Aviva has eased its underwriting disclosure requirements and restrictions on Covid-19 for individual protection applications.
It has also updated questions around mental health issues and while there has been no fundamental change in approach, it estimates an extra 10% of cases with a common mental health condition will receive immediate acceptance.
Covid-19
The insurer will now only ask customers to disclose a Covid-19 diagnosis or symptoms from the last 14 days instead of the last 30.
And it has also brought its definition of cough into line with NHS guidance to “a new continuous cough”.
It noted that most customers who would have been impacted by the previous terms were typically subject to delays or postponement of applications, although the majority were ultimately able to access cover after this.
“These changes will allow us to give cover more quickly, by only asking about a very recent diagnosis or symptoms suggestive of Covid-19. We anticipate that this will benefit between 1% to 2% of customers,” the insurer told Health & Protection.
Mental health
Aviva has also made changes to its underwriting for mental health conditions, including a full review of the questions and underlying rules, “ensuring the language used is sensitive and easy for a customer to understand”.
It said the questions were used to understand the severity of a customer’s condition and the impact on an insurance application.
“There has been no fundamental shift in how we assess these applicants, however, we’ve worked hard to ensure our language is appropriate and we offer as many point of sale decisions as possible,” Aviva told Health & Protection.
It added: “There has been a small uplift to an immediate acceptance for around 9 in 10 customers who disclose a common mental health condition, such as anxiety and depression. Previously we offered an immediate acceptance to around 8 in 10 customers.”
Robert Morrison, chief underwriting officer for health and protection at Aviva, said: “These are very positive changes for Aviva as more customers will be able to get the valuable cover they need immediately.
“We have worked closely with charities to ensure that our underwriting questions and the language we use reflects the evolving mental health landscape in the UK, and provides an empathetic journey for those disclosing a common mental health condition.
“We have also been closely monitoring the science as the vaccination programme continues to weaken the link between Covid-19 infections and deaths. We will continue to develop our underwriting stance over time.”