Sovereign makes product changes

Sovereign has announced enhancements to its income protection and mortgage and income protection products that are designed to provide customers with more options and flexibility.

Thursday, April 19th 2018, 6:00AM

The cost of Sovereign’s Premier Option has been reduced to give customers greater value for money.

Customers outside paid employment who claim under occupation class five will receive an increased payment amount to reflect the rising cost of homecare and support.

Sovereign has removed the offset calculation from the bed confinement benefit (payment for customers who are confined to bed during the waiting period, at home or in a hospital, and under full-time care). Sovereign’s claims team will work with customers to ensure they can quickly get the financial support they need to help with additional expenses, such as full-time care.

For mortgage and income protection, cover limits have been increased to reflect consumers’ higher rental, mortgage and living costs.

Customers can now select from six wait periods ranging from four weeks to 104 weeks, and choose the option that best suits their budget.

Customers can opt for indexation across both the income or mortgage component of their cover to protect themselves against future interest changes or inflation.

They can also now suspend cover if there are changes in their financial circumstances. Sovereign said that removed the burden of paying premiums for a period of time, but customers would not have to go through complexity of reapplying for cover when they are able to start paying for it again.

Sovereign customers can also choose fixed-term premium pricing to help with their financial planning and future certainty. This includes the option to fix for 10 years or to age 65, as well as rate for age.

The enhancements are in immediate effect with a pass back option for existing customers.

“Although most of us rely on our incomes, just 25% of income earning Kiwis have some form of income protection insurance,” said chief product and marketing officer Len Elikhis.

“As an industry we need to be doing more to help promote and simplify this important cover. Therefore, we are also working to modernise our customer communication material to make our products easier for customers to understand and to highlight some of the support services that we provide.”

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