Policy Summary of Life Cover

Transcription

1 Policy Summary of Life Cover FLIP/4573/Jan14 This policy summary contains key information about Friends Life Individual Protection Life Cover. You should read this summary carefully and keep it in a safe place afterwards. Please note that it does not contain the full terms and conditions and exclusions of cover. You can find these in your membership handbook and please also refer to your registration certificate. Please ask us if you would like copies of these documents. The insurance and the cover that it provides Friends Life Individual Protection Life Cover pays a one-off lump sum benefit or an annual benefit if family income benefit has been selected, if a person covered dies or suffers a terminal illness. Cover options The policy offers five types of cover: level term cover mortgage protection term cover decreasing term cover family income benefit cover renewable term cover. Full details of each of these cover options are set out in the What cover options are available? section. Additional options Apart from indexation, these options are subject to an additional cost. Indexation will result in an increased premium. We explain each of these additional options in detail in the What other options are available? section. Summary of cover You decide how much cover you need, how long you want the cover to last for and whom you want it to cover. The higher the level of cover and the longer the period of cover, the higher your premiums will be. You can apply for the membership to cover either: you alone; you and another person; one or two people not including you. You may take out the policy for personal or business use. The maximum cover for a personal or business policy is 10,000,000. If you choose the mortgage protection term, family income benefit or decreasing term cover, the amount the membership pays out in total will reduce during the term of your membership. We offer two premium options; guaranteed and renewable. Please see the What premium options are available? section for more information. The monthly premium includes a plan fee of If you stop paying your premiums your cover will stop. Provided you continue to pay the agreed premiums, it pays your chosen level of benefit on the death of a person covered, or their being diagnosed with a terminal illness. Other options are available under the policy: indexation premium waiver total permanent disability fracture cover.

2 Policy Summary - Friends Life Individual Protection Life Cover The chosen level of benefit is payable once, after which your cover will end, unless you have chosen family income benefit. If you have chosen family income benefit, the benefit will be paid regularly in installments until your policy is due to end. You must answer all of the questions on the application form correctly to the best of your knowledge and belief. If you do not do this it could mean that we will not pay the benefit provided by your membership. You must tell us if there are any changes to the personal health, family history, occupation or residence of the person covered, or if the person covered takes up any hazardous activities between supplying the application form and when your membership starts. Again, if you do not do this, it could mean that we will not pay the benefits in the event of a claim. For more information please see the What you are not covered for section of the membership handbook. The person covered must be aged from 18 to 74 and live in the UK and Channel Isles to apply. For the purposes of Friends Life Individual Protection policies the Channel Isles means Guernsey and Jersey only. If the main occupation of a person covered is running a home or raising a family, we will consider the maximum benefit available at our reasonable discretion on the basis of financial evidence we reasonably request. The maximum amount of benefit available will be set out in your registration certificate. Your cover can continue until the expiry date as shown on your registration certificate. Please see the How long does the cover last? section. Inflation will reduce the real value of your cover. The membership has no surrender value at any time. How much does the membership cost? The premium depends on our assessment of the personal circumstances of the person covered, taking into account factors such as: age and medical history smoker / non-smoker status current state of health occupation the amount of cover and any options you chose. On Friends Life protection policies there is a monthly plan fee of We only charge the plan fee on one policy but if this policy terminates we will switch it to any other policy you have. What cover options are available? There are five main options of cover available. There are additional options which allow you to tailor your chosen cover and we explain these in the What other options are available? section. Level term cover Level term cover means you are covered for a fixed lump sum for a set period of time (from 5 to 40 years) which you select when you take out the policy. At the end of this period your cover will cease. With this option your premiums are guaranteed. Mortgage protection term cover Mortgage protection term cover means you are covered for a set period of time (from 5 to 40 years) but the level of the cover reduces each month. The rate at which it reduces is worked out in the same way as calculating the outstanding amount on a repayment mortgage with an interest rate of 10 percent a year. With this option your premiums are guaranteed. Decreasing term cover Decreasing term cover means you are covered for a set period of time (from 5 to 40 years) but the level of the cover reduces by an equal amount each month to zero at the end of the term. With this option your premiums are guaranteed. Family income benefit cover Family income benefit cover operates in the same way as level term cover, but differs in the way it pays the benefit. This type of cover does not pay a one off lump sum payment; instead the benefit is paid in annual installments each year for the remaining term of the membership after a claim is accepted. With this option your premiums are guaranteed. Renewable term cover Renewable term cover is a fixed lump sum cover where the premiums are renewed every 5 or 10 years, depending on which renewal option you choose. Your premiums will increase or decrease at each renewal based on the age of the person covered and our premium rates at that time. We don t require any further medical evidence. We may also change the other terms and conditions at renewal and can terminate the membership at that time if we no longer offer this type of membership. For policies with 5 year renewable terms your membership cannot continue after the 65th birthday of the person covered. For 10 year renewable terms, this would be their 70th birthday. With this option your premiums are renewable. 2

