Coronavirus - Income protection

Covid-19 update for Income Protection policies

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.

Can I make a claim

This type of insurance policy has a waiting period before a claim can be paid out.

The minimum waiting period on our Income Protection policies is one month, but it could be longer depending on what length of time people chose when they took the policy out.
As most people, who contract Covid-19, will only suffer symptoms for a week or two it’s unlikely we’d pay a claim for these people.
If someone has an underlying medical condition it could take them longer to get better. In these cases, we’ll look at any claim and assess each person’s individual circumstances and waiting period.

More about making a claim

If you think you want to make a claim on your policy here are some questions you might have

There will be no negative impact for any of our members if they have a Covid-19 vaccine as part of the UK vaccination programme.

This is set out in the policy conditions which you would have received when you took out your policy. If you don’t have these, then please contact us and we can let you know or send out another set of terms and conditions for your policy.

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.

Existing Customers

Questions especially for our current policyholders

You will need to complete an application form. Please contact us for a form. Or if you have a financial adviser, please get in touch with them as they will be able to access any forms and help you complete them.

Please contact us by email or phone and we can send out new documents to you.

You can take a look at your terms and conditions to see the features of your product. Or you can contact us and we can tell you. If necessary you can also talk to a financial adviser about what plans you could put in place for the future.

Sometimes we’ll call our customers to resolve a query. However it is right to be wary of calls that might be bogus. The best thing to do is take the caller’s name, hang up and ring back using our switchboard number which is 0800 678 1680. If the call has come from one our team here at LV= the switchboard operator will be able to transfer your call over to them.

Please bear in mind that we will never ask you to confirm your bank account details over the phone. You should never clarify or give your bank details to anyone over the phone.

Criminals never sleep and they are sadly using Covid-19 as another opportunity to benefit.

Please check out our information on fraud and scams.

If we’re already paying you regular amounts from your Personal Sick Pay policy these will continue as normal.

New to LV=

Questions you might have if you’ve recently applied for a new product with us

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.

Extra Support

How we can help if you’re struggling to make ends meet

Of course, but you need to consider the impacts carefully. For instance you won’t be covered, or be able to claim if something happens. We urge you to think about any steps you take, and if necessary speak to your financial adviser first.

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.

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.

If you’re 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 their policy, our additional support services or member benefits. The offer of a payment break is subject to certain criteria and individual circumstances.

To be eligible for a payment break option, you should:

have a policy that's been in place for 12 months or more
have maintained your premiums in the past and not been more than 3 months in arrears
not have used a payment break before
have an individual income of less than £50,000
have been adversely impacted by a significant drop of 50% or more to your income, or your usual earnings have stopped
not be receiving furlough support

If we’re 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.

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.

get in touch

If you need to get in touch about your policy, please email us

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