Skandia operates in the high net worth segment of the protection market, specialising in guaranteed whole of life cover and rolling term assurance through its Skandia Protect product. Skandia recently boosted its Protect offering through improved pricing, a new online application process and an easier and more efficient underwriting process for advisers and customers. This further move to enter the critical illness market will help enhance Skandia’s protection offering, and cement its position as market leader of quality protection cover.
The Skandia critical illness product covers 56 illnesses and goes beyond normal industry standards by providing cover for 18 of these conditions at the ABI+ standard. Other stand-out features include the cover being available with rolling term assurance which means that customers can be protected throughout life. The children’s cover is distinctive, as it starts from birth and provides protection for some congenital conditions. The child cover runs until age 21, and customers with joint life plans will receive a double payout per child.
The inclusion of Serious Accident Benefit provides further high value cover. Following an accident that causes severe injury and results in a customer being hospitalised immediately for 28 consecutive days they will receive a partial pay-out of up to £25,000, a feature which distinguishes Skandia in the critical illness market.
Ian Jefferies, head of protection at Skandia comments:
“Many advisers are re-prioritising protection following the RDR and want more product choices for their clients. Our focus has been to provide a truly top quality product with innovative features that will make it stand out in the market. For customers our priority is to help ease the financial burden that a serious illness can place upon them, and we have worked hard to make the criteria for pay-out clearer and fairer for them."
