To help clarify illnesses covered under the policy Aviva has also separated out some of the conditions previously included within its total permanent disability definition.
This means that 48 individual conditions will be covered under Aviva’s CI policies for new customers.
In order to help advisers and customers understand what is covered the insurer has also produced a comprehensive guide to show which conditions are included and the level of payment for each.
ABI+ conditions
Five CI conditions have been enhanced beyond ABI standard definitions to assume an ‘ABI+’ status. The conditions are: cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, major organ transplant and motor neurone disease. The inclusion of cancer means that the top four conditions - accounting for 90% of all claims - will all have an ABI+ status.
New conditions covered – additional benefits
New critical illness customers will be covered for three new conditions taking the number of additional benefits offered to five. The new conditions are: significant visual impairment, Crohn’s disease treated with intestinal resection and removal of an eyeball.
Each condition will be eligible for a payment of up to £20,000.* These payments are an additional benefit, separate to the main policy. This means that critical illness cover will continue to be in place, should the customer need to make a further claim in the future.
Child CI cover raised
The children’s benefit included within new CI policies will now offer payments of up to £25,000, per policy, per child. Again this is an additional benefit, meaning the policy will continue in force following such a claim.
Robert Morrison, chief underwriter for Aviva, said: “We understand that many people find critical illness policies confusing so we’ve reviewed our cover with this in mind. We’re committed to designing clear, effective products and we are confident these changes will help both advisers and customers to understand the excellent level of cover we offer.
“Our CI cover has evolved over time, to make sure we are helping as many people as possible. We’re determined that we only add conditions which increase breadth of cover and provide greater clarity for customers. We know exactly which conditions account for the largest number of claims so we’ve taken great care to make changes where customers will benefit most.”
In 2011 Aviva paid 94.1% of critical illness claims. In 2010 and 2011 Aviva paid the highest percentage of critical illness claims compared to results published across the insurance industry.
The enhancements are the latest initiative from Aviva to benefit critical illness customers. In October 2011 additional benefits were introduced for low-grade prostate cancer and ductal carcinoma in-situ. In December 2011 Aviva’s critical illness claims website was launched to assist customers through their claims journey. To date more than 250 customers have submitted claims through the site.