3 What premium options are available? There are two premium options: Guaranteed premiums If your premium option is guaranteed, your premium will remain the same for the term of the membership, unless changes to your premium are required in accordance with reasons set out in the General information section of the membership handbook, as appropriate. Premiums will increase if the level of benefit is increased, for example if you choose an indexation option. Renewable premiums Renewable premiums are only available with the renewable term cover option. If you choose this option, your premiums may increase or decrease at each renewal. This would be based on the age of the person covered and our premium rates at that time - no further medical evidence will be required. Your premiums will almost certainly increase on each renewal date because of the increase in the age of the member(s), unless standard rates are reduced by a greater extent than the increase in the premium rate due to age. We may also change the other terms and conditions at renewal in accordance with reasons set out in the General information section of the membership handbook, as appropriate. We will write to tell you about any change to your premiums at least 60 days beforehand. If your premium needs to increase, you can tell us to keep the premium the same and reduce the amount of cover instead. Alternatively, you can cancel the membership and stop paying premiums altogether. We may also increase your renewable premium in accordance with reasons set out in the General information section of the membership handbook, as appropriate. What other options are available? You can choose a number of other options and we explain these below. Apart from indexation and replacement cover, each of these options would be subject to both our agreement and an additional cost. Indexation You can help protect the value of your benefit from the effects of inflation by selecting an indexation option when you join. With this option you can choose for your level of benefit to increase either in line with the Retail Prices Index (RPI) or Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) or by a set amount of either 3 or 5 percent each year on each anniversary of the start of your membership. Please see the Additional options section of the membership handbook for more information. Your premium will increase at a higher rate than your benefit as we take account of your age and remaining term at each benefit increase. The increase will be based on our premium rates at the commencement date. For renewable premiums, the increase will be based on our premium rates applicable at the later of the commencement date or the last renewal. You may cancel any increase under the indexation option by writing to tell us within 30 days of the increase. If you do cancel, we will not make any automatic increases in the future. Increases that have already been made would not be affected. If you select family income benefit cover, your benefit will stop increasing once we start paying your claim. For more information on the indexation option please see the Additional options section of the membership handbook. Premium waiver When you apply for cover the premium waiver option is normally available to those in paid occupation. With this option you would not need to pay the relevant premiums (that is, they would be waived ) if incapacity prevented the person to whom the option applies from following their own occupation for more than three months or, if they are not in a paid occupation, their incapacity prevented them from carrying out at least three out of six key specified activities of daily living. Activities of daily living are defined as follows: Shopping - being able to get to and from the nearest shops and carry a small bag of shopping. Cooking - being able to prepare and cook a basic meal. Housework - being able to carry out light housework such as dusting, washing dishes and making beds. Handling money - being able to handle basic household finances and recognise the value of money. Taking medicine - being able to take routine medication prescribed by a recognised medical practitioner. Child minding - being able to care for, feed, wash and dress a child under the age of five. 3

