Clarification on cover from insurers & COVID-19
At Nelson Life have access to the widest range of provider of life insurance, income protection, specified serious illness and cancer cover.
Please see below an explanation from Zurich Life, Royal London, Irish Life, New Ireland and AVIVA position in relation to their protection policies in relation to Covid-19/Coronavirus. (Source; Brokers Ireland 26 March 2020)If you have a question please feel free to contact us at 091441188.
Zurich Life
Life Cover – Guaranteed Term Protection (GTP) & Guaranteed Mortgage Protection (GMP)Zurich have confirmed that if a Life Insured dies from COVID-19 then they will pay a valid death claim. Pay-out will be subject to the normal terms and conditions applicable on the policy. But they can confirm that no new restrictions apply as a result of COVID-19. Please note that Zurich have a 3-month re-instatement of life cover policies without evidence of health in the case of missed premiums.
Serious Illness Cover – GTP & GMPCOVID-19 is not a defined illness listed in Zurich’s Serious Illness policies, so claims are not payable specifically for COVID-19. However, a client may be eligible to claim for conditions arising from COVID-19 if the serious illness definition is met.
Hospital Cash Benefit - If a client with Hospital Cash benefit is hospitalised with COVID-19, Zurich will pay a Hospital Cash claim provided they are hospitalised for the minimum required 3 or 4 days. Benefit is not payable for people who are required to self-isolate or who are quarantined in hotels/cruise ships etc.
Personal Accident Benefit Personal Accident Benefit is only payable where the insured person is unable to work due to an accident caused by visible, violent, external means. Benefits are not payable if the life insured is unable to work for any other reason including COVID-19.
Income Protection - does periods of self-isolation count towards the waiting/deferred period.
Where a customer is unable to work (either at home or in the office) due to a diagnosed illness, then this counts towards the waiting period in the usual way.
New Policies - Underwriting While no new underwriting restrictions have been applied regarding COVID-19, Zurich’s normal underwriting criteria applies, and each case will be considered on an individual basis. For instance, if a client discloses that they have recently returned from an affected area or if they have contracted the illness, then underwriting may be postponed until a full recovery is made.
Royal London
Life Cover - Royal London have confirmed that in the unfortunate circumstance that a customer contracts COVID-19 and dies, our life policies would pay out, in line with our usual claims philosophy.
Serious Illness - CoverCOVID-19 is not an illness covered within Royal London’s Specified Serious Illness cover policies as it would have needed to be defined within our terms and conditions. There are no COVID-19 related exclusions within their Specified Serious Illness cover policies. A customer may be eligible to claim for conditions arising from COVID-19 if the condition met the specified serious illness definition in their policy conditions, for example Intensive Care.
Hospital Cash Benefit - Hospital Cash Benefit is available on Royal London’s Income Protection policies. This is a daily benefit payable, subject to the conditions set out in the customer’s policy, in the event that they are hospitalised during their policy’s Deferred Period. Royal London will consider any claims for COVID-19 against the terms and conditions of the customer’s policy and their usual claims philosophy. The minimum period is more than seven days in a row and the customer needs to be admitted to a Registered Hospital on the advice of a Registered Medical Doctor.
New Policies - If a prospective customer has COVID-19 Royal London will need to wait until full recovery and a period thereafter before providing cover. It is currently recommended that they postpone cover for three months, but they have indicated that they will review each case individually.
Irish Life
Life Cover - claims as a result of Covid-19If an existing customer died from complications as a result of COVID-19, they are fully covered under the normal terms & conditions of a life cover plan.
Serious Illness Cover - Covid19 is not one of the Specified Illnesses in any of our SIC products. However, if a policyholder were to be diagnosed with Covid19 after the commencement of their policy and that subsequently led them to meet the requirements of a SIC definition that is covered by their policy, a claim for that condition would be considered.
Hospital Cash Benefit - If a policyholder is hospitalised as a consequence of Covid19 they will be covered for Hospital Cash Benefit. The minimum period is 3 days (72 hours). Irish Life will not pay for periods of self-isolation in hotels or other such establishments. They will consider a claim if a policyholder is isolated on medical grounds in a recognised hospital.
New Policies –new underwriting restrictions. Where Irish Life receive applications for protection plans, they cannot offer acceptance terms where customers:
Have been tested positive for COVID-19 or;
Have just returned from high risk countries, or:
Are in self-isolation.
In these situations, Irish Life would postpone accepting all protection benefits until they have received the all clear medically. Irish Life would then expect applications for Life Cover and Specified Illness Cover to be accepted at standard rates, assuming there is no other health history.
Acceptance terms for Disability Benefits such as Income Protection may require a slightly longer postpone period to ensure the customer has fully recovered and is back working full time with no restrictions
Income Protection – do periods of self-isolation count towards the waiting/deferred period?
Periods of self-isolation do not count as part of the deferred/waiting period. However, if a policyholder who is in self-isolation is diagnosed with Covid19 the waiting period will commence from that date.
New Ireland
Does my existing policy cover COVID-19 or does COVID-19 impact my ability to claim under my existing policy?
The cover you had before COVID-19 won’t change as a result of COVID-19. What cover you have depends on the type of policy you have and the benefits you selected to apply when you took your policy out. Here’s an overview of types of cover and the impact of COVID-19 on them.
Life Cover - If you have cover for death on your policy and death occurs as a result of COVID-19, the death benefit will still be paid assuming all other criteria for payment of a death benefit are met. There is no exclusion in our policies for death arising from a disease such as COVID-19.Specified/critical/serious illness cover.
