The Impact of Covid-19 on your Protection Policy
Over the past year, some of the following queries have come up and hopefully these answers may help to ease any concerns.
Does my life assurance policy cover Covid-19?
As your life assurance policy is designed to pay an agreed sum on the death of the policyholder, a payment will be made should death occur as a result of Covid-19.
Is Covid-19 classed as a specified illness under my critical/serious illness cover?
Critical or serious illness cover is designed to pay a lump sum on diagnosis of a specified illness of the policyholder. As Covid-19 is a new illness, it will not be covered or listed as a specified illness under this particular type of protection policy. However, should Covid-19 develop into one of the illnesses specified listed under your policy, you may then be eligible to claim for this illness in accordance with the policy’s other normal terms and conditions.
I can’t afford to pay my premium for my protection policy, but I want to keep the policy. What can I do?
In this instance many insurers will offer either a payment holiday or a reinstatement option. A payment holiday will allow you to defer your monthly premium for a certain amount of months without losing cover on the policy, so a valid claim during the payment holiday would still be covered under the policy. A reinstatement option will allow the policy to be reinstated after a period of missed payments with little or no updated underwriting required. You will be required to pay the missed payments at the end of the period.
Is Covid-19 covered under my income protection policy? Can I claim on this if I have been made redundant or lost my job due to Covid-19?
Income protection insurance is designed to replace some or all of your regular income in the event that you are too ill to work for a period of time. This assumes that you will be medically advised to take time off work and most policies will require that a diagnosis of an illness, including Covid-19, has been received in order to claim on that policy. It should be noted that many policies will include a deferred period which must take place before the claim will be paid.
Will I be asked about Covid-19 if I apply for a life, critical/serious illness or income protection policy?
Yes. Insurers may ask Covid-19 related questions in different ways but will be likely to cover whether you are currently experiencing symptoms and whether you have been tested/waiting on results of a test.
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