4 The waiver will end if they are able to carry on any paid occupation or they are no longer unable to do at least three activities of daily living, or on their 65th birthday, whichever occurs first. This option ceases on the 65th birthday of any person to whom it applies. For more information on the premium waiver option please see the Additional options section of the membership handbook. Total permanent disability You can elect to include cover for total permanent disability for any person covered by the policy. If you choose this option the benefit will be paid if the person it applies to was to suffer a total permanent disability as defined in the membership handbook. Total permanent disability will relate to whether they can carry out their own occupation, if they can carry out any occupation to which they are suited, or if they are able to carry out three of the activities of daily working. Activities of daily working are defined as follows: Walking - the ability to walk more than 200 metres on a level surface. Climbing - the ability to climb up a flight of 12 stairs and down again, using the handrail if needed. Lifting - the ability to pick up an object weighing 2kg at table height and hold for 60 seconds before replacing the object on the table. Bending - the ability to bend or kneel to touch the floor and straighten up again. Getting in and out of a car - the ability to get into a standard saloon car, and out again. Writing - the manual dexterity to write legibly using a pen or pencil, or type using a desktop personal computer keyboard. This option ends when your membership ends or, for any member, on their 65th birthday, whichever occurs first. For more information on the total permanent disability option please see the Additional options section of the membership handbook. Fracture cover With the fracture cover option your policy provides cover if the person covered suffers one of a number of specified fractures. The maximum amount that can be claimed for one fracture is 2,100. The amount depends on the nature of the fracture. Claims can only be made for one fracture in any year. The definition of fracture does not include every type of fracture. The full details of the types of fracture covered, the amount of benefit for each fracture and the definition of fracture are set out in the Additional options section of the membership handbook. Replacement cover If your membership covers two people you can take out a new membership (replacement cover) after a claim is paid for one of those covered. The new membership must be for the other person covered only and for no more than the existing level of benefit. The end date of the new membership cannot be later than the end date of your existing membership. This option is only available where the initial membership could have continued for more than five years, was originally accepted at our standard rates, and the person to be covered by the new membership is under 50 years of age. You must tell us that you want to take out the new membership within three months of the date the claim has been paid. For more information please see the How to make a claim section in the membership handbook. Changes you can make You can increase the level of cover at any time without providing further medical evidence in the following circumstances, if the person covered: gets married or becomes a civil partner gets divorced or separated obtains a dissolution of a civil partnership has a child (including adopting a child or becoming a legal guardian) increases their mortgage due to moving house or undertaking home improvements is promoted by their current employer or starts a new job with a different employer and their salary increases. The maximum increase for each of the above is the lower of 25 percent of the original amount of cover and 50,000. Each change can only be made once throughout the lifetime of the membership. The total of all increases under this option is the lower of 100 percent of the original amount of cover and 125,000. This option is available if the person covered (or the eldest member, if more than one) is under 55 years of age at the time we receive your request for an increase. You must write to us asking for the increase within six months of the event. This option will not be provided if your membership is accepted at above one and half times the standard rates. Your premiums will increase if you increase your cover. 4

