Guardian is launching its first income protection (IP) product with a roll out set for the coming weeks.
The product will be available to all advisers using IRESS, IPipeline and LifeQuote product sourcing when it goes live in the coming weeks and will follow on Protection Platform after that.
The launch means Guardian will offer a full menu on its Protection Builder 2.0 quote and apply system, allowing advisers to combine different cover types, amount and terms to create bespoke, needs-based protection recommendations for clients, the insurer said.
Guardian marketing and proposition director Jacqui Gillies (pictured) told Health & Protection the insurer saw a “significant opportunity” in the IP market and wanted advisers to familiarise themselves with the product before it went live.
The product offers cover for ‘own job’, rather than ‘own occupation’ – a distinction aimed at giving clients more certainty their cover will pay out when they need it to.
Premium waiver is offered as standard and pays out after 28 days regardless of deferred period and there is no requirement for loss of income.
The Halo specialist return-to-work support is available as soon as policyholders become too ill to work regardless of deferred period, and the Guardian Anytime virtual GP is also available with the policy.
Other product features include:
- No activities of daily working definition – if Guardian is able to offer terms, it will offer them for the client’s own job, and won’t downgrade new policyholders to the traditional activities of daily working definition often offered for more manual roles, as it said this rarely results in a successful claim;
- Option to add children’s critical illness protection to adult stand-alone IP and choose the amount up to £100,000, limited to the adult’s cover amount;
- Higher cover amounts, with cover for up to 65% of annual earnings up to £60,000;
- Two-year and full-term payment periods, with a variety of deferred periods;
- Choice of payment date to receive IP claims payments to fit personal circumstances;
- Annual statements so clients know what they’re covered for and to encourage them to speak to their adviser.
Part of the plan
Gillies noted the launch of an income protection offering to sit alongside existing critical illness and life cover solutions was “always part of the plan”.
However the insurer had been more successful than it intially expected in terms of its panel positions following launch of life and CI offering.
“IP was part of our plans pre-launch. We always intended to have IP as part of the menu but distribution opportunities and panel positions were our priority for the first few years and then the pandemic came along,” she said.
“Since launch, we’ve also introduced a combined product and upgraded our adviser platform. With that in mind, it’s difficult to put an exact timeline on product development, as we’ve been thinking about it for a while.”
Consultation with advisers
Gillies explained the insurer took its time to develop the product with advisers consulted along the way.
“Certainty at claim was one issue – advisers told us that customers do not know what they’re covered for and this creates a lack of trust,” she said.
“Flexibility to suit different budgets was also key. Claims support was another – that sometimes people have been off sick for so long it has changed their behaviour and attitude to work and this could have been preventable.
“We’ve had a number of conversations with clients about issues they see with current products and exactly what they expect from products.
“They were really happy that the consultation process has been there the whole journey. We will continue listening to adviser feedback so once we’ve launched if there are things that advisers expect us to do than we would love to hear that and we will take that on board for future developments.”
Guardian’s consulted a range of intermediaries including strategic partners, IP specialists and networks to understand their pain points which it considered within the product design.
“We went back to a subset of those to test our product design and we’re confident we’ve addressed many of those particular pain points,” Gillies continued.
“We also attended the regular forums where advisers talked about IP and their concerns with the product so we could better understand how to address any issues.
“We developed this product against a backdrop of Covid-19 and reinsurers and providers pulling products, so our focus was to develop a solution that delivers the right outcome for the customer, within an intermediated process and not attempt to add bells and whistles that cost the customer more.
“We feel that we’ve taken on board customers’ and advisers’ needs – however the proof will obviously be when people start recommending it and we always welcome adviser feedback.”
Start talking about it
And that consultation with advisers will be a key feature of future development of the product ahead of launch in the coming weeks, Gillies added.
“Today we wanted to be able to start talking to advisers. What we want is for advisers to get familiar with the product,” she said.
“The actual go live date we will communicate in the coming weeks. I don’t expect it to be too long.
“It was more the fact that if we give advisers the opportunity to get familiar with that product, when we do actually go live, they will be ready and know more about the product and whether it’s right and suitable for their customers.”
Significant opportunity in growing IP market
Gillies would not be drawn on aims of the product in terms of sales and market share over the next three years, but she said the firm foresees a “significant” opportunity in the market.
“We expect to see continued growth among both IP and full menu,” Gillies added.
“Recent statistics from Kantar/Mintel and the ONS in 2022 show the need for IP is high and growing. People’s financial resilience is being tested and their budgets are also under pressure.
“We have endeavoured to create enough flexibility to suit different budgets. We also expect to see increased menu sales because we’ll now be able to offer the full suite of protection needs.”
And on plans to move into other product sets in future, Gillies said Guardian is continuously looking at the market and consumer needs.
“We want to see as many people as possible put in place the protection they need; with policies that give them certainty and that they can rely on.
“We are always looking as a business at how best to address that consumer need, given the economic context,” she concluded.