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Employers have been encouraged to help "financially educate" workers and enable them to explore options including life insurance and critical illness cover.

As My Budget Day approaches on November 21st, an AXA roundtable debate concluded that such financial education would contribute to improving the nation’s finances.

"My Budget Day does not involve any product push. Employees are left to their own devices and can draw their own conclusions on what they should do next," explained Paul Evans, the life insurance provider’s chief executive.

AXA wants employers to help their employees "kick-start the financial planning habit" by allowing them to spend the first hour of My Budget Day reviewing their finances in the workplace.

A report from fellow provider Norwich Union recently showed that many Britons do not give enough thought to safeguarding their financial futures through solutions such as life insurance, critical illness cover or unemployment protection.

According to AXA, which has already pledged an hour to its 12,000 employees for them to re-evaluate their financial health, money is one of the major causes of stress for adults and as such it is a major cause of employee absenteeism, with the annual cost of stress to UK plc estimated at around £9.6 billion.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with medical conditions

A growing number of US residents are filing for bankruptcy as a result of suffering from a critical illness.

Writing for the Best Syndication website, Stan Kingstone highlighted a recent study from Harvard University which revealed that half of the country’s bankruptcies came about because of critical illness.

Pointing out that critical illness insurance provides a lump-sum payment if an individual suffers from a serious condition such as cancer, stroke, paralysis or a heart attack, Mr Kingstone stated that the need for such cover is increasing.

"Now that medical progress and early detection are helping more people live through serious illnesses, people need to plan for how they’re going to financially survive the aftermath," Marlene Jupiter, an author and personal finance expert, told the writer.

"Many people aren’t aware of the financial consequence of surviving a critical illness, especially if they’re unable to work for an extended period of time while they recover," she added.

UK insurance provider Norwich Union recently reported an increase in its critical illness payouts, attributing the rise to new initiatives intended to reduce the number of people who do not disclose existing medical conditions on their protection application forms.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people with medical conditions

Insurance provider AXA has abolished automatic general practitioner report (GPR) limits for life insurance and critical illness customers under the age of 45.

Marking the firm’s response to feedback from financial advisers regarding the lengthy delays caused by obtaining the reports, automatic GPR limits for under-45s’ income protection applications will also increase to £50,000.

The insurer has outlined its aim to make greater use of nurse screenings or blood tests, which are on average two weeks quicker than a GPR.

"Our market-leading tele-underwriting process means the need for GPRs is significantly reduced and in the light of lengthy delays and spiralling costs of GPRs we’ve decided to break away from their automatic use for younger ages," confirmed Mike Taylor, chief underwriter at AXA.

"For younger lives, especially those who do not have any medical problems, a screening provides an underwriter with a better view of their health including build, habits and blood pressure," he added.

AXA has emphasised that this also provides a second opportunity for customers to reveal any medical information, further reducing non-disclosure.

Fellow provider Legal and General recently made all its life insurance products exempt from the ongoing duty of disclosure the company said was "often seen as a burden."

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with medical conditions

A gay man in Thailand has claimed he was refused insurance because of his sexuality.

According to the Nation newspaper, Natee Teerarojjanapongs attempted to buy a policy from a company’s sales agent but was told it would not be possible because he is gay.

"I’m willing to let them give me a full health check if they think that I’m in a high-risk group. There’s no reason to deny me and other gays or transvestites life insurance," he said.

"We are educated like others in society; not all of us engage in risky behaviour," he added.

A spokesperson for the insurance company in question has pointed out that it does not deny life-insurance policies to any particular group and considers each application individually.

The firm emphasised that life insurance is refused "only in cases such as when the person is over 65 or has a serious illness or a high-risk career".

In 2005 the Association of British Insurers ended the UK practice of asking individuals about their sexuality on application forms for cover.

Previous to this, many gay men applying for life insurance admitted feeling they were treated unfairly.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with medical conditions

Legal & General has extended the maximum it assures for critical illness cover to £1 million.

Taking effect on November 18th, the change will also enable customers to take out an extra £1 million business protection on top of their personal cover.

"People are taking out larger mortgages and they require greater flexibility in terms of the amount of cover they need," explained Bonnie Burns, Legal & General’s protection product marketing director.

The spokesperson for the UK’s leading provider added that the firm has sought to meet the needs of today’s families and businesses while responding to the "changing trends" that underpin the market.

"We believe that there is huge potential to help businesses better protect their key assets - their people - and increasing the maximum sum assured reflects our commitment to this market," Ms Burns added.

Another leading insurer, Norwich Union, recently announced plans to extend children’s critical illness cover to all of its policies.

Having introduced the cover as a standard inclusion from August 2003, it provides a benefit of £10,000 or 50 per cent of the sum assured - whichever is lower - for each child on the adult’s policy.
The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people with medical conditions

Enquiries for private medical insurance more than doubled in September compared with the previous month, according to new research.

The Fair Investment Company claimed that increased reports about poor treatment, superbugs and long NHS waiting lists have pushed people towards private health care, with some even looking abroad for treatment.

"With the spread of infection hitting the headlines and reports of incompetence causing concern across the UK, more and more people feel private healthcare is the only viable option," said Fair Investment director, James Caldwell.

His company’s research revealed that 53 per cent more people were interested in acquiring private healthcare in September compared with August, while around 70,000 Brits are expected to travel abroad in search of medical care this year.

As a result of the current shortage of dentists in the UK, many people are also reportedly travelling abroad for dental treatment.

"Although travelling abroad may appeal to some, there are many private medical care providers to be found in the UK," Mr Caldwell emphasised.

Leading provider Bupa recently adopted a new sales approach to progress the alignment of its private medical insurance, group risk, wellness and occupational health products and services.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with medical conditions

Nine out of ten insurance applicants are willing to undergo a medical examination if it would reduce the possibility that a future claim might be declined, according to the latest survey by Swiss Re.

The reinsurer has released its Insurance Report, which states: "These preferences reflect a lack of confidence among consumers in their ability to complete application forms correctly and, perhaps, a desire to pass the responsibility over to someone they trust to do the job more expertly, typically a doctor."

Swiss Re suggested the introduction of shorter application forms enabling most applicants to be accepted instantly, although these would have to be carefully worded.

The report praised the decision by Legal & General to remove the continuing duty of disclosure up to acceptance.

"This approach has many attractions and would reduce some of the problems occurring at claims stage caused by the duty of disclosure continuing after completion of the application form and ending when the risk is accepted by the underwriter," the report stated.

Swiss Re called for insurers to increase consumer confidence in the area of disclosure.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with medical conditions.

Fraudulent insurance claims worth over £1 million per day are discovered by insurers, according to the latest research by the Association of British Insurers.

The report into general insurance fraud reveals that one in 11 claims is in some way fraudulent. Such claims have tripled since 2003 and in 2006 insurance companies detected and prevented £480 million of fraudulent claims.

Nick Starling, director of general insurance and health at the ABI, said: "Fraudulent insurance claims cost £1.6 billion, and add £40 a year to the premiums paid by honest customers.

But the industry is fighting back. Insurance cheats are more likely to be caught than ever before. And cheats will pay a high price as future insurance and credit will be more expensive and harder to obtain."

The figures show that insurance companies have become increasingly effective at detecting and preventing fraud.

Friends Provident is implementing a new approach to the application process for income protection insurance by having qualified nurses carry out the first stage telephone interview.

The aim is to reduce non-disclosure, speed up the application process, produce more informed underwriting decisions and promote signature free applications.

Nurses will ask applicants questions about their medical history, including detailed questions where specific disclosure is required.

Mark Jones, protection products and actuarial manager at Friends Provident said: "The new tele-interviewing service will speed up processing which will benefit advisers and it will enable us to gather more detailed information about the applicant’s health."

The new process should also reduce the need for GPs reports as the trained nurse tele-interviews provide better information than regular staff.

In many cases the interviews will provide sufficient information to enable underwriting without a GP report.

Friends Provident hopes the application process will be reduced from weeks to days.

The competition is intensifying in the battle to buy life insurer Resolution. Standard Life and Swiss Re are expected to launch a joint bid this week.

Pearl and Royal London saw their bid rejected last week, with negotiations ongoing, as the industry fights to take over Resolution’s closed life funds and protection and health insurance subsidiary Scottish Provident.

Resolution also has a valuable distribution agreement with Abbey National.

The Standard Life and Swiss Re bid is expected to be higher than Pearl’s 660p per share offer. Resolution’s shares closed at 708.5p on Friday.

An offer of around 700p a share would value Resolution at around £4.7 billion.

Pearl already owns 16 per cent of Resolution and the Guardian reports it would be prepared to accept a good offer for its shares.

Meanwhile Resolution continues to take steps towards merger with Friends Provident as it believes this deal is the best value for its shareholders.