Pinnacle Insurance has introduced a healthcare cashplan for the mature end of the age spectrum. The Medex senior plan is available to anyone between 18 and 79 but the benefits are geared towards older people.
The plan has five levels of cover with premiums from £1.50 to £12 a week. It includes benefits for a hospital stay, routine dental and optical treatment, hearing aids, lump sums for recuperation and care for the elderly, funeral benefit and complementary medicine such as acupuncture and osteopathy. Free cover is provided for policyholders' partners under 80.
Most healthcare cash plans cover benefits older people would never need, so the Pinnacle plan could be a useful addition to the market.
A comparison with Norwich Union's new individual cash plan illustrates this point. Like the Pinnacle plan, it has five levels of cover, with premiums ranging from £6 a month to £30 a month for a single person and £8 a month to £30 a month for couples. Maternity and paternity benefit of between £200 and £1,000 for each child is provided, which older people are paying for but would not need.
However, some benefits that are relevant to older people are more competitive with NU. For a premium of £12 a month, NU pays 60 per cent towards the cost of a hearing aid up to £110. Someone paying the equivalent at £3 a week with Pinnacle would get 50 per cent of the cost up to £45. Similarly, nursing home inpatient benefit would be higher at £50 a day with NU compared with £15 a day with Pinnacle.
View more on these topicsNews
ABI aims to head off commission attack by Sandler
The ABI is examining propo-sals for a disclosure regime based on benchmarked or average commission in a bid to seize the initiative before the Sandler review forces the industry's hand.Papers seen by Money Marketing from the ABI's life insurance committee suggest “the commission offered by various providers on the same product might be disclosed, perhaps […]
Treasury fails to make EU insurance deal
The Treasury has failed to negotiate a UK exemption from EU legislation which states that all insurance intermediaries will have to become statutorily regulated.If the directive remains unchanged, it will mean the General Insurance Standards Council will either have to become a statutory regulator or the FSA will have to take over the regulation of […]
Lambeth customers get access to L&G products
Legal & General and Lambeth Building Society are teaming up to give Lambeth's customers access to L&G's protection, long-term savings and investment products.The partnership will allow the society's customers to buy a raft of savings and investment products from fixed-interest deposits to actively managed Isas, unit trusts and pensions from the combined range of both […]
More PIA regulatory action
The PIA has taken action against two more IFA firms in what has been one of the busiest winters in recent memory as far as regulatory action is concerned.This time around the PIA has fined Wingrove Associates Assurance & Financial Consultants of Flat 7, 22 Lewes Crescent, Kemp Town, Brighton £10,000 for pensions review failings. […]
US loan growth is not painting a pretty picture for the US economy
Written by Mike Riddell One of the current big debates in global financial markets is whether investors should believe ‘hard’ rather than ‘soft’ data, where the usually reliable business and consumer surveys have been suggesting strengthening in global growth momentum for some time now, while the economic data that feeds through into the Gross Domestic […]
Newsletter
News and expert analysis straight to your inbox
Sign up
Invesco seals merger with OppenheimerFunds to break $1trn mark
Invesco has sealed a deal to acquire OppenheimerFunds as the firrm looks to break into the top 10 global investment managers. The deal will see OppenheimerFunds parent Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company sell the asset manager to Invesco, with MassMutual taking a 15.5 per cent stake in Invesco in return. Invesco will manage $1.2trn (£920bn) […]
Consolidator makes 51st buy with latest IFA acquisition
Advice firm consolidator Newell Palmer has acquired midlands IFA Sense Wealth Management in a deal adding another £35m to its funds under management. The purchase is the 51st acquisition made by Newell Palmer since it began trading in 1993. The £35m is split between around 100 active clients from Sense, who will all transfer over […]
RBS and Nest executives appointed to government guidance body board
Three directors have been named to the board of the newly-launched Single Financial Guidance Body. The Department for Work and Pensions has appointed former National Employment Savings Trust chief executive Tim Jones and Royal Bank of Scotland director for products Moray McDonald as non-executive directors. University of Bristol emeritus professor Elaine Kempson will also join the board. […]
Comments