AIG Life. Relevant Life Insurance. Key Facts

Transcription

1 AIG Life Relevant Life Insurance Key Facts

2 Contents Page Welcome to AIG 3 Section A: About Relevant Life Insurance A1 What is Relevant Life Insurance is 4 A2 How Relevant Life Insurance works 4 A3 Your commitment 5 A4 Risk factors 5 Section B: The cover and the benefit B1 When we will pay a claim 6 B2 How much we will pay 6 Section C: Questions about your insurance C1 Frequently asked questions 7 C2 Other information 10 This document is available in other formats. If you would like a Braille, large print or audio version, please contact us: Customer Services, AIG Life Limited, PO Box 12010, Harlow CM20 9LG Telephone: (calls are charged at standard rates from a BT landline but may cost more via mobiles and other networks) enquiries@aiglife.co.uk We are open Monday to Thursday, 8.30am to 8pm and Friday, 8.30am to 5.30pm, except bank holidays. We may record or monitor calls to make sure we have an accurate record of the instructions we are given, for training purposes, to improve the quality of our service and to prevent and detect fraud. AIG - Relevant Life Insurance Key Facts 2

3 Welcome to AIG American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is a leading international insurance organisation serving customers in more than 130 countries and jurisdictions. AIG is the marketing name for the worldwide property-casualty, life and retirement, and general insurance operations of American International Group, Inc. AIG Life Limited is the life insurance arm of AIG in the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man. We provide financial and practical support for individuals, families and businesses when illness or injury threatens their life, lifestyle or livelihood. We recognise the value in the Financial Conduct Authority initiative of Treating Customers Fairly. We believe that if we treat you, our customer, fairly at all stages, then this will enhance our core values and lead to better service. Therefore we are committed to ensuring that we embed the principles of Treating Customers Fairly within every aspect of our business. About this Key Facts document If you re thinking about taking out AIG Relevant Life Insurance, this booklet should be able to answer any questions you might have. But if there s anything that isn t clear or you have any questions, please speak to your financial adviser or call us on This Key Facts document is a brief guide to the cover we offer and does not set out the full terms and conditions of AIG Relevant Life Insurance - these are available in the Cover Details document. You can get a copy of the Cover Details from your financial adviser or by calling us on or ing us at enquiries@aiglife.co.uk. This document is a brief guide to the cover we offer and is based on our understanding of current law and tax rules in the UK. If you re thinking of taking out cover, it s a good idea to get expert advice from a financial adviser who can look at your personal circumstances and help you make the decision that s right for you. If you choose Relevant Life Insurance, we will send both the company and employee our Cover Details which provide full information about Relevant Life Insurance. Contacting us by telephone Whenever you call us for any reason we may record or monitor phone calls in order to make sure we have an accurate record of the instructions we are given. We may also record or monitor phone calls for training purposes, to improve the quality of our service and to prevent and detect fraud. Who provides Relevant Life Insurance? Relevant Life Insurance is provided by AIG Life Limited. We specialise protection insurance - such as life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection. Who can take out Relevant Life Insurance? AIG Relevant Life Insurance is only available to businesses registered in the United Kingdom, and can only provide cover in respect of people resident in the United Kingdom, aged 17 up to 71. AIG - Relevant Life Insurance Key Facts 3

4 Section A: About Relevant Life Insurance A1 What is Relevant Life Insurance Relevant Life Insurance is insurance your business can take out to cover an employee against the financial impact of death or terminal illness. The cover must be placed in trust to ensure any benefit from the cover may be paid to the person covered or their beneficiaries. Our relevant life insurance has been designed to comply with the conditions for relevant life plans as set out in Section 393(B)(4) of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 and sections 481 and 482 of the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005 (ITTOIA 2005). A2 How Relevant Life Insurance works Relevant Life Insurance pays a lump sum if the person covered: dies, or is diagnosed with an illness that meets our definition of terminal illness - where life expectancy is less than 12 months. Covering another person in your business You take out Relevant Life Insurance to cover an employee within the business - known as the person covered. You or your in this document means the owner of the cover or, where appropriate, their legal successors - unless a different meaning is given. Please see the Cover Details for more information. An employer can be a sole trader (as a business with employees), a partnership, a limited liability partnership, a limited company or a charity. However, a sole trader (in their capacity as business owner), an equity partner in a partnership or a member of a limited liability partnership are not employees so can t be covered under relevant life insurance. An employee can include a single director of a limited company on PAYE. The amount of cover When you take out Relevant Life Insurance, you decide how much cover you want for your employee. This amount is called the sum assured. This is the amount we pay if the person covered dies or has a terminal illness from which they are expected to die within one year. You decide whether you want the sum assured to stay at the same level for the term of the cover or increase each year. Increasing it each year could help to protect the sum assured against the effects of inflation. The premium will increase to pay for the extra cover. The term of the cover The term of the cover is how long the cover lasts. You choose the term of the cover within the specified limits. Paying for the cover Your business pays the premiums for Relevant Life Insurance and the cost of the premiums is usually viewed as an allowable business expense. This is as long as the local inspector of taxes is satisfied they qualify under the wholly and exclusively rules as governed by HMRC. For example, the expense is incurred wholly and exclusively for the purpose of the business trade and are not excessive in the particular circumstances. Placing the cover in trust To ensure any benefit from the cover may be paid to the person covered or their beneficiaries, you, as owner of the policy, must place the cover in trust. You must do this at the same time as you apply for the cover. You can use a trust form which we have provided or one prepared by your own professional advisers. You must be a trustee, together with the person covered. It may also be beneficial to appoint a third trustee. AIG - Relevant Life Insurance Key Facts 4

