To be vaccinated or not to be unvaccinated? That is the million-dollar question for many people around the world.
Countries are currently fighting the dilemma of creating a two-tiered society versus freedom of choice with policies like domestic covid vaccine passports.
The UK government has flip flopped on the concept of covid passports for the last few months. Sajid Javid, secretary of state for health and social care, recently said plans to introduce vaccine passports for access into nightclubs and large events in England will not go ahead.
Javid told the BBC: “We shouldn’t be doing things for the sake of it.” But then a day later, he failed to rule out covid passports for pubs.
The science around the vaccine is clear to see – it saves lives and puts people at less risk of serious illness. Since the pandemic, many life and health insurers have spoken about a rise in demand for policies to protect families should the worst happen.
But how much of a factor will their covid vaccine status impact the ability of Brits to obtain cover?
International Adviser spoke to several firms in the life and health insurance market to discuss how the industry will deal with vaccinated and unvaccinated clients.
Turn away clients
A spokesperson for Vitality said: “We don’t currently ask whether our members or those applying for a policy have received the covid-19 vaccination. We will continue to monitor the impact of the vaccine as more data becomes available and if necessary, adjust our underwriting accordingly.”
Helen Morris, head of underwriting and claims protection at Aegon, had a similar attitude and said that the firm “won’t turn clients away” and it is “not routinely asking clients if they have been vaccinated, especially with now over 80% of people having had at least one jab”.
A spokesperson for the Association of British Insurers (ABI) added: “For life and health insurance, insurers will look at a wide range of factors impacting on the proposers’ life expectancy and morbidity.
“This will include their medical history, and that of their immediate family. You may be required to disclose if you have had covid, which may have an impact depending on the individual circumstances, particularly if there are any underlying health issues.”
But not all institutions are singing off the same hymn sheet.
A spokesperson for Legal & General said: “For those vulnerable customers who have not had the vaccine, which is expected to be a very small number of people, cover will be postponed for the time-being, until they have received the required vaccine doses.
“Allowances will be made for those who have not had the vaccine due to medical reasons, such as allergies or pregnancy. We continue to review our approach based on current government guidance.”
Price
Most firms seem to be lenient towards clients about their vaccine status.
Their attitude seems similarly negative when it comes to creating a two-tiered pricing life and health system for vaccinated and unvaccinated clients.
Aegon’s Morris said: “Not having the vaccine will not make premiums and costs rise for life and health insurance.”
The ABI added: “The cost of cover will reflect a wide range of factors around a person’s health, centred on if any aspects of their person’s health or lifestyle and, where relevant, family history, that could increase the risk of death (for life insurance), sickness (health insurance) or diagnosis of specified serious medical condition (critical illness cover).”
A spokesperson for Legal & General also said that it does not “apply different pricing for vaccine status”.
Future
Currently, there are no plans for separating cover for vaccinated and unvaccinated clients.
But, if passports are becoming a reality, insurers could also look to create products in the future for people with different covid vaccine statuses.
Morris said Aegon is “not expecting people to start selling products, based on whether people have had the vaccine or not” and Legal & General said it does “think this is unlikely”.
But the ABI said that “the market remains innovative, with the development of new products being a commercial decision for individual insurers to take”.
The future is unknown – as the pandemic is ever changing – but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Covid has impacted many lives and there is a chance will do the same for the long-term nature of the life and health insurance market.
Legal & General said: “It’s probably too early to say as we need to understand the data as it becomes available.”
Aegon’s Morris added: “Having covid is not generally an issue, unless it is severe to cause hospitalisation or leave you with long lasting symptoms. If this is the case, like any other medical condition, it should be disclosed to the relevant questions on the application form and the risk will be assessed.”
