“Unlike travel insurance, there isn’t a ‘pandemic’ exclusion for life insurance.
“In plain English, this means that if you already have a policy and continue paying your premiums on time, your loved ones will get a payout if you die from the coronavirus.”
Unum has also created a Covid-19 support service for advisers to use themselves, as well as with policyholders.The resources range from revised claims process, to webinars on home-working, and mental and physical wellbeing support.
They include virtual workshops, Q&As for brokers and their employer clients, and access to Unum’s Help@Hand service.
Peter O’Donnell, chief executive of Unum UK, says: “We want to help businesses through this very difficult time by providing dedicated resources and up-to-the-minute advice to our clients and brokers.
“We’ve already seen a fantastic response to our health and wellbeing support and timely updates and we intend to continue providing all the support we can.”
However, clients wanting to buy a life insurance policy might have to wait, Ms Iervasi warns, as many insurers have been inundated while staff work from home, so they have imposed a waiting period for applications.
Moreover, some insurers have been warning of a wait of more than a month if the applicant has pre-existing conditions, or who may have travelled earlier this year to countries hit hardest by Covid-19, or perhaps has recently been repatriated to the UK.
But while there might be a wait for new applicants, the use of free services – whether nursing support, online GP access, healthcare tips and wellbeing initiatives – will be a boon for those in lockdown at the moment.
Simoney Kyriakou is editor of Financial Adviser