5 A3 Your commitment When you apply for Relevant Life Insurance, you commit to: pay regular monthly or yearly premiums throughout the term of the cover; give us accurate, complete and true information when you apply for cover; give us any medical or other evidence that we ask for; tell us if the business or the person covered changes a name, address or bank account; tell us immediately if the information in the Cover Summary or Application Details we send you or the person covered is wrong; tell us if the person covered leaves your employment; notify us of any changes of trustees. A4 Risk factors Relevant Life Insurance only protects against events that happen to the person covered during the term of the cover. If something happens to the person covered outside the term, they won t be covered. The Cover Summary shows what is covered and for how long. If you don t regularly review the cover in line with the needs of the person covered, they may have more or less cover than they need. Over time, inflation will reduce the spending power of the sum assured. To help protect the cover against this effect, you can choose to set it up with a sum assured that increases each year in line with the Retail Prices Index (RPI) up to a maximum of 10%. If the cover has an increasing sum assured, the premium will be reviewed annually and will increase by a higher percentage than that of the sum assured, because the amount of the increase of the premium will depend on the age of the person covered and the remaining term of the cover at that time. If the cover is not written in trust, the policy may not meet HMRC s definition of relevant life insurance for taxation purposes and your employee or their dependents entitlement to the benefits may be affected. There is no guarantee that the current tax position will apply in all cases or continue for the term of the cover. Tax legislation may also change in the future. If the first premium is not paid, the cover won t start and the person covered won t be insured. If a subsequent premium is missed and it remains unpaid for more than 30 days from the date it was due to be collected, we will cancel the cover and the person covered will no longer be insured. A claim for terminal illness can only be made where the person covered has been diagnosed with one year or less to live. If the consultant cannot determine this, or expects death to occur more than one year after diagnosis, then we will not pay the claim. There are other circumstances in which we won t pay a claim. There s more information on these in section C of this booklet and in the Cover Details. AIG - Relevant Life Insurance Key Facts 5

6 Section B: The cover and the benefit The cover will not have a surrender value at any time. Relevant Life Insurance pays a lump sum if the person covered dies or is diagnosed with a terminal illness during the term of the cover. B1 When we will pay a claim We will pay the sum assured if, during the term of the cover, the person covered: dies, or is diagnosed with an illness which meets our definition of terminal illness. B2 How much we will pay We will pay the current sum assured as a lump sum. Once we have paid the sum assured, the cover stops. AIG - Relevant Life Insurance Key Facts 6

7 Section C: Questions about your insurance C1 Frequently asked questions Q. How much cover can I apply for? A. There is a maximum sum assured which will be based on the age of the person covered and their earnings at the time the cover is taken out. We may require further information before we agree to cover large amounts. Q. When will the cover not pay out? A. There are specific circumstances in which we won t pay a claim. We will not pay a claim if: you, the person covered or their personal legal representatives do not give us medical or other evidence that we ask for; or the diagnosis of the person covered does not meet our definition of terminal illness, or the diagnosis is not made by a consultant or is not expected to lead to death within 12 months; or we find the person covered, owner of the cover or any representative of the business has given us inaccurate, incomplete or false information which would have affected our decision to offer this cover, or would have led us to offer it with different conditions; or the cover is no longer active; or the claim is caused by something that we have specifically excluded from this cover - this will be shown on the Cover Summary; or the claim is for death or terminal illness and the person covered has left your employment, and the cover has not been continued by a new employer; or the claim is for death and the person covered has left your employment, and has not continued the cover in their sole name; or the claim is for terminal illness and the person covered has left your employment and has continued the cover in their sole name. Q. How flexible is AIG Relevant Life Insurance? A. Under AIG Relevant Life Insurance, you can choose: the sum assured; whether the sum assured stays at the same level throughout the term of the cover, or increases each year in line with Retail Prices Index (RPI) up to a maximum of 10% of the current sum assured each year; the term of the cover, subject to a maximum term of 50 years or the 75th birthday of the person covered, whichever is the lower. Q. What if I change my mind and want to cancel the cover? A. When your cover starts, we will send you information about your right to change your mind and cancel your cover. You have 30 days from the date you receive this information to cancel your cover. If you cancel your cover in this time we will refund any premiums you ve paid to us, unless we have paid you a benefit before you cancel. You can stop your cover at any other time. Once you tell us, your cover will end on the day before your next monthly premium is due. If you are paying annual premiums, your cover will end on the day before the next monthly anniversary of the cover. We will retain the cost of any full (or partial) months of cover up to the date of cancellation and will refund any balance of the annual premium. Q. Once the cover starts, can it be changed? A. There are some ways that the cover can be changed to make sure that it is still meeting the needs of the person covered. All of the changes that can be made are explained in the Cover Details. The changes that can be made to the cover include: increasing the sum assured; increasing the term of the cover; reducing the sum assured; AIG - Relevant Life Insurance Key Facts 7

