this type of plan. If this was to be incorporated into AIG’s menu plan, we would doubtless do a lot more on this particular policy.”
Simple income protection plans
Perhaps one of the biggest issues that income protection faces is its inability to cope with clients that have variable or sporadic income, says Higgs.
While many plans include a range of features to support this, such as guaranteed insurability options and minimum benefit guarantees, the small print often makes them less “real-world friendly” than they seem.
To help with clients that may have a variable income, FTRC has seen a number of insurers introduce income protection plans that have no financial assessment of income.
These plans will typically be limited in terms of the maximum benefit and claim duration.
