Guardian has announced the launch of a new Income Protection product in the coming weeks, adding to its existing range of life, critical illness and children’s critical illness protection covers.
The new offering has been developed in collaboration with advisers, who provided feedback to help create a comprehensive and affordable protection solution for clients who may be unable to work due to illness or injury.
Guardian’s Income Protection offers a range of benefits, including cover for the policyholder’s “own job,” meaning that customers have greater certainty that their policy will pay out when they need it to.
The product also features a premium waiver as standard, which pays out after 28 days, regardless of the deferred period and without a requirement for loss of income.
Other highlights of Guardian’s Income Protection include higher cover amounts of up to 65% of annual earnings, no activities of daily working definition, and the option to add Children’s Critical Illness Protection to standalone Income Protection.
The product also offers a choice of deferred periods and payment dates to fit with clients’ personal circumstances and budgets.
Jacqui Gillies, marketing and proposition director at Guardian, said: “We know many advisers have been keen to see us enter the Income Protection space and we’re delighted to announce today that it’s coming very soon!
“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. ‘Own job’ is language customers know and understand, and that’s important for customers to know what they’re covered for. We also won’t offer terms based on activities of daily working as this rarely results in a successful claim.
“On top of this, our Premium Waiver goes further than most – we’ll waive premiums after 28 days, even if the customers’ deferred period is later and if they’re not yet losing income. And as we do with our current products, after the policy has been in force for 12 months, we’ll waive premiums for up to 6 months for maternity/paternity and redundancy. We’ve done this to encourage customers to let us know as early as possible of illness or injury, so our HALO claims service can start supporting them and getting them back to being themselves and back to work as soon as they feel able.
“By offering a choice of 2-year and full-term payment periods with a variety of deferred periods, our Income Protection will provide a range of options to suit different needs and budgets. We also have the option to add Children’s Critical Illness Protection to standalone Income Protection and to choose the amount up to £100,000, which gives families greater cover. “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.”
