As a business, our purpose has always been to offer services and products that support our customers when they need it most. This remains our primary focus and we wanted to share some details around our approach to our customer service at this time.

Due to the impact of Covid-19 we are having to change the way we work for a while and this includes developing the addition of a question to our application forms. We expect this to go live from Thursday 2nd April.

Our approach up to now has been consistent with our usual process. As with any disclosed condition where a recent diagnosis has been made and the outcome and severity is unknown, if a customer tells us they have been diagnosed with the virus or that they are being tested for it, we will have to postpone their application until they have fully recovered or they know their test result and are confirmed as negative.

However, in light of the continued progress of Covid 19, we have made the decision to be upfront with customers through our application form that in some cases we will not be able to offer cover for a short period, and so will not ask this group of people to complete the application form and instead re-apply after a fixed period.

 

When will this start?

These questions will be added into our online application journey later this week.  We expect this to go live from Thursday 2nd April

 

What happens to applications submitted before this date

There is no need to change any applications submitted before this date.  Applications submitted before 2nd April 2020 do not need to be resubmitted. Any application that is requoted after 2nd April will be asked the new questions.

 

What are the new questions?

We will be adding in two additional questions as follows:

In the last 30 days have you?

  1. had a new or unexplained continuous cough,  fever or high temperature?  Yes/No  
  2. tested positive for, or been diagnosed with coronavirus/COVID19?    Yes/No  

In the last 14 days have you?

  1. been self- isolating or been advised you should? Yes/No  
  2. had direct contact with someone who has been diagnosed with, or suspected of having coronavirus?   Yes/No  

 

What happens if they answer “Yes” to any of the above?

There are three instances in which we would ask a customer to re-apply:

If the customer has been diagnosed with Covid 19

If the customer  has experienced / is experiencing symptoms of Covid 19

If the customer has been in contact with someone who has been diagnosed with Covid 19 OR someone who has experienced / is experiencing symptoms of Covid 19

When can they reapply?

If the customer has tested positive or been diagnosed with Covid 19 then they will be asked to re-apply after 90 days has elapsed following the cessation of symptoms

If the customer  has experienced / is experiencing symptoms of Covid 19 then they will be asked to re-apply after 30 days has elapsed following the cessation of symptoms

If the customer has been in contact with someone who has been diagnosed with Covid 19 OR someone who has experienced / is experiencing symptoms of Covid 19 they they will be asked to re-apply after 14 days has elapsed since they had the direct contact and the customer has been free of symptoms for 30 days.

If a customer is following UK Government guidance as part of the lockdown protocols,  but has not been in contact with anyone experiencing symptoms, has not experienced symptoms and has not been diagnosed with Coronavirus the customer will be able to continue with their application.

Note:  this is a nuanced and reflective approach designed to ensure we can offer cover to as many people who need it as possible, as quickly as possible