Sometimes, group life schemes
can get horribly stuck. It happens when
the competitive tendering of schemes with members on very high benefits is
stymied by insurers’ member underwriting requirements.
Take for example a City
banking firm with 50 employees where 14 of the employees have insured benefits
of just under £9m each. Advisers may
find it difficult to switch such a scheme even though the potential annual savings
to their client could run into the thousands!
The sticking point comes when
benefits are so high that they can exceed the maximum limits at which an
insurer will accept a previous insurer’s underwriting decision. (For example, Ellipse has a maximum transfer
limit of £5 million on any one member.) In these circumstances, the members will need
to be re-underwritten.
This leaves the adviser in a
tricky situation where they can’t risk moving the scheme as there is no
guarantee that all the benefits will be covered by the new insurer. The client is effectively locked into their
existing insurer and whatever premiums it sees fit to charge.
What’s the solution?
Far from being a hypothetical
situation, an adviser came to us with the exact problem described above – and
we had a solution! We offered to
underwrite the members BEFORE they decided whether they should stick with their
current insurer or switch the scheme to Ellipse. We set no conditions that required them to
switch, even if our premiums were lower than the holding insurers, and charged
no fee, so there was no reason for the client not to give it a go!
Using Ellipse’s online member
underwriting, and supported by Medical Direct’s nurse-based screening service,
the members were all underwritten quickly – which they needed to be to fit into
the client’s review window.
The medical screenings were
undertaken at a convenient location for all the members, so some were conducted
at home, others at the client’s offices.
The client, together with their
adviser, could then make an informed decision whether to stay with their
existing insurer or switch the scheme to Ellipse, knowing that, either way, all
the underwriting decisions had been made and there would be no uninsured
liabilities.
The members, all occupying very
senior positions within their company, were not inconvenienced and the client
was very pleased with both the level of service provided and the end result – a
substantial reduction in their premiums when they switched to Ellipse.
Our online medical
underwriting can deliver an instant
decision in the vast majority of cases – the actual percentage of ‘straight
through’ cases is currently running at 83% – with no need to collect any
additional medical evidence, so most members will just need to complete our
online questionnaire to find out the terms we would offer. If you have clients that are in a similar
situation, we would be very happy to discuss opening up their options. Give our Sales team a call on 020 3003 6262
or send an email to sales@ellipse.co.uk
