PruProtect to insure HIV-positive individuals

PruProtect will offer life cover to people with HIV in a shake up of its protection range. 

PruProtect is the first mainstream insurer to offer life cover to people with HIV although the insurer said only around 7% of HIV positive people would be eligible for the £250,000 life cover over a maximum period of ten years. 

‘We are pleased to be the first mainstream insurer to provide life cover for people living with HIV,’ said Kevin Carr (pictured), director of protection development for PruProtect. ‘I believe it is better to provide some cover for some people, than nothing for all.’ 

PruProtect said only around 20% of people who had been treated with anti-retroviral drugs over the last five years would qualify for the cover. The underwriting criteria could relax over time to include around 20% of HIV positive people, said Carr.  

Adviser Alan Lakey of Highclere Financial Services welcomed PruProtect’s move but was sceptical about the appeal for the plan. ‘It sounds good but in reality it will be of very limited use,’ said Lakey.. 

PruProtect has also launched two new income protection plans with South African protection specialist Discovery. The Primary Cover and Comprehensive Cover plans both use the own-occupation definition of disability rather than less generous contract terms used by some other insurers. 

PruProtect has extended its serious illness cover with three new medical conditions to qualify for the ABI+ standard and introduced a new severity-based partial disability payment.