AIA proves itself able in the disability stakes
Money Management/Dexx&r Adviser Choice Risk Awards
Best Disability Products
Winner: AIA—Disability Income
Finalist: Promina (RSA)—Income Reserve Plan
Finalist: Lumley Life—Disability Income Gold
AMERICAN International Assurance(AIA) Disability Income has taken first place honours in the Best Disability Product category in the inauguralMoney Management/Dexx&rAdviser Choice Risk Awards, beating the Promina (RSA) Income Reserve Plan and Lumley Life Disability Income Gold.
The products were rated on quality and price, with factors such as availability, rehabilitation benefits, waiting periods, and thresholds for medicals taken into account.
According to Dexx&r managing director Mark Kachor, the winner is “a highly featured, generous product, which at the price asked is quite competitive”.
Kachor also notes that contributing to AIA’s success was the fact that its product is more widely available than many other products within the same price range.
“AIA’s Disability Income is one of the products on the market that does actually encompass a wide range of occupations, and is available right through to skilled tradespeople, including people who do manual work.”
Strong definitions, which were ranked byMoney Management’sadviser panel as very important in the testing of disability products, also worked in AIA’s favour.
“They have good, strong definitions and their one duty occupational definition is quite generous. This essentially means that a person may only be restricted from fulfilling one of the principal duties of his or her occupation to be eligible for compensation,” Kachor says.
Managing director of AIA David Whyte attributes the company’s success to consumer demand, coupled with a tight focus on internal operations.
“[Our success] has a lot to do with the fact that we are currently positioning ourselves as a risk management specialist, and disability is a product that is important in that area. There is a clear demand for disability cover coming from clients, and advisers are responding to those needs. Apart from that, we keep a very close eye on the value of our benefits, how our definitions are worded, and how our claims and case management administration is handled.
“The combination of these things gives us a very strong platform to work from,” Whyte says.
Finalists Promina (RSA) Income Reserve Plan and Lumley Life Disability Income Gold also gained recognition for being highly featured, generously defined and price-friendly products, and were only separated from the winner by a small margin.
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