Aviva Income Protection Insurance

Income Protection Plus

Founded

1797

Company Type

Public Limited Company

Company Overview

A merger between Norwich Union and CGU PLC created Aviva in 2000. Today, it is the world’s sixth-largest insurer, serving around 44.5 million customers in 28 countries worldwide.

Aviva is the largest insurance group in the UK and is a market leader in both general insurance and life and pensions.

Aviva provides 31 million customers with insurance, savings and investment products worldwide.

In 2016, Aviva paid out £34.4bn to customers in benefits and claims and gave £11.3m to promising community projects.

Documentation

Income Protection Overview

Aviva Income Protection policies are some of the most comprehensive in terms of cover, although their maximum benefit of 55% of earnings which may not be enough for some people. Other insurers can offer as much as 70% of your earnings, which may be more in line with your needs.

• Your benefits will not be affected by any Employment and Support Allowance you receive, nor investment income.
• If, at the end of claiming for incapacity, you need to make another claim for the same condition, Aviva will start paying benefits again right away without you having to wait until the end of your deferred period.
• If incapacity ends partway through the month, Aviva will pay daily benefit amounts to cover this period.
• At the beginning of your policy you can choose to index your policy to ensure your benefits increase in line with the Retail Price Index (RPI). If the change in the RPI is 0% or below, your benefit amount will stay the same for that year.

Additional Benefits

Family Carer Benefit
Pays the lower of £1,500 or the monthly benefit if the policyholder has to stop work to care for a spouse/partner/child who can’t perform activities of daily living for more than three months.

Support Plus
Access to BUPA HealthLine, Best Doctors, physio and counselling/carer support

Fracture Cover
For an optional extra premium of £4 per month, the policy will pay up to a £6,000 lump sum if you suffer from a specified fracture.

Global Treatment
For an optional extra premium of £4 per month, the policy will pay for overseas treatment worth up to £1 million for certain illnesses such as cancer.

Trauma Benefit
Pays six times the monthly benefit (up to £40,000) if the policyholder suffers one of six listed traumatic events, including blindness or loss of hand or foot.

Aviva Income Protection Policy Conditions

We have taken care to ensure that the information on this Drewberry owned website is accurate. However we can give no guarantee as to the accuracy of the content of the site. We accept no liability for any losses whether direct or indirect arising from errors on our part.

Drewberry’s Aviva Income Protection Review…

Aviva remains one of the best choices for optional benefits to include with your Income Protection policy.

Key Comparison Points

• Aviva has one of the most lenient income protection policies when it comes to claiming overseas. In some countries you can claim for incapacity for up to 3 years and in others you can claim for up to 6 months.
• If you are hospitalised during your deferred payment, Hospital Benefit will pay £100 per night to cover your hospital expenses if you have been in hospital for more than a week, up to 90 nights.
• Aviva’s Support Plus services package provides additional help services to policyholders and their families than can be accessed immediately and at any time, even when you don’t need to make a claim. These complimentary services consist of a second opinion service by Best Doctors, a medical helpline from Bupa, counselling and career support services from Workplace Options, and physiotherapy provided by IPRS Health.

Additional and Optional Benefits

• Indexation
• Back to Work Benefit
• Sick pay solutions for NHS doctors and surgeons
• Life Change Benefit

Financial strength

Aviva is a huge multinational insurance company with a world headquarters in London. It launched in 2002 following a merger between Norwich Union and CGU in 2000.

In 2015, Aviva acquired Friends Life Group in an all-share takeover worth roughly £5.6 billion.

In 2017, Aviva had an overall operating profit of £1,465 million. It has grown from strength to strength and continues to be one of the front runners of the global insurance industry.

Aviva Income Protection Insurance: FAQs

We aim to know the policies we advise on, inside out and back to front. Below is a couple of commonly asked questions with regards to the policy coverage of the Aviva Income Protection Insurance product answered.

Q. What are the requirements for being able to claim for Aviva Income Protection?

In order to claim on your policy, you must have an injury or illness severe enough to prevent you from working full-time or part-time in your current occupation.

When you make a claim, Aviva will ask you to provide a certain amount of evidence. This may include evidence of the policyholder’s identity, proof that they are ill or injured, proof of earnings for the 12 months prior to incapacity, medical reports and conversations with relevant third parties, and some form of written consent.

Aviva will only pay benefits if they believe that you are actively trying to get better. This means that you must be treated by a medical practitioner and follow any treatments or programmes prescribed to you.

Q. Can I claim more than once for the same cause of incapacity?

Aviva Income Protection policies are particularly lenient when it comes to cases of incapacity that are related to the same condition.

If you claim for incapacity and suffer again from the same condition within 12 months of your last payment, Aviva will not re-apply your deferred period.

Aviva will also allow you to link deferred periods if you do not manage to reach the end of your deferred period and suffer again from the same condition. This is providing your deferred period is longer than 13 weeks and both periods of incapacity lasted at least 7 days.

You can have the deferred period days that you used added together for the purpose of completing your deferred period and allowing you to claim sooner.

Q. Is it possible to make changes to my policy once it has already started?

If you would like to increase your level of cover due to life changes such as marriage, parenthood, or a salary increase, you can take out a new policy with more cover without answering any additional medical questions. You can increase your benefit by as much as 20% of your original benefit with a minimum increase of £100 per month.

You can use the Life Change Benefit as many times as you would like, providing your new policy does not exceed the length of your original policy and that you are able to provide evidence of your life changes.

If you want to decrease your cover or change your deferred period, you can do so within the first six months of your policy without needing to answer any medical questions.

Need Expert Income Protection Advice?

As you can see, there are a lot of points to consider when comparing insurers. With so many factors in play, it can be time-consuming to pull up key information across every single insurer in the market, so why not ask an adviser for help?

Why Speak to Us…

We started Drewberry because we were tired of being treated like a number and not getting the service we all deserve when it comes to things as important as protecting our health and our finances. Below are just a few reasons why it makes sense to talk to us.

• There is no fee for our service
• We are independent and impartial
  Drewberry isn’t tied to any insurance company, so we can provide completely impartial advice to make sure you get the most appropriate policy based solely on your needs.
• We’ve got bargaining power on our side
  This allows us to negotiate better premiums for you than you going direct yourself.
• You’ll speak to a dedicated expert from start to finish
  You will speak to a named expert with a direct telephone and email. No more automated machines and no more being sent from pillar to post – you’ll have someone to speak to who knows you.
• Benefit from our 5-star service
  We pride ourselves on providing a 5-star service, as can be seen from our 2454 and growing independent client reviews rating us at 4.92 / 5.
• Gain the protection of regulated advice
  You are protected. Where we provide a regulated advice service we are responsible for the policy we set-up for you. Doing it yourself or going direct to an insurer won’t provide this protection, so you won’t benefit from these securities.
• Claims support when you need it the most
  You have support should you need to make a claim. The most important thing when it comes to insurance is that claims are paid and quickly. We are here to support you during the claims process and make sure it’s as smooth and stress free as possible.

If it is all getting a little confusing and you want to talk you through your options to make sure you find the most suitable cover please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Pop us a call on 02084327333 or email help@drewberry.co.uk.

Tom Conner
Director