“One of the most famous examples of the pre-partial era was in 2016, when it was reported that a man had his CI claim declined because he’d ‘only’ lost one leg as the policy covered ‘loss of limbs’, with an emphasis on the plural.
“Partial payments have eradicated this unfair practice, which was always seen as ‘typical’ insurers wriggling out of a payment based on small print.”
The declined claim referenced here was for Hein Pretorius, who had one limb amputated when his 2007 policies stipulated two limbs.
This would be acknowledged under Vitality’s plan and has gradually been improved across the market with updates to the full CI definition, which was first changed in 2010, but it took until 2018 until all insurers switched from two to one limb.
Enhanced and added benefits
The introduction of enhanced payments, possible through a selection of providers, has also been a welcome addition to the CI market, says Nina Brown, protection specialist at Pam Brown Mortgages.
This benefit allows policyholders to receive an additional or higher payout if they are diagnosed with an illness that has a bigger impact on their life than expected, a feature Brown says has been an important development in the sector.
"The fact the client can get more than what they were originally insured for is a great added benefit as these cover conditions that would be completely life changing for the individual, with the majority leading to the client not being able to return to work, for example being diagnosed with motor neurone disease,” she adds.
Similarly, the inclusion of added benefits to CI policies also greatly helped with client engagement in protection planning, says Peter Chadborn, director at Plan Money.
“This is because the policy provided something clients could imagine benefiting from, as opposed to being something they did not want to commit paying for, particularly when they were not convinced they would ever need it.”
“It also gave advisers a way of differentiating and articulating the benefit of quality cover over cheap but limited cover,” Chadborn adds.
Innovations in children’s cover
The evolution of children’s CI over the past decade was also cited as a popular innovation among the advisers we spoke to regarding this feature.
Many cited greater flexibilities and the addition of key children’s illnesses such as hydrocephalus – the build-up of fluid on the brain – and coverage from birth or 24 weeks of pregnancy, as major market developments.
“This is a feature that is valued by many parents and makes the cover more family related,” says Andrew Wilkinson, director at Moneysworth Life Insurance.
