Key Features and Benefits of Halifax Life Insurance’s Over 50’s and Lifetime Cover

Halifax carries these life insurance products:

• Over 50s Life Insurance
• Whole life or Protection for Life Insurance

Why Go with Halifax?

Here are some reasons to go with Halifax:

• Great value. Halifax with its provider Scottish Widows provides periodic promotional offers, such as vouchers that can be obtained based on specific terms and conditions.
• Wide range of choices. For the Protection for Life plan, you can include life cover, critical illness or lifetime protection under one policy to save on premiums. You can also choose from two payment options: lump sum or monthly benefit.
• Flexibility. The Protection for Life Plan allows you to add or remove a policy owner, as well as top-up or decrease the Sum Insured at any time within the life of the policy.

Quick Facts

Plan Details

Payment of Benefit. The policy will pay out the Sum Insured when the following conditions are met:

• The Person Insured dies, gets terminally ill or is diagnosed with a critical illness (note: Terminal Illness and Critical Illness are only payable if these are included in the plan. For accidental death, the definition covers death due to bodily injury directly and solely caused by an accident and the death occurs within 90 days from the date of the accident)
• The event occurred within the plan term and the policy remains in force
• The event (i.e. death, accident, etc.) meets the criteria set forth in the policy

Amount of Benefit.

• Level benefit. The Sum Insured remains constant throughout the life of the policy.
• Increasing Benefit. This increases the Sum Insured by a percentage based on the Retail Prices Index. The increases are capped at 2% (minimum) and 10% (maximum).As the Sum Insured increases, the premiums will also increase. The Person Insured reserves the right to refuse to increase the benefit. However, if the automatic increases have not been applied for two consecutive years, the Sum Insured will remain level throughout the remaining years of the policy.
• Decreasing Benefit. Mainly for mortgage cover, the Sum Insured is reduced in line with the way the mortgage amount is decreased as it is paid off.

Additional Benefits/Options

Terminal Illness.  If the Person Insured is diagnosed with an illness that has advanced or has progressed so that it is no longer curable and the illness is expected to lead to his death within 12 months, the Sum Insured will be payable to him.

Other details: The claim should be made prior to the last 12 months from the date the policy expires.

Premium Protection. Available for Protection for Life plans where the Sum Insured is greater than £15,000, this will pay the premiums if the Person Insured can no longer earn due to incapacity.

Other details:

• The waiting period is 26 weeks. After this waiting period, the payments on the premiums will start. During the waiting period, the Person Insured should continue to make the payments to keep the plan effective.
• The definition for incapacity or disability is based on:
  • Own occupation – where the incapacity renders the Person Insured incapable of performing material tasks related to his own occupation
  • Suited occupation – where the incapacity renders the Person Insured incapable of performing material tasks related to his own occupation or to any other occupation for which the Person Insured is considered suited due to his training, education and experience.
  • Activities of daily work – where the incapacity renders the Person Insured incapable of performing at least two of the six activities of daily work, namely seeing, hearing, lifting, speaking, writing with the use of pen/pencil or keyboard or walking. This definition also covers incapacity due to mental failure. This definition is applied to those who are working less than 16 hours weekly prior to the disability and are not self-employed.

  Only one definition will be applied.

• Claims for Premium Protection should ideally be lodged within 13 weeks from the date of the incapacity.
• After age 90, premiums don’t have to be paid for this benefit, although the cover will still continue. Premiums will also be stopped for this benefit if there are paid claims for this benefit. The Premium Protection cover will stop as well and no further Premium Protection claims (for another incapacity/event) will be paid.
• The disability should not be due to:
  • Alcohol or drug abuse
  • Participation in criminal acts
  • Self-inflicted injury
  • Unreasonable refusal to seek and follow medical advice
  • War and civil commotion

Critical Illness. This pays out the Sum Insured upon the diagnosis of a covered critical illness of the Person Insured or any covered children. The critical illnesses covered are:

• Alzheimer’s disease
• Aorta graft surgery
• Bacterial meningitis
• Benign brain tumour
• Blindness
• Bone marrow failure
• Cancer
• Coma
• Coronary artery by-pass grafts
• Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
• Deafness
• Heart attack
• Heart valve replacement or repair
• HIV infection
• Kidney Failure
• Loss of hands or feet
• Loss of speech
• Major organ transplant
• Motor neurone disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Paralysis of limbs
• Parkinson’s disease
• Progressive supranuclear palsy
• Stroke
• Third degree burns
• Total and permanent disablement
• Traumatic head injury

Other details: Children’s critical illness. This is for natural, legally adopted or step children of the Person Insured who are diagnosed with a covered critical illness and survive for at least 14 days after the diagnosis. Te maximum benefit is the lower of £25,000 or 50%. The children should be between six months to 21 years old. 

Early Death Exclusion and Accidental Death. This is only applicable to specified policies, where it is stated in the policy schedule. This means that any death due to natural causes or sickness within the first two years of the policy will not be payable. Instead, all premiums paid will be refunded.

Free Cover Options. This is free cover provided while the Policy Application is being processed. Depending on the type of cover being applied for, it can be:

• 90 Days’ Mortgage Free Cover. This covers the Person Insured from the time Halifax receives the policy application and direct debit instruction until the exchange of contracts. This pays up to the lesser of the Sum Insured being applied for or £250,000. The Mortgage Free Cover continues until the earlier of:
  • The start date of the policy being applied for
  • The date the claim is made
  • The date the company informs the Applicant whether the application has been accepted or not
  • The 90-day period has expired
• Free Accidental Death Cover. This 30-day cover pays upon the accidental death of the Person Insured, provided the accident happened within the period the free cover is effective and the death happened within 60 days after the date of the accident. This pays up to the lesser of the Sum Insured being applied for or £250,000. The Mortgage Free Cover continues until the earlier of:
  • The start date of the policy being applied for
  • The date the claim is made
  • The 30-day period has expired

Other details:

Eligibility:

• Aged 59 or below
• The person who submitted the policy application has not applied for a similar cover with another provider

How to make a claim

When making a claim, the beneficiary will usually need to prepare:

• Proof of the event (i.e. Person Insured’s Death certificate, police report, medical report, etc.)
• Proof the Person Insured’s age (Birth certificate of the Person Insured)
• Proof that the claimant is the legal beneficiary (i.e. marriage certificate, will, etc.)
• Other documents that Halifax may require to help them assess the claim
• When applicable, evidence of illness and medical history

The claimant is expected to cover reasonably-incurred expenses related to medical tests and certificates. These expenses will be reimbursed by Halifax when the claim is accepted. The claimant should also agree to be examined by a medical practitioner appointed by the company, as often as reasonably required. This will be at the expense of the company.

The content of this article is provided for informational purposes only and is not created to be a financial advice. Contact Halifax directly for details about their offerings.
Updated on: 09.06.2013

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