Guardian Life Insurance

Life Protection

Founded

1821

Company Type

Private Limited Company

Company Overview

Guardian was officially founded in 1821 and over the years has offered various insurance products including Life Insurance, pensions and annuities.

In 2016 the business was acquired by ReAssure and renamed ReAssure Life Limited in June 2016. In 2017 the Guardian business and name were bought by Gryphon Group Holdings and launched as a new protection insurance provider in 2018.

Currently offering Life Insurance and Critical Illness Insurance, Guardian has plans to launch further products soon.

Policy Documentation

Guardian Life Insurance Overview

• Couples can arrange single life policies packaged as a discounted menu plan with Guardian, meaning each person is covered separately and won’t lose their cover if the other claims.
• Terminal Illness Cover is automatically included on all Life Insurance policies with Guardian.
• Guardian’s Critical Illness Cover covers 74 full payment critical illnesses as standard as well as 21 additional payment critical illnesses.
• Children’s Critical Illness is available as an additional policy option with Guardian and can even be included on a life-only adult policy. Cover is available for up to £100,000 for all of the adult definitions, as well as child specific illnesses.
• Waiver of Premium is included for free and as well as illness covers redundancy and maternity/paternity leave.
• Policyholders will have access to both Guardian Anytime as well as HALO, providing access to private GP consultations, second medical opinions and additional claims support.

Guardian Life Insurance Policy Conditions

Drewberry’s Guardian Life Insurance Review

Key Comparison Points

• Guardian do not offer joint life first death policies; instead those wanting joint cover can arrange two single life plans which are then combined under a menu plan with a premium discount. This means both lives are covered separately and therefore their cover is not impacted by the other claiming.
• Guardian include terminal illness benefit on their life insurance, where the policy will pay out early if the life assured is given a terminal prognosis of less than 12 months to live. Unlike other insurers Guardian will also pay this out if the policyholder is diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, motor neurone disease, CJD or Parkinson-plus syndromes, regardless of the diagnosed life expectancy.
• Guardian’s optional Critical Illness policy will pay out in full for any cancer, heart attack or stroke, as long the condition has been diagnosed by a UK consultant. This is unlike some Critical Illness policies that will only pay out for a specific severity or when certain criteria have been met.
• Guardian include Waiver of Premium automatically on their policies for no extra charge, meaning the monthly cost of the insurance is waived if the policy holder can no longer work due to illness, or uniquely has lost their job through redundancy or has stopped working to go on maternity or paternity leave.
• Rather than automatically including cover for children on their Critical Illness policy for those who do not need it, either because they have no plans to start a family or their children are grown up, Guardian offer optional children’s critical illness cover. This can be added to any policy and uniquely the parent does not need to have purchased Critical Illness Cover for themselves to add the children’s benefit.
• Guardian promise to offer policy upgrades to all of their existing policyholders as and when they make improvements to their critical illness definitions, meaning everyone gets to benefit from the most up to date and comprehensive cover.
• On their decreasing term Life Insurance policies, rather than requiring the policy holder to select a specific mortgage interest rate when taking out the cover, Guardian will guarantee to repay the mortgage balance on claim regardless of the interest rate. This is as long as the mortgage term and amount are the same as when the policy was first taken out.
• In addition to covering 75 illnesses with a full payout on their Critical Illness cover, Guardian cover a further 21 conditions on an additional payment basis, paying out an amount equal to 25% of the overall sum-assured up to £50,000. The additional payment does not affect the main sum-assured and should one of the full payment conditions subsequently arise Guardian will also pay out in full for that.
• Guardian offer automatic Critical Illness buy-back, allowing a policy holder to reinstate up to 25% of the original sum-assured up to £50,000 of further cover following a successful claim. This covers everything apart from the condition already claimed for, and gives the policyholder peace of mind they still have cover to fall back on should the worst happen again.

Additional Benefits & Services

• Children’s Critical Illness Cover
  Guardian offer Children’s Critical Illness as an optional benefit and will cover the policyholder’s children for all of the adult illnesses (excluding TPD) as well as some child  specific definitions. Unlike most children’s critical illness benefits which cover up to 50% of the adults cover or £25,000 whichever is less, Guardian offer to £100,000. They also include a death benefit of £10,000 and will cover children up to age 23 if in full time education.
• Fracture Cover
  Guardian offer optional fracture cover that can be added to any of their core policies and will pay up to £6,000 for certain fractures, dislocations, ligament tears and tendon ruptures, in any 12 month period. If you’re not sure whether to take the fracture cover when buying the core policy, Guardian will allow it to be added at any time. There’s no underwriting either, so Guardian will offer Fracture cover to anyone regardless of whether they engage in any extreme sports or hobbies.
• Guardian Anytime
  With Guardian Anytime policy holders will have access to a second medical option service and a 24/7 remote private GP consultation.
• Guardian HALO
  HALO is a dedicated team who provide support and assistance to policy claimants. Guardian do not have a set ‘rulebook’ on what that support may be, instead they work to understand the claimants situation and needs and provide access to appropriate services, often covering the cost for these in full. These could include return to work support, counselling, speech therapy, legal advice or home help.

Aegon Personal Protection Life Cover: FAQs

We try to find out everything there is to know about the policies we advise on to ensure that we are in the best position to match you with the most appropriate policy. Below, we have answered a few frequently asked questions given to us by our customers about your Aegon Life Insurance policy. If you need any further help, please do not hesitate to call us on 02084327333.

Robert Harvey
Head of Protection Advice at Drewberry

Q. How does Guardian increasing life cover work?

A.The amount insured will increase in line with inflation (RPI) on each policy anniversary; correspondingly, your premium will increase by inflation times 1.5 to compensate for the increased benefit.

Increasing Life Insurance from Guardian isn’t available once the sum assured for life cover reaches £20 million, or £3 million for Life and Critical Illness Cover.

You can change level cover to increasing cover at any time after your policy has started and are able to remove the increasing cover at any time, also.

Q. How long will my children be covered under my Guardian Life Insurance with Critical Illness policy?

A. Children of policyholder with Critical Illness Cover will be covered under the policy from birth until they are 18 years old. However, this cover can carry on until they reach their 23rd birthday providing they are in full-time education during this time.

Need Expert Life Insurance 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 2215 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.

Samantha Haffenden-Angear
Independent Protection Expert at Drewberry