Irish Life is delighted to report on the success of our Once and Done underwriting policy to date. We were the first to introduce this to the Irish market in September 2010. The initiative has proven successful with over 200 lives underwritten for life cover over more than 50 schemes. Where accepted, all these scheme members can look forward to future benefits increases without need for any form of underwriting (up to jumbo levels of €6m).
Here is a reminder of the key features of Once and Done:
- It involves a person completing underwriting “once” and then they are “done” for life (up to very high limits).
- It applies to qualifying Corporate Business Group Life and Group Income Protection schemes (schemes with over 50 lives)
- It’s also known variously as “once only underwriting” and “one time only”.
As a result of once and done, many members now enjoy with Irish Life automatic cover increase on salary increments and additional peace of mind. In addition, the administrative burdens around underwriting are lessened for client, consultant and insurer.
Morgan Ash Tele-Interviews were introduced into the Compulsory Underwriting Process in July 2009. The process has proved to be very successful as the fully qualified Nurses from Morgan Ash have been able to gather health and medical history from a member of a scheme over the phone. Only members that have exceeded the non-medical limits for Death in Service and/or Income Protection benefits or have passed their Normal Retirement Age are required to complete a Morgan Ash Tele-interview.
Morgan Ash Tele-Interviews were introduced into the Compulsory Underwriting Process in July 2009. The process has proved to be very successful as the fully qualified Nurses from Morgan Ash have been able to gather health and medical history from a member of a scheme over the phone. Only members that have exceeded the non-medical limits for Death in Service and/or Income Protection benefits or have passed their Normal Retirement Age are required to complete a Morgan Ash Tele-interview.
Since 2009 we have completed 988 Morgan Ash Tele-interviews. The average time between scheduling & completing the tele-interview is 5.6 days. The average duration of a call is 42 minutes. This process has enabled our medical underwriters to accept more members for their Death in Service or Income Protection benefits without requiring further medical evidence and is designed to facilitate as easy an underwriting process as possible.
Source: Morgan Ash
We have reviewed the exact rules under our Period of Grace policy. Unlike many insurers in the market, Irish Life provides a limited form of cover to lives before underwriting has been complete. This can be valuable in the case of a sudden or accidental death during the underwriting process.
For all underwriting requirements issued from January 2013 the following Period of Grace rules will apply:
Life cover
We will offer a Period of Grace that covers deaths that occur (other than from a pre-existing condition) during a 3 month period following the issuance of underwriting requirements. This cover is subject to a maximum of €3m total life capitalised cover.
Income Protection
We will offer a Period of Grace that covers claims that occur (other than from a pre-existing condition) during a 3 month period following the issuance of underwriting requirements with no maximum (other than our policy maximum benefits).
This Period of Grace compares very well to that offered in the market generally and benchmarks well against "best in class" standards elsewhere in the world.
