Articles by Owain Thomas
Government will 'actively monitor' salary sacrifice
HM treasury will "actively monitor" the effect of salary sacrifice on tax receipts and has left the door open to cutting back on the benefit.
Bupa: Only 2% of complaints reach FOS
Bupa has become the second insurer to give further clarity about its complaints levels, suggesting providers may want further details to be published by the Ombudsman to put figures into a wider context.
Aegon publishes State death benefits guide
Aegon has published a guide to State bereavement payments that will be issued with all death claim packs.
Half death claims made for those under 55
Half the life insurance claims received by Scottish Provident last year were made for those under 55 years old, the insurer has revealed.
Cigna expands mental health cover
Cigna is set to extend its coverage of mental health conditions across the entire product range.
'Bullish' PruProtect plans more new products
PruProtect has said it is "bullish" about the future for the protection market and that it is aiming to be a major player in the UK market.
ABI buyers' guide warns of above inflation PMI price rises
The ABI has published a guide for people considering buying private medical insurance (PMI).
PMI market leaders see rise in FOS complaints
The private medical insurance (PMI) market's two biggest players have seen a rise in the number of complaints escalated to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
Prudential move 'unlikely' to impact PruHealth or PruProtect
Any move abroad by Prudential is "unlikely" to affect either PruProtect or PruHealth, COVER understands.
Avelo unveils PMI comparison service
Avelo has launched a private medical insurance (PMI) service for advisers to compare health insurance contracts from eleven providers.
Advisers confident of protection growth
Protection is seen as a key growth area by IFAs with almost two thirds optimistic about increasing business in the sector this year.
Grieving families need more short term financial support
Bereavement benefits need to be altered to better support those who have suffered the death of a loved one, government research has found.
Whole of Life - Flickering into life
When addressing a client's protection needs, most products deal in the term space. But with people potentially outliving these contracts, Owain Thomas looks to whole of life for rejuvenation.
PruProtect continues market growth
PruProtect has announced a significant rise in new business premiums and the number of lives it now covers.
GPs rail against 'encouraging' people back to work
Doctors have hit back at proposals that would force them to encourage patients to stay in or go back to work as soon as possible.
PPI redress tips £2bn in 2011
The strain of the payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling scandal shows no sign of slowing as figures from the FSA show redress payments surged to a new monthly high in December.
Lifesearch 'can't see downside' to SAR's
Lifesearch has applauded Legal & General's use of subject access requests (SARs) to obtain extra medical data and said it is seeing positive results for clients.
Medicash unveils plan including unlimited NHS dental cover
Medicash has launched a new corporate health cash plan including unlimited NHS Cover, access to Best Doctors and direct payment of PMI excesses.
Confused consumers shy away from complicated insurance
British consumers feel the insurance industry lags behind others in how it addresses their needs and have given their strongest hint that greater simplicity would be welcomed.
Understanding family life is key to protection - Aviva
Old traditions such as Sunday dinner and playing board games are still at the heart of family life, according to research from Aviva.
Ageas halves pre-tax loss
Ageas continued its protection market growth and halved its pre-tax loss in 2011.
Emotional IFA campaign introduces '21st century widow's tale'
Aviva has launched an adviser-facing awareness campaign to help IFAs emotionally engage with clients and their families while approaching the subject of protection.
ESA claimants could be forced into unlimited unpaid work
The government could force people judged too sick or disabled to be employed to do unlimited unpaid work or risk losing their benefits.
L&G halves time to claim on group CI
Legal & General has made a series of amendments to its group critical illness product including coverage for more illnesses.
Ellipse ties-up bereavement charity deal
Ellipse has agreed a deal with a children's bereavement charity to provide counselling services for all group life claimants.
Age immaterial for IP and PMI buyers
Young adults are just as aware of the need to protect their income and health as their elder peers, but fall behind when it comes to life insurance and critical illness (CI).
Blog: The complexity of simple products
Phil Jeynes warns that removing components from simple products may mean weaker cover for clients.
LV= IP and CI claims paid dip slightly
LV= has announced it paid 91% of income protection (IP) and 88% of critical illness (CI) claims in 2011.
Breast cancer drugs blocked from NHS
Two more cancer drugs have been provisionally banned for NHS after it was decided they were too expensive for the potential results.
Top ten consumer IP needs revealed
The Protection Review and Income Protection Task Force (IPTF) have produced a list of the top ten things consumers should be aware of when purchasing income protection (IP).
Brits finding it more difficult to make ends meet
British households are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet after research revealed many more now barely have enough money to cope with everyday expenses.
Bright Grey adds simple life and CI product
Bright Grey has added to its simplified products offering with the launch of its Lifestyle Plus plan.
Protection chiefs called to stagnant IP pow wow
The Income Protection Task Force (IPTF) is holding a heads of state meeting for CEOs of the major income protection providers.
Gender ruling may worsen protection ownership differences
Ageas has questioned whether the impending move to gender neutral pricing will result in women falling further behind men in their willingness to protect themselves.
Jelf brands absence of tax breaks for IP as 'madness'
Jelf has warned that many of the key recommendations of the Sickness Absence Review are unlikely to ever be realised and called its decision to ignore income protection (IP) as ‘madness'.
Free protection to credit union members
Cuna Mutual is offering three months free accident wage protection to credit union members.
Parents unaware of children's CI benefits
Parents are risking the financial security of their families should they become seriously ill by not buying critical illness (CI) protection.
Developing simple protection products will be 'quite challenging'
The protection industry may have to change the way it works if it is to maximise the potential of the simple products initiative, the project's leader has said.
Group risk set to boom with auto-enrolment
The imminent introduction of auto-enrolment looks set to trigger increased investment in employee benefits, according to research from Group Risk Development (Grid).
Clients unaware of state bereavement payments
Grieving clients could be missing out on thousands of pounds worth of state bereavement benefits, RGA has said.
Scottish Widows eyes protection market return
Scottish Widows has revealed it is examining the possibility of re-entering the IFA protection market.
Protection industry must provide 'wakeup call' to those relying on State
Cirencester friendly has warned that the government's continued welfare reforms prove relying solely the State for support is a "fool's paradise" and urged the protection industry to push this point across.
British troops killed without life cover
Dozens of soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan without taking out life insurance while thousands more have served active duty without cover, it has been revealed.
Doctors demand investigation into PMI fee schedules
The British Medical Association (BMA) has called for the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to extend its private healthcare market review to include insurers' fee schedules.
Brokers slam Defaqto's 'highly dangerous' PMI ratings
Medical insurance brokers have branded Defacto's new private medical insurance (PMI) star ratings as ‘highly dangerous and not in the best interest of customers'.
Axa PPP extends cancer cover to rejected NHS drug
Axa PPP has extended its cancer coverage to include the clinically effective prostate cancer drug rejected for the NHS because it is too expensive.
Govt set to bulldoze welfare reforms through Lords
The government looks set to force through its controversial welfare reforms without giving the House of Lords a chance to readdress the amendments it made.
Nice rejects 'clinically effective' cancer drug for being too expensive
Cancer charities have slammed the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's (Nice) decision to reject a drug that prolongs the life of prostate cancer suffers for being too expensive.