While it depends on the terms of the policy you hold (and they will be happy to check in any case), in general COVID-19 is not one of the serious illnesses covered by our policies which would result in a serious illness benefit being paid. What serious illnesses are covered will be clearly specified in your policy conditions and in some cases the severity level required before an amount is paid. While COVID-19 itself may not be covered, COVID-19 does not impact your ability to claim for serious illness benefit if you meet the definition of one or more of the illnesses that are covered by the policy.
Hospital cash benefits - If you have cover under your policy to protect you in the event you are hospitalised, then hospitalisation as a result of COVID-19 won’t prevent you from relying on that cover. Please do however refer to your policy conditions to understand what hospitals are covered.
Income Protection - If you have income protection benefit under your policy, COVID-19 won’t adversely impact that benefit. If you meet the definition of disability as set out in your policy conditions, then your income protection benefit will be paid after any deferred period that applies. No new conditions will be imposed, and payment will be made where a valid claim arises under the existing terms.
I am currently in the process of taking out a new policy. Do I need to declare if I have tested positive for COVID-19 or if I am awaiting test results for COVID-19?
Yes. You need to answer the questions asked on an application form fully to enable us to assess your application. The application form includes questions on medical conditions you have been diagnosed with and asks if you are currently awaiting the result of any tests. If you are tested or diagnosed after you have submitted an application and before the policy has commenced, you also need to let us know. If your policy is already in place, cover has commenced and you received your policy conditions before a COVID-19 test is ordered or before a COVID-19 diagnosis, then you need not tell us about that.
If I have tested positive for COVID-19 does this mean I cannot get cover?
If an applicant has tested positive for COVID-19 or is awaiting test results for COVID-19, a final decision on an application for cover will be postponed until the applicant has either fully recovered or the result of the test is confirmed as negative. When they assess an application for cover, they of course take all medical details provided into account and not just any disclosures about COVID-19.
Are there any restrictions on travel to COVID-19 infected areas under an existing New Ireland Assurance policy?
While there are no restrictions enforced specifically for COVID-19, there may be some restrictions on the countries that cover will extend to. This depends on the terms of the policy you have. New Ireland won’t be changing the terms of existing policies. If travel restrictions don’t currently apply, that will continue to be the case. It is however important to check your policy to see if cover applies to certain countries only. These are often referred to as ‘approved territories’ in policy conditions but again this depends on the policy conditions you have
Aviva Life and Pensions
Do Aviva Income protection policies pay out for COVID-19?
If you are diagnosed with COVID-19 and meet the definition of disability after the normal deferred period yes you will be able to submit a claim.
Are there any travel restrictions across protection polices during this pandemic?
No there are no new restrictions to travel as a result of COVID-19 and normal terms and conditions apply. (Please note this only relates to Aviva Life & Pensions protection products. Travel insurance may differ.)
Specified illness policies - Specified Illness Cover is designed to pay a benefit on diagnosis of a defined specified illness such as a stroke or heart attack. This benefit is meant to assist the policyholder with life and environment changes that may be needed as a result of the illness to assist recovery. Covid-19 is not a defined critical illness and diagnosis of the infection would not be covered by this type of policy. However, complications from the infection could lead to the development of a critical illness, which may be covered. Please check your policy documents for details of the illnesses
Life Assurance - Aviva Life policies cover your client should they die from COVID-19. There are no exclusions on Aviva life policies. If a client dies from Covid-19 complications, the claim will be assessed and validated in the normal way. No restrictions apply to any life policy as a result of this pandemic.
Hospital cash policies - They would pay a Hospital Cash claim if a client were hospitalised with Covid-19 for the minimum required period, which will depend on the conditions of the policy. They would not pay a Hospital Cash claim for people who are asked to self-isolate or who are quarantined in a hotel, etc.
New Policies underwriting - They would expect a diagnosis of or symptoms of Covid-19 to be disclosed under Question 11(G) of our application form.
Do you currently have or in the last five years have you had, or been suspected of having or consulted a medical professional for any of the following:
Asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, COPD, emphysema, sarcoidosis, or any other respiratory disorder?
No new restrictions have been applied to our Protection policies as a result of Covid-19 and our normal risk assessment continues to be completed at underwriting stage. If a customer discloses that they are awaiting the result of a test for the virus, they will await the outcome of that test. If the outcome is negative, they will confirm our acceptance terms. If the outcome is positive, they will defer acceptance terms for a period of three months following confirmation that the virus has been cleared and the applicant has returned to normal health.
Income Protection - Income protection insurance is designed to replace some or all of your regular working income in the event that you are too ill to work for a period of time. This assumes that you will be medically advised to take time off work and most policies will require that a diagnosis of an illness, including Covid-19, has been received in order to claim on that policy. It should be noted that many policies will include a deferred period which must take place before the claim will be paid. It also means that for many policies, you cannot claim in the event of self-isolation, but you can claim if you have been diagnosed with the illness and will not be able to work for longer than the agreed deferred period.
If a customer discloses that they have recently travelled to an affected area will they be accepted for new protection policies?
Normal underwriting will occur, and they will assess each case on an individual basis.
If a customer discloses that they have tested positive for COVID-19 will they be accepted for cover?
Cover may be possible but would be postponed until a full recovery has been made.
IMPORTANT; The above is a guide and you should always refer to your POLICY CONDITIONS and POLICY BENEFIT SCHEDULE. If you cannot locate them request them from your provider. Contact us and we will help.
Want to know more? We are available to discuss your options, and we look forward to hearing from you.
Our job is to help you choose a product and structure that will help you meet your goals.
telephone | 091441188 and/or email | office@nelsonlife.ie
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