8 reducing the term of the cover; stopping and restarting annual increases; changing from annual to monthly premiums or vice versa, and transferring the cover to the employee or to a new employer if the employee leaves your employment. The options that increase the sum assured or the term of a cover aren t available to everyone. This could be because, for example, someone has a particular medical condition when they apply for cover. If the option isn t available, it doesn t mean that they can t ask us to make the increase, it just means we won t automatically say yes. We might have to find out some more information about the person covered before we can make a decision. The Cover Summary will show whether these options are available. Q. How these changes affect what you pay A. If the sum assured or term of a cover increases, the premium of the cover will increase. If you set up a cover with an increasing sum assured, the amount you pay will increase each year to pay for the extra cover. If you then change to a level sum assured, the premium will remain at the level it was when you made the change. If the sum assured or term of a cover reduces, it may reduce the premium. Q. How these changes affect the terms and conditions A. If you change the amount or the term of the cover, it may affect the terms and conditions of the cover. Q. How much will the cover cost? A. The amount of your monthly or yearly premium will be shown on the Relevant Life Insurance Cover Summary we send you when the cover starts. Q. What if the employer stops paying? A. If the first premium is not paid, the cover will not start and the person covered won t be insured. If a subsequent premium is missed, we will write to you to let you know. If it remains unpaid for more than 30 days from the date it was due to be collected, we will cancel the cover and the person covered will no longer be covered. If we cancel the cover because a premium was not paid, you can ask us to restart it up to six months after the date of the first missed premium. We will have no obligation to restart a cover and if you ask us to do this, we will decide at our discretion if we are willing to restart the cover. If we are, we will tell you what we need in order to restart the cover and you must clear any premium arrears. There may be circumstances when we reserve the right not to restart a cover. If this happens, we will explain our decision. Q. What if the person covered leaves my employment? A. You may stop paying the premiums and the employee will no longer be insured. Alternatively, your employee or their new employer can request to continue the insurance. This is explained further in the Cover Details. Q. Can the premium change in the future? A. The premium that you pay will only change if: you ask for a change to the cover, or you or the person covered has misstated their age, or you have chosen an increasing sum assured - in which case the premium will increase annually. The amount of the increase will depend on the age of the person covered and the remaining term at that time. We will write to tell you what the additional premium will be. You can tell us that you do not want the increase. If you do this, we will keep the sum assured at its current level. AIG - Relevant Life Insurance Key Facts 8

9 Q. How can a claim be made? A. The person claiming should tell us as soon as there is a need to make a claim. They can: call us on (calls are charged at standard rates from a BT landline but may cost more via mobiles and other networks), or us at claims@aiglife.co.uk, or write to us at Claims Team, AIG Life Limited, PO Box 12010, Harlow CM20 9LG. We are open Monday to Friday, from 9.00am to 5.00pm, except for bank holidays. A claims assessor will explain the process and what information we ll need. There is more information about claiming in the Cover Details. Q. Who will you pay the benefit to? A. We will pay the sum assured to the person legally entitled to receive it. Who this will be depends on the nature of the claim and the circumstances at the time. In the case of a death or terminal illness claim, the sum assured will be paid to the trustees who must then follow the terms of the trust to distribute the monies to the chosen beneficiaries. The trustees need to send us the original trust document (if a paper trust was completed) and any deeds altering the Trust before we can pay the sum assured to them. We will return these when we pay the claim. Q. How can I contact you? A. You can: phone us on (calls are charged at standard rates from a BT landline but may cost more via mobiles and other networks); or us at enquiries@aiglife.co.uk; or write to us at AIG Life Limited, PO Box 12010, Harlow CM20 9LG. We are open Monday to Thursday 8.30am to 8pm and Friday, 8.30am to 5.30pm, except bank holidays. Q. How do I make a complaint? A. If you have a complaint, please contact Customer Services at the following address: AIG Life Limited, PO Box 12010, Harlow CM20 9LG. Telephone: (calls are charged at standard rates from a BT landline but may cost more via mobiles and other networks) complaints@aiglife.co.uk We are open Monday to Friday, 9.00am to 5.00pm, except bank holidays. We will try to resolve complaints as quickly as possible. If we can t deal with your complaint promptly, we will send you a letter to acknowledge it and then give you regular updates until it is resolved. We are committed to resolving complaints through our own complaints procedures. However, if a matter cannot be resolved satisfactorily, you may be able to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The Financial Ombudsman Service helps settle disputes between consumers and financial firms. Their service is independent and does not cost you anything. They can decide if we have acted wrongly and if you have lost out as a result. If this is the case, they will tell us how to put things right and whether we have to pay you compensation. AIG - Relevant Life Insurance Key Facts 9

