Business Life Insurance Options

Our Business Life Insurance Options is designed to adapt to the needs of a wide range of clients. There are many choices your client will need to make, with your help, to ensure they pick the best policy for them.

• Cover available for public and private limited companies, limited liability partnerships, individual partners of a partnership and sole traders - with premiums from as little as £5 a month.
• Clients choose the policy term and the cover amount - which can be paid as a lump sum or in annual instalments.
• Level cover or decreasing cover available, with selectable interest rates to match a business loan.
• Options available: increasing cover, instalment option, waiver of premium, total permanent disability, conversion and renewal options.
• Specialist team of financial and medical underwriters - plus an online 'virtual underwriter' for immediate decisions.
• Free life cover of up to £1 million during the application process through our Business Protection Promise.
• Online trusts - our online trust process means you just need to complete a few questions during the application. No paper forms to complete and no signatures required.
• Straightforward claims process backed by our dedicated UK-based claims team.

Please note that Business Life Insurance Options provides cover only and has no cash-in value at any time.

For full details please read our Business Life Insurance Options policy conditions and Business Life Insurance Options policy summary

This is a summary of what’s available with Business Life Insurance Options. For full terms and details, please see the policy summary and policy conditions.

Your clients can choose from:

• Life cover only – which includes death benefit and terminal illness benefit.
• Life and critical illness cover – which pays out if the life covered dies or is diagnosed with, or undergoes surgery for, a critical illness that meets our policy definition during the policy term and survives for at least 10 days. Additional critical illness is also included. See the critical illnesses we cover as well as the additional critical illnesses we cover.

They can then choose if they want the cover type to be:

• Level  – for key person protection and shareholder and partnership protection. The cover amount stays the same throughout the policy term.  
• Decreasing   – for Business Loan Protection. The cover amount decreases each month, broadly in line with a decreasing loan using a fixed interest rate.

Life cover premiums are guaranteed for the duration of the policy. Premiums for life and critical illness cover can be guaranteed or reviewable. 

Additional benefits:

• Business change benefit – as your client’s business grows and changes, their need for cover may increase. Our business change benefit lets your client take out more cover without answering any further medical questions.
• Business Protection Promise – if we can’t make a decision on an application straightaway, we’ll cover your client for up to £1 million of free life cover whilst we look into their case.
• Additional critical illness benefit – our critical illness cover also includes 11 additional critical illnesses.

These options are also available:

• Increasing cover option – this is available on level cover. Your client’s cover will increase each year without any further medical questions. Premiums will increase each year by one and a half times the cover increase. For example, a 3% rise in cover would increase the premium by 4.5%. If the RPI-linked option is chosen and RPI is zero or negative, there'll be no change to cover or premiums that year. The maximum increase in your cover amount will be 10% each year.
• Instalment Option – is available with level cover only. It gives your clients the option to receive the cover amount in up to five equal yearly instalments instead of a lump sum.

These options cost extra:

• Waiver of premium – we'll pay the client’s premiums if the life covered meets our definition of incapacity and we accept the claim.
• Conversion option – lets your client convert their policy to a new whole of life policy without any further medical questions. For life cover only.
• Renewal option – lets your client renew their cover on the policy end date without any further medical questions.
• Total Permanent Disability - available on life and critical illness cover, the cover amount is paid if your client meets our definition of total permanent disability. 

Business Life Insurance Options is versatile and accommodates the different protection needs of business:

• Key person - protecting against the financial consequences of the death of a key person, usually someone that has specific expertise or is otherwise central to the running of the business.
• Shareholder protection - protecting against the financial consequences of the death of a shareholder or partner.
• Business loan - protecting the repayment of a mortgage or loan, should a shareholder or partner die. It's also useful if your client wants cover that decreases over the term of the policy.

It’s unlikely to be suitable for clients who want:

• an investment-linked arrangement
• whole of life protection
• cover with a cash-in value.

What to consider:

• level of cover required
• existing levels of cover
• current health
• any financial liabilities
• succession planning.

Possible alternatives:

• self-insurance using existing assets
• whole of life policy.