Lumley’s silver turns to gold for trauma

Money Management/Dexx&r Adviser Choice Risk Awards

Best Trauma Products

Winner: Lumley Life - Medical Catastrophe Silver

Finalist: Lumley Life - Critical Illness

Finalist: Cominsure (Colonial) - Trauma

VALUE for money was the key factor in Lumley Life’s Medical Catastrophe Silver taking the trauma product blue ribbon in theMoney Management/Dexx&rAdviser Choice Risk Awards.

Dexx&r managing director Mark Kachor says that when the product’s premiums were balanced against its range of features and strong definitions, the policy came at a very reasonable price.

“There are cheaper products in the marketplace but they don’t offer the same features and definitions. There are also dearer products, but they don’t offer the same value,” he says.

Kachor says one of Medical Catastrophe Silver’s stand-out features was its generous and contemporary definitions that did not contain an extensive list of exclusions.

Lumley Life general manager sales and marketing Howard Davy says the success of its products including Medical Catastrophe Silver comes from regularly upgrading them with the help of advisers and passing the benefits on to existing policy holders.

“Over the years we have enhanced definitions all along the way, putting us at the cutting edge of certain medical conditions through these upgrades,” he says.

Davy says Lumley maintains the relative good value of its products through prudent underwriting and claims management.

“We do sound underwriting up-front, not at the claims stage, and have a sound reputation in the marketplace for our claims management process,” he says.

As a result, Lumley Life’s Critical Illness product was also rated good value by Kachor, coming in as a finalist.

Kachor says the product had a reasonable range of features, and though its definitions were much more restrictive, what set it apart was its low cost.

“It is not the cheapest but among the cheapest in marketplace, and its score has been boosted by this low cost,” he says.

Cominsure’s Trauma, also ranked as a finalist, is a reasonably fully featured product in the industry, according to Kachor.

He says although the pricing of the product is at the more expensive end of the market it was still competitive for the range of cover and definitions provided.

Though these three products have been singled out in the awards, Kachor says there are only fine differences between the top products in the trauma category with none coming out “head and shoulders” above the rest.

Kachor says this is indicative of the trauma market, which, while growing at a rapid rate, has suffered from a lack of product innovation in recent times.

“It has reached a point where there is similar cover throughout the industry, with companies competing in areas such as minor illnesses, even though these don’t affect many people,” he says.