Royal London Income Protection Insurance
Black Lion - Part of Movo H & L
Royal London Income Protection – Introduction
Overview
Beginning life as The Royal London Friendly Society in 1861, Royal London is now the UK’s largest Mutual Society.
As of 2023, Royal London has over 8 million pension, life, critical illness and income protection policies with customers in the UK and Ireland.
Committed to acting and investing responsibly on behalf of its customers, Royal London’s mission statement is “Protecting today, investing in tomorrow. Together we are mutually responsible.”
Contact Details
Website: www.royallondon.com
Income Protection Claims Line: 0345 6094 500
Online Claims: www.royallondon.com/existing-customers/
Address: 80 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 4BY
FCA Register: https://register.fca.org.uk
Royal London Customer Reviews
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Royal London use Trustpilot to collect reviews from their customers for all their insurance and pension products. To date they have almost 2,000 reviews of which 580 have been submitted in the last 12 months. Of all the reviews, 67% have provided a 5-star rating, while 28% have given only a 1 or 2-star rating. Read Royal London’s Trustpilot Reviews.
Royal London 2023 Claims Report
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A press release from the 21st May 2024 highlights that Royal London paid out on 99% of all protection claims in 2023. It should be noted that this is includes various policy types and not just Income Protection. More details are likely to be made available in the official claims report due out later this year.
Top Reasons policyholders claimed
Industry Awards
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According to Royal London’s Our Awards webpage, the company has been awarded 5 stars by the Financial Times “Financial Adviser Service Awards” for their Protection Service for 10 consecutive years and named “Company of the Year 2023”. Royal London’s Income Protection policy has a 5* Defaqto rating.
Royal London Personal Menu Plan
Royal London’s “Personal Menu Plan” is a modular protection policy. It allows policyholders to create a plan which can include Life Insurance, Critical Illness and Income Protection.
It offers both short-term and long-term Income Protection with benefit periods of 1, 2 and 5 years along with the option of a full-term benefit period up until the policyholder’s 70th birthday.
For self-employed professionals, the policy can also be set-up to include some regular fixed business expenses such as rental costs.
Also, for those who receive income through dividend payments these can also be included subject to the policy’s terms and conditions.
The information below is not intended to provide advice on the suitability of any particular policy for the reader. For a free consultation and full market review speak with Black Lion Insurance today or request an Income Protection Quote from Royal London.
Monthly Benefit and Maximum Cover
Maximum cover is calculated based on the policyholder’s annual earnings before tax. It can be up to 65% of the first £15,000 (amounting to £9,750) and 55% of earnings thereafter, up to £250,000. Therefore a policyholder on an annual salary of £50,000 could insure a maximum of £29,000.
Incapacity Levels
Royal London’s Personal Menu Plan policy uses “Own Occupation” as the first measure in assessing any claim. This means that the policyholder is likely to have a valid claim if their injury or illness prevents them from carrying out integral duties of their occupation which can not reasonably be omitted or modified.
If the policyholder is not in full-time employment at the time of the claim, incapacity is defined if the policyholder is considered to have a serious illness or can not complete 3 out of 9 “everyday tasks”.
Medical Exclusions
Exclusions can be applied as a result of the health information provided before the start of the policy.
Deferred Period
Deferred periods of 4, 8, 13, 26 or 52 weeks. For Doctors requiring income protection, Royal London offer a deferred period for NHS medical professionals which takes into account that NHS sick pay decreases from full-pay to half-pay after a period of time determined by length of service.
Benefit Period
Royal London’s Personal Menu Plan offers benefit periods (payment periods) of 1 year, 2 years, 5 years and the full term of the policy.
Policy Duration
The minimum term of the policy is 5 years with a maximum policy term is 52 years. Any policy will cease on the policyholder’s 70th birthday.
Minimum Eligible Criteria
To apply for a Royal London Income Protection policy, policyholders must at least meet the following criteria.
- Aged between 18 and 59 years old at the start of the policy.
- In employment or be self-employed and been working for at least the last 12 months with proof of earnings.
- Be registered with a GP for the last 2 years.
- Legally permitted to reside and work in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Gibraltar and consider this to be their main home and have no intention to relocate elsewhere permanently.
Additional Policy Features
Hospital Benefit
In the event that a policyholder is required to spend more than 6 consecutive nights in hospital during the deferred period the policy will pay a Hospitalisation Benefit of £100 per night up to a maximum of 90 nights.
Fracture Cover
Included as standard, Royal London’s policy provides fracture cover which pays a lump sum (between £1,000 and £4,000) should the policyholder suffer a qualifying fracture. This payment is in addition to any monthly benefit and there is no deferred period.
Death Benefit
If the policyholder dies during the Term of Cover, Royal London will make a payment of 12 x the monthly premium (not the monthly benefit).
Helping Hand Wellbeing Services
A suite of third-party services provide policyholders with a range of health and wellbeing services. These include 24/7 access to online GP services provided by HealthHero, mental wellbeing support, a physiotherapy app and a legal, career and medical helpline.
Back to Work Benefit
Included with policies that have a deferred period of either 13, 26 or 52 weeks, the back to work payment provides an additional 2 months of (reduced) benefit once the policyholder returns to work following a valid claim. This is a maximum of 50% of the monthly benefit for the first month and 25% for the second month.
Travelling Abroad
Royal London reserve the right to restrict claims to certain parts of the world. In the event that the policyholder is living or working outside of the UK and need to make a claim, Royal London may ask that the policyholder returns to one of an eligible country*.
*As of January 2024, in Europe these include: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Channel Islands, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden & Switzerland. Outside of Europe the territories are Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa and USA.
