MUtUaL interest SHOW SPECIAL EXCLUSIVE SHOW OFFERS INSIDE. WiLL you Be able to fulfil your retirement aspirations? The importance of income protection

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1 MUtUaL interest Autumn 2013 SHOW SPECIAL EXCLUSIVE SHOW OFFERS INSIDE The importance of income protection Modernising the mutual Partner products WiLL you Be able to fulfil your retirement aspirations?

2 EXCLUSIVE SHOW DISCOUNT ON INCOME PROTECTION INSURANCE FROM PG MUTUAL Unexpected illness? Whatever the outcome, your income stays healthy Did you know that if you end up on long-term sick leave, you could lose your income and be left living on state sickness benefits? No one can predict ill health, so make sure you re covered with an income protection plan from PG Mutual. Who are we? PG Mutual is a not-for-profit membership organisation specialising in providing income protection for professionals. As a Friendly Society, we don t have outside shareholders, and therefore we return any profit to our members. EXCLUSIVE SHOW OFFER Income protection insurance costs less than you think, and with our exclusive show discount, you get a further 25% OFF your first year s cover. For a quick quotation either chat to us here at the show or alternatively, visit /Quotation and enter discount code SHOW13. 2 CASE STUDY David Sawyer, PG Mutual member In 2011, at the age of 53, I suffered a heart attack. Up until this point, I had enjoyed good health so to unexpectedly suffer such a serious illness came as a complete shock. As if coming to terms with a heart attack wasn t bad enough, the prospect of being unable to work for several months with my only income being State Sickness Pay was a major worry for myself and my family. Luckily, when I was in my 20s, I had the foresight to take out an income protection plan with PG Mutual, so I contacted them and made a claim. My experience with PG Mutual was faultless from the start. I rang to request the claim form on the Friday. This was received on the Saturday morning and returned the following Monday. I received a letter on the Wednesday confirming my claim had been authorised. There was no delay whilst they waited for medical reports. This was of immense comfort and enabled me to concentrate on my recovery. Happily, I made a full recovery and was able to return to work. I would have no hesitation in recommending PG Mutual. PG Mutual warns UK professionals not to ignore the importance of income protection The cost of sick pay to UK businesses has been widely reported on, with the bill for long-term sick leave in the private sector estimated at around 3.1bn per year in 2012.* With this in mind, it appears many companies have had to review their sick pay entitlement for staff, with twice as many considering decreasing it over the next year as those planning to increase it.** This means that while the number of employees taking long-term sick leave seems to be increasing, the provision of sick pay from employers is set to decrease. A recent survey by PG Mutual^ found that nearly 30% of people questioned had no idea what their employer would pay them if they had to take sick leave, and for how long. There appears to be an assumption by many people that if they were off work due to a serious illness or accident, their employer would continue to pay them at their current rate, however, this is becoming less and less likely as companies look to save money. The same survey found that 76% didn t know what level of state sickness pay they would be entitled to. Currently, it stands at just per month; however, the average UK household spends 1, per month on their outgoings. While it is estimated that the average person in the UK only has enough savings to live off for 18 days if they lost their income, the number of people with income * Centre for Economics and Business Research, 2012 **CIPD Absence Management Survey, 2012 protection insurance is still worryingly low. Despite most UK adults having insurance in place for everything from their iphones to their pets, little consideration seems to be given to how people would cover the cost of maintaining any of these things without a regular income. Mike Perry, Chief Executive Officer of leading income protection provider, PG Mutual, explains, There still seems to be a large number of people who don t understand what income protection insurance is, or appreciate the importance of it. The problem with having an accident or falling ill is that no one wants to think about it, but if it happens, it s too late to get cover. We have heard from many of our members about how having income protection in place has saved them from losing their home or business. We re not just trying to sell another type of insurance that people don t need. Ask yourself, if you weren t able to work due to illness or injury, how much would your income drop by? How long could you survive on your savings? How will you support your family? Without income protection, you could find yourself falling into serious financial difficulty. To find out how little income protection could cost you per month, or for more information, visit. ^PDA Survey,

