EXPAT  LIFE ASSURANCE IN SHORT SUPPLY?

In much the same way as expatriates are treated as being from Mars where mortgages are concerned, they are similarly poorly served when it comes to the availability of basic term life assurance.

When IMP were first established in the Far East in the 80’s we were able to access term assurance rates for expatriates from all the leading UK providers - Scottish Widows, Standard Life, Scottish Equitable, Norwich Union etc. etc. There was no differentiation between the terms available in the UK and the terms available to expatriates subject of course to their not living in unhealthy jurisdictions.

Unfortunately there are now very few assurers willing to write pure life cover on expats. The large international companies based offshore only look to offer life cover as part of high cost investment vehicles.

The UK Revenue has made it difficult for UK based life assurers to underwrite pure term cover as it can be disadvantageous to the way in which their life assurance fund investments are treated for taxation. Further issues arise where EU regulation comes into play. Insurers have taken the soft option of choosing not to write this type of business because of these issues.

Whilst in some countries expatriates may be subject to a higher life assurance risk environment, it is also the case in many areas – Hong Kong, Singapore, the UAE, that they are a much safer risk due to the lack of accident risk and the health facilities and constant health checking which are often superior to those available in the UK.

IMP are able to arrange pure term life cover via a handful of life assurers. If you would like a quotation for new cover, or replacