One of the impacts of COVID-19 was being unable to get the medical evidence we needed to underwrite some applications, which meant we had to restrict applications temporarily to below our non-medical limits.

From today we have lifted that restriction. We can now accept and underwrite applications above our non-medical limits for all our products. We’re able to do this as we can now offer face-to-face medical screenings, alongside remote ones.

This does rely on us being able to get the medical evidence we need. There are some forms of medical evidence, such as an Exercise ECG, that’ll still be difficult for us to get at the moment, and some GP practices are still unwilling to complete reports. In these situations we’ll be unable to offer terms. Our ability to get medical evidence will vary by geography, client, and local NHS practices.

After you’ve submitted your client’s application, if it’s above the non-medical limits, we’ll do all we can to get the medical evidence we need. If we’re unable to get the evidence we need, and have enough information to be able to make a decision, we’ll reduce the amount of cover to below our non-medical limits and offer terms on that basis.

In April we increased our Life Protection medical limits, this increase will remain in place. We’ll be making this permanent change to our online system in the coming weeks to allow decisions to be made straightaway based on the increased limits.

Face-to-face medicals
The restarting of face-to-face medicals will allow us to offer terms to more applications and access tests not suitable for remote screenings. We already have face-to-face medical screenings booked from next week, and MSS, our medical screening partner, will contact every client before the screening to discuss the safeguards they’ve put in place.

We’re pleased to say that following our successful pilot we’ll continue to offer remote medical screenings where suitable for cases below the non-medical limits. Having both remote and face-to-face medical screenings available means we can offer a wider range of medical tests and options for clients.
Please get in touch if you’ve got any questions.