As efforts continue to save lives and protect our NHS, we’re still being encouraged to work from home where possible, and continue with social distancing measures.
Of course our thoughts and concerns are with the ones we love and everyone’s health and wellbeing. But if you have an Income Protection policy with us you may naturally be thinking about whether it could help.
Income Protection is designed to help people maintain their lifestyles by supplementing lost income if someone can’t work because they are ill or have an accident.
This type of insurance policy has a waiting period before a claim can be paid out.
We’re still accepting new business and processing any applications but it may be taking us slightly longer to do this. We’ll be in touch as soon as possible. If you’d like to know the progress of your new product please contact us.
Most financial advisers have set up alternative contact details so try these first.
However if you have a query about your LV= policy application, please contact us and we’ll respond as soon as we can.
Most of our income protection policies only offer cover where customers are unable to work due to accident of illness. However our mortgage & lifestyle protection (MLP) product offered optional unemployment cover. If you have an MLP policy and wish to make a claim please contact us.
We’ll be working on this and will keep you informed along the way.
If you’d like to check the progress of your claim please contact us.
If you miss one or more payments, we’ll usually offer you a minimum grace period of 60 days to bring your premiums up-to-date (please check your policy conditions to see what grace period you have). If you can't afford to keep you policy in place you need to consider the impacts carefully.
For instance you won't be covered, or be able to make a claim if something happens. We encourage you to think about any steps you take, and give us a call so we can talk this through with you.
Yes, but you can only do this by reducing the amount of cover on your policy. This has always been an option for you. But, in the past, to reverse this and increase your cover again it meant answering medical questions, and it wasn't always guaranteed we could increase it back to what it once was, or at all.
However, we know that some of our members are under more financial strain than usual at the moment, and we want to help. If you took out your policy before 1 March 2020* we’re now able to temporarily lower your cover for 6 months. This would in turn lower the amount you pay for it. At the end of the 6 months we’ll automatically increase your cover again without any need for you to go through additional medical checks or questioning. This will mean the amount you pay each month will also increase automatically.
If you want to increase your cover again before the 6 month period has ended, you’ll need to let us know. We’ll need to take you through some medical checks and it’s not guaranteed we’ll be able to increase it again before the 6 month period has ended.
Alternatively, if you want to continue with this lower level of cover for longer than 6 months, you’ll need to contact us to let us know before we automatically increase your cover again. Continuing with lower cover for longer than the 6 months will mean you’ll need to complete further medical checks and questioning should you want to increase your cover again in the future, and it’s not guaranteed we’ll be able to increase it.
If you’d like to talk to us about reducing how much you pay each month please get in touch, or contact your financial adviser who can speak to us about it for you.
*Please bear in mind this option isn’t available if you have a policy taken out after 1 March 2020, of if your policy is Sick Pay Insurance, Quick Cover Life Insurance, or a Pension Term assurance policy. If you’re unsure please contact us and we’ll be able to confirm this for you.
Criminals never sleep and they are sadly using Covid-19 as another opportunity to benefit.
There is a lot of support out there which you can read about and we have a Member Support Fund which might also be able to help.
If you are facing an exceptionally challenging time which means that you're financially impacted and can't pay your normal premiums, we may be able to offer you a 'payment break'.
This option is for particularly vulnerable customers that need extra support above and beyond what's included in the policy, our additional support services or member benefits. The offer of a payment break is subject to certain criteria and your individual circumstances.
To be eligible for a payment break option, you should:
If we are able to offer any payment break we'll be able to do this one month at a time and will review the situation with you on a month by month basis.
Your cover would remain in place, in full, during any payment break. And you'd be able to make a claim in the usual way, in line with the terms and conditions of your policy.
A 'payment break' option may also be available for our members who are considered vulnerable and are unable to pay premiums due to a mental or chronic physical health issue, or are coming to terms with the death of a close family member.
If you would like to explore a payment break option please contact us so we can talk to you about your circumstances and current income situation.
If you need to get in touch about your policy, please email us