10 Some businesses may not be eligible to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service if they exceed a certain number of employees or have an annual turnover in excess of the Ombudsman s limits. If a complaint is made, we will send a leaflet explaining more about the Financial Ombudsman Service which includes information on the current eligibility requirements. The leaflet is also available at any time on request. Alternatively, the Ombudsman can be contacted at the following address: Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, Harbour Exchange Square, London E14 9SR Telephone: (calls to this number are normally free for people ringing from a fixed line phone but charges may apply if you call from a mobile phone) or (calls to this number are charged at the same rate as 01 or 02 numbers on mobile phone tariffs). complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk Website: If you make a complaint, it will not affect your right to take legal proceedings. C2 Other information The Law The Law of England and Wales will apply to this cover. Language All our communications with you now, and throughout the term of the Plan, will be in English. Financial Services Compensation Scheme The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is designed to pay compensation if a firm is unable to pay claims, because it has stopped trading or been declared in default. Before looking to pay compensation, the FSCS will first see if they can arrange for your current policy to be maintained. They may arrange for your policy to be transferred to another insurer or provide a new policy. If this is not possible, the FSCS aims to provide compensation. Most of our customers, including most individuals and small businesses, are covered by the FSCS. Whether or not you can claim, and the amount you could claim, will depend on the specific circumstances of your claim. The FSCS will pay 90% of the value of the claim. There is no upper financial limit on the amount of the payment. You can find out more about the FSCS, including eligibility to claim, by visiting its website Alternatively, you can contact the Financial Services Compensation Scheme at the following address: Financial Services Compensation Scheme,10th Floor, Beaufort House, 15 St Botolph Street, London EC3A 7QU. Telephone: or enquiries@fscs.org.uk Please be aware that the rules of the FSCS may change in the future, or FSCS may take a different approach on their application of the above, depending on the circumstances. AIG - Relevant Life Insurance Key Facts 10

11 What we will use personal information for We will only use personal information about you and the person covered for: providing our products and services; administration and customer services; fraud prevention; research and analysis; legal and regulatory reasons, and marketing products and services of the AIG Group, unless you have asked us not to in the application. We will keep this information for a reasonable period for these purposes. Each person has the right to ask for a copy of the information that we hold about them. We are entitled to charge them a small administrative fee for giving it to them. Where we may get personal information from We may get personal information about you and the person covered from: you, them, their financial adviser, or from other sources - for instance their doctor. We may ask their doctor for information before we offer cover. We may also get a report from their doctor or telephone them for more information after the cover has started. If we are given incomplete, inaccurate or false information, we do not receive the report from their doctor or they are unavailable for interview, we reserve the right to cancel the cover within 13 weeks. By applying for Relevant Life Insurance, the person covered gives us their explicit consent to the processing of their personal information (including medical information) for the purposes listed above in What we will use personal information for. Who we will share personal information with We may share personal information (including medical information) about the person covered or owner of the cover solely for the purposes listed above in What we will use personal information for with certain named third parties. These third parties are: AIG Group s current auditors from time to time (the identity of which can be provided on request); our reinsurers (a list of these reinsurers can be provided on request); our third party service providers; your financial adviser; other parts of the AIG Group, and legal and regulatory bodies. We may give copies of medical information we obtain about the person covered to their own doctor. Giving us information about another person If you or the person covered gives us information about another person, you confirm the other person has consented to the processing of their personal data. You and the person covered also confirm you have informed the other person of our identity and the purposes for which we will use their personal data. If the person covered or the owner of the cover would like more information about how we will use their personal information or they would like to choose how they get marketing communications from us, they can contact us as detailed on page two. AIG - Relevant Life Insurance Key Facts 11

12 AIG Life Limited. Telephone Registered in England and Wales. Number Registered address: The AIG Building, 58 Fenchurch Street, London EC3M 4AB. AIG Life Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. The registration number is EDCO