3 are you looking for a buy-to-let mortgage or a commercial loan? PG Mutual provides an online buy-to-let mortgage service and commercial mortgage broking for those looking to expand their business, as well as exclusive deals on commercial loans. Whether you are looking to branch out with new premises, or take out capital to increase your capacity, PG Mutual is on hand to provide great rates on business finance. Buy-to-let mortgages The buy-to-let mortgage service includes a free online mortgage finder. It enables anyone looking to purchase a residential property for letting to compare products from the whole of the market. PG Mutual works with other mutual societies to ensure that, as well as a good deal, you also get the friendly, personal customer service that you would expect from a mutual. commercial loans The commercial loans service specifically caters for business owners who are looking to purchase or refinance their practice premises, with up to 100% funding available. PG Mutual offers commercial loans for businesses, with exclusive rates and a wide range of finance options, by working with specially selected mutual loan providers. Mike Perry, Chief Executive Officer, said, We are delighted to be able to offer buy-to-let mortgages and commercial loans in addition to our income protection insurance plan. Income protection cover has been very successful and we are now looking at ways to broaden our product range to include a wider range of financial services. For more information, visit /Mortgages. PG MUTUAL MORTGAGE PARTNER WINS REGIONAL LENDER OF THE YEAR AWARD PG Mutual would like to congratulate our mortgage partner, the Hanley economic Building society, on winning Regional Lender of the Year at the Moneyfacts Awards. The Hanley Economic Building Society is a Friendly, mutual Society, which provides great mortgage deals, whilst sharing our member-focused ethos. For more information on the mortgages available from The Hanley, call or visit /Mortgages. MoDerNisiNG the MUtUaL Why making the most of modern technology doesn t mean moving away from good old-fashioned customer service There are many reasons why people have chosen to turn to mutual societies for their financial services needs over the years. Mutual providers are often smaller, offer a more personalised level of customer service, are not-forprofit so aren t focused on making big shareholder profits, and allow you to become a member, not a customer, so you have a say in the way that they are run. However, over the years, a perception has grown that mutual societies are somewhat old-fashioned, behind the times and perhaps unable to compete with the bigger, commercial financial services providers. Some mutual societies have compounded this view by being slow to update their internal systems and operations, whereas others have modernised and grown to the point of losing the personalised service they once provided. Growing and modernising a mutual society whilst continuing to provide a good old-fashioned approach to customer service can be tricky, but it is a balance that PG Mutual seems to have struck just right, if the continuing increase in our membership is anything to go by. When we launched our new website in 2012, we created a quick, easy-to-use online application process, and a Quick Quote system, as well as a range of online member products and services. Autumn 2013 will see the launch of our new online member area, allowing members to view and review level of cover, feed back to the Society on how they feel it is being run, and access a wide variety of other services. customer service MoDerN technology However, with the original member-focused ethos of the Society in mind, not everything is going online we have a named, dedicated Membership Manager, Joe Joyce, who is on hand to deal with any questions or issues members might have. In addition, our Member Services Team are on the end of the phone, allowing our members to review their cover with a real person instead of trying to do so via an automated system. Mike Perry, PG Mutual Chief Executive Officer, explains, As a mutual, memberfocused Society, when we look to grow and develop, we only want to do so in a way that s going to benefit our members. So if it makes life easier for members to be able to log on and access our services online whenever it is convenient for them, we want them to be able to do so. However, we also know that people like to pick up the phone and speak to a person if they ve got a question. We don t want to sacrifice good customer service for the sake of cost-cutting, and as a mutual, we are lucky not to have the pressure of outside shareholders trying to make money. We consider ourselves to be a Modern Mutual this means moving forward in terms of the operations and services we provide, but not becoming a faceless financial services provider, and staying true to our mutual ethos. At PG Mutual, we are always trying to grow the Society, but we re never going to stop doing what we re good at which is looking after our members. To find out more about PG Mutual s online services, visit. 4 5

4 Will you be able to fulfil your retirement aspirations? That moment of cutting your farewell cake might come around sooner than you think. Even if you are many years away from retiring, making adequate plans now could have a huge bearing on your future quality of life. It is never too early to start preparing for retirement, but it can become too late. Stories of retirees struggling to get by have become commonplace in the news over recent years. If you want to avoid the same fate, you need to ensure that your savings and investments are suitably positioned to help you achieve your retirement goals. PG Mutual has partnered with Medical Insurance Agency (MIA) to offer our members no-obligation investment and retirement planning advice. By undertaking a review with an MIA Adviser, you can benefit from guidance on whether your current financial arrangements leave you on track to realise the retirement lifestyle you are hoping for, or whether you need to consider making changes. When it comes to retiring itself, MIA can also assist you in arranging an income from your pension fund. Where appropriate, they will put you in touch with their preferred pension specialists, Gateway Specialist Advice Services, who can search for an alternative retirement annuity or alternative retirement income option on your behalf. Provided by Call MIA on for more information MIA and Gateway offer Restricted advice. Many of the products available are not like building society or bank deposit accounts, as the capital value and any income can rise and fall and your capital is at risk. The tax treatment of any investments depends on your individual circumstances and may be subject to change in the future. Annuity rates depend on your individual circumstances, such as health and lifestyle factors, as well as the rates available at the time of purchase. For other retirement income solutions the capital value and any income can rise and fall and your capital is at risk. Medical Insurance Agency (MIA) offers Restricted advice and is a trading division of Skipton Financial Services Limited. Skipton Financial Services is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under register number PG Mutual is paid a fee for introducing clients to MIA. Gateway Specialist Advice Services Limited is an Appointed Representative of Sesame Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Gateway Specialist Advice Services Limited, Third Floor The Southmark Building, 3 Barrington Road, Altrincham, Cheshire WA14 1HQ. PG MUtUaL PartNer ProDUcts PG Mutual provides much more than just income protection insurance At PG Mutual, as well as providing affordable, reliable income protection cover we also offer you the best deals on other financial services products, from partners you can trust. We have great deals on everything from mortgages and commercial loans, to financial advice and other types of insurance. Mortgages A great idea if you are looking to develop your current business property portfolio or simply move house Residential mortgages for more information on our residential mortgages, call /Mortgages Commercial Loans To help you move forward or expand your business For more information on our commercial loans, call /commercial-loans Building and Contents Insurance An essential form of protection for your home or business premises For more information on our buildings and contents insurance, call /Buildings-contents-insurance Financial Services To help you make the most of your hard-earned money For advice on investments, retirement planning or Inheritance Tax, call Critical Illness and Life Cover Buy-to-let mortgages for more information on our buy-to-let mortgages, call Making sure you are covered for any eventuality For more information on our critical illness and life cover, call /critical-illness-insurance 6 7

5 Tel: Fax: PG Mutual is the trading name of Pharmaceutical & General Provident Society Ltd. Registered office: 11 Parkway, Porters Wood, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL3 6PA Incorporated in the United Kingdom under the Friendly Societies Act 1992, Registered Number 462F. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, Firm Reference Number