It will now cover all benefits up to a maximum of £3 million, subject to a five-year pre-existing conditions exclusion during its 90-day underwriting period. Until now it offered accidental death cover only.
For newly insured schemes with fewer than 100 members, Aegon will now ask for members to be back at work for seven days before starting to provide cover instead of one month – its previous requirement. For newly insured schemes with more than 100 members and for all previously insured schemes, this will stay at one day.
The provider also says that when a scheme switches to it, any previous loadings on a member’s benefit below the free cover that it offers will be disregarded, up to and including a 100 per cent loading. For a member who was accepted by a previous insurer with a forward underwriting bar, Aegon will substitute the percentage increase and terms for the remaining years of that bar.
The insurer has also recently increased its free cover multiple to £15,000 for each member, to make it easier for clients to reach the maximum cover level – £1 million – with fewer members.