Legal & General Life Insurance

Personal Life Insurance

Founded

1836

Company Type

Public Limited Company

Company Overview

In a Chancery Lance coffee shop in 1836, Sergeant John Adams with five other lawyers formed Legal & General.

Since then, Legal & General has grown to become an international provider of insurance, pension and investment products.

In 2015, Legal & General won the ‘Life Insurance Provider of the year’ award from the Personal Touch Awards and in 2016 its assets under management exceeded £800bn.

Policy Documents

 Life Insurance Overview

Legal & General is one of the UK’s top providers of Life Insurance and has received many awards for its services to its clients as well as the industry.

• Legal & General offer a range of additional benefits to expand your policy’s cover, including SmoothMove which provides you with personal emergency services and legal advice if you are buying a new property.
• If you take out a Joint Life policy, Legal & General will allow you to separate the joint policy into to two single policies with the same terms on divorce, dissolution of a civil partnership or if either half of the couple takes over an existing mortgage in one name or takes out a new mortgage in one name.
• Legal & General regularly publish their Life Insurance payout rates. In 2016, they paid out on 98.6% of Life Insurance claims.
• Legal and General will allow you to choose whether you would like to pay monthly or annual premiums for your policy.
• If you choose Decreasing Life Insurance, Legal & General let you to choose your policy decrease rate rather than giving you a set of rates to choose from. This makes it easier to match your Life Insurance cover to your mortgage.

Legal & General Policy Conditions

Drewberry’s Legal & General Life Insurance Review

Legal & General Life Insurance policies have several cover options that can be changed at any time, making it easier to adjust your Life Insurance cover to match your circumstances.

Key Comparison Points

• Legal & General Life Insurance policies with Critical Illness Cover cover 38 conditions as standard. There are policies on the market which will cover a higher number of critical illnesses, although the number of illnesses covered isn’t always the main indicator of the quality of a policy.
• If you opt for an index-linked policy, Legal & General will increase your premiums by 1.5 times your benefit increase. In comparison, some other insurers will strictly match your premium increase to the percentage increase of your benefit rather than adding any additional figure.
• When you have an index-linked policy, Legal & General will not allow you to reject an increase in benefit without your policy’s indexation being cancelled immediately after. Many other insurers allow you to reject a cover increase up to 3 times in a row before removing indexation from your policy.
• Decreasing Life Insurance from Legal & General does not have a set interest rate while other insurers have set options to choose from. This means you can tailor your life insurance policy to match the same decrease rate as your repayment mortgage.
• Legal & General will not allow you to end your policy before your 29th birthday.
• If you choose to add Total and Permanent Disability benefit to your policy, depending on your circumstances they may use either an ‘Own Occupation’ or ‘Activities of Daily Living’ definition of incapacity. Other insurers may offer exclusively one definition of incapacity.
• Additional Critical Illness cover is added automatically to your policy. This additional cover allows you to claim up to 25% of your benefit (to a maximum of £25,000) if you are diagnosed with low grade prostate cancer or an early form of breast cancer. This payout will not affect your main benefit and you will still be able to claim for full life or critical illness cover afterwards.

Additional and Optional Benefits

• Accidental Death Benefit
  Your loved ones receive a payout if you die as the result of an accident while applying for your policy
• Accident Hospitalisation Benefit
  Legal & General pay £5,000 if you are in hospital with physical injuries for 28 consecutive days
• Additional Critical Illness Cover
  Claim for certain conditions without your payout affecting your Life Insurance benefit
• Child Accident Hospitalisation Benefit
  Legal & General pay £5,000 if your child is in hospital with physical injuries for 28 consecutive days
• Child Funeral Benefit
  £4,000 is paid out to contribute to funeral costs if one of your children passes away
• Family Accommodation Benefit
  After 3 months of your child being diagnosed with a critical illness, you will receive £100 per hospital stay to pay for family accommodation (maximum £1,000)
• Free Life Cover
  Receive a payout of up to £300,000 if you die between exchange of contracts and completion of a property purchase (maximum of 90 days of cover)
• SmoothMove
  If you purchase a new home within 6 months of your policy start date, SmoothMove will provide a 24 hour rescue service for up to 3 months to deal with any emergencies in your new home.  They can also supply legal advice.
• Nurse Support Services
  Access a range of supportive and advisory services provided by qualified nurses if a loved one passes or you claim for critical illness/ terminal illness.
• Optional Virtual GP
  Via phone or computer, you will be able to access GP services 24/7 for advice and guidance as well as provide private prescriptions.

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 Legal & General Life Insurance policy. If you need any further help, please do not hesitate to call us on 02084327333.

Michael Barrow
Independent Protection Expert at Drewberry

L&G Life Insurance: FAQs

Q. How do Legal & General’s reviewable premiums work?

A. If you choose reviewable premiums rather than guaranteed premiums, your premiums will be reviewed every 5 years and changed to ensure that your premiums match the value of your cover.

Unlike other providers, Legal & General will not value your premiums based on your circumstances,so they will not become more expensive as you get older. If after their assessment they calculate a recommended increase or decrease of less than 5%, then your premiums will not be changed.

Legal & General will use the following factors to determine whether your premiums need to be adjusted:

• The number and the cost of claims L&G have paid and expect to pay in the future
• The expected impact of future medical advances
• Insurance industry claims experience
• Any changes that have been made to applicable laws, regulations or tax treatment.

Q. What does the Accidental Death benefit cover?

A. The Accidental Death benefit is designed to provide you and your loved with some basic protection while you are waiting for your Life Insurance application to be either accepted or rejected by Legal & General. For up to 90 days after sending your application, you will be covered for a benefit of up to £300,000 to be paid if you die in an accident.

It doesn’t matter what type of accident you are involved in, but there are some circumstances for which you will not be entitled to your Accidental Death benefit. These are death as a result of:

• Suicide or self-injury
• Dangerous sports or pastimes
• Aerial flight (with the exception of being a fare paying passenger aboard a licensed airline)
• Criminal activity
• War, riot or civil commotion
• Abuse of drugs or alcohol.

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 2248 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