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UK insurers pull out of expat health and life insurance
| Published: | 15 Jul at 6 PM |
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Tagged: Property Abroad, UK, South Africa, Hong Kong, Dubai, England, Health Insurance, Life Insurance
A recently-released survey of UK insurance companies has revealed that only 16 per cent now offer expat life insurance and only 8 per cent offer critical illness cover.
The annual Expatriate Insurance Survey’s results make it plain that high-street insurers such as Friends Life, Aviva and Legal and General now have no interest in servicing expat life and health insurance needs. According to authors of the survey, Unusual Risks, there are a number of British expats’ groups with UK property, tax interests or outstanding mortgages whose need for UK-based insurance is genuine.
According to Unusual Risks, a high number of expats require life insurance in order to protect family members still living in the UK. This group, it noted, is being hit hard by the recent 50 per cent fall in market choice. One reason for the drop in companies offering the services is the need for a UK bank account, increasingly difficult for expats to maintain now that British banks are closing down expat accounts.
Three insurers are still offering specialist coverage to UK expats living overseas, but at much higher prices than before. Premiums quoted are at least four times the standard charge, and several insurers are now requiring that applicants spend at least 6 months a year in the UK.
The decline in expat insurance services is linked to present-day rock-bottom interest rates as well as to slow growth in the sector wreaking havoc on corporate balance sheets.
Recent examples of severe cutting-back exercises include Zurich’s massive cost-cutting following massive losses and last October’s statement from Friends Provident International that it’s getting out of its global operations with the exemption of Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Qatar and South Africa.
The annual Expatriate Insurance Survey’s results make it plain that high-street insurers such as Friends Life, Aviva and Legal and General now have no interest in servicing expat life and health insurance needs. According to authors of the survey, Unusual Risks, there are a number of British expats’ groups with UK property, tax interests or outstanding mortgages whose need for UK-based insurance is genuine.
According to Unusual Risks, a high number of expats require life insurance in order to protect family members still living in the UK. This group, it noted, is being hit hard by the recent 50 per cent fall in market choice. One reason for the drop in companies offering the services is the need for a UK bank account, increasingly difficult for expats to maintain now that British banks are closing down expat accounts.
Three insurers are still offering specialist coverage to UK expats living overseas, but at much higher prices than before. Premiums quoted are at least four times the standard charge, and several insurers are now requiring that applicants spend at least 6 months a year in the UK.
The decline in expat insurance services is linked to present-day rock-bottom interest rates as well as to slow growth in the sector wreaking havoc on corporate balance sheets.
Recent examples of severe cutting-back exercises include Zurich’s massive cost-cutting following massive losses and last October’s statement from Friends Provident International that it’s getting out of its global operations with the exemption of Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Qatar and South Africa.
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