5 Policy Summary - Friends Life Individual Protection Life Cover Changes applicable for key person/ shareholder protection only You can increase your cover at any time subject to an overall maximum of 50 percent of the benefit or 250,000 for key person cover, loan cover, shareholder/partnership cover or if you are a sole trader, without providing further medical evidence. This option may be available where the following changes have happened: if the salary of the member employed by you increases a business loan you have is increased the value of your interest in a business you own has increased in value where you are a sole trader and either your net relevant earnings have increased or a business loan you have has increased. Your premiums will increase if you increase your cover. What you are not covered for We would not pay a claim for any of the following reasons; For full details, please see the What you are not covered for section of the membership handbook: if you do not tell us about your claim as soon as you can. if the cause of the claim is specifically excluded by any specific terms we apply to your membership when we accept your application or by any general exclusion set out in the membership handbook. If applicable, we will show any specific terms in your proposed terms and the registration certificate. where a claim for total permanent disability or premium waiver results from or relates to: intentionally self-inflicted injury. unless you provide the information and assistance we need to assess a terminal illness, total permanent disability or premium waiver claim. This may require the person to attend a medical examination in the UK. We will pay for the medical examination but not any expenses incurred in attending. where we reasonably consider that you have misled us (deliberately or recklessly) by either giving us false information or by keeping relevant information from us before your cover starts or relating to your membership or claim and in those circumstances we shall have the right to cancel from the start of the membership. However, where that information was given carelessly or a failure to disclose relevant information was careless then we shall have the right to amend the terms of your membership to be consistent with what the terms should have been based on the correct information, unless we would not have offered any terms for the membership in which case we shall have the right to cancel the membership from the start and return any premiums. How long does the cover last? You decide how long you want your Friends Life Individual Protection Life Cover to last for. With renewable term cover your cover will end before the person covered reaches age 65 for 5 year renewable terms or 70 for 10 year renewable terms. If you choose any other type of cover this can be any period from five to 40 years but must begin before the 75th birthday of the person covered and cease before their 85th birthday. This relates to the eldest member (if more than one). Your cover will continue until: you stop paying premiums to it; the person covered dies; the person covered is diagnosed with a terminal illness; or your cover term ends. You may need to review and update your cover periodically to ensure it remains adequate. If you stop paying your premiums your cover will cease immediately. However, if you miss a premium we would allow cover to continue if the outstanding premiums are paid within 30 days. Is my benefit taxable? For life cover claim payments, you re not liable to income tax or capital gains tax on your plan unless you sell it to someone else. If the person covered dies and your plan is not written in trust, the amount we pay out will form part of your estate for inheritance tax purposes. Once you ve started your plan, you may wish to seek advice about placing it under trust to help in inheritance tax planning. Tax rules may change and will depend on individual circumstances. 5

6 Changing your mind You can change your mind within 30 days: of the day when your membership starts or, if later; the day when you receive your membership handbook and your registration certificate, after this time, there would be no refund of premiums paid. However, if you have paid an annual premium and you cancel your cover before the next premium is due, we will give you a pro-rata refund, but we will deduct the discount you would have received in that year for paying an annual premium. Please see the Your right to cancellation section of the membership handbook for further information. Getting in touch The Friends Life Individual Protection helpline is always the first number to call if you need help or support or if you have any comments or complaints. Please call us on between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday. Calls may be recorded and may be monitored. Alternatively, you can write to us at Friends Life Individual Protection, PO Box 569, Friends Life Centre, Bristol BS34 9FE. How to make a claim If you need to make a claim, you must do this as soon as you can. You will need to have your Friends Life Individual Protection membership number handy if you call. If you cannot locate this, we will need to know the name of the member, their date of birth and their post code. You can call or write to us using the details provided in the Getting in touch section. Please see the How to make a claim section of the membership handbook for further information. How to complain Please contact our Customer Relations Team using the contact details above. To see our procedures for dealing with complaints, please ask for our We Listen leaflet. If you are not satisfied with our response you can contact: Financial Ombudsman Service South Quay Plaza 183 Marsh Wall London E14 9SR Telephone or Website complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk Making a complaint won t affect your legal rights. Compensation If an adviser recommends this policy, you have a legal right to compensation if the Financial Ombudsman Service decides it wasn t suitable for your needs at the time. We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). If we cannot meet our obligations you may be entitled to compensation under the scheme. For this type of policy, the scheme covers 90% of the claim. For further information see Alternatively, you can contact the FSCS on or Please note that FSCS s first responsibility is to seek continuity of cover rather than to pay compensation. Law and language This membership is governed by the law of England and Wales and will apply unless your membership handbook shows otherwise. Your policy documents, membership handbook and all other communications will be in English. About Friends Life Friends Life and Pensions Limited is entered on the Financial Services register number This document is available in other formats If you would like a Braille, large print or audio version of this document, please contact us. Friends Life and Pensions Limited An incorporated company limited by shares and registered in England and Wales, number Registered office: Pixham End, Dorking, Surrey RH4 1QA. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Telephone calls may be recorded. Friends Life is a registered trade mark of the Friends Life group. FLIP/4573/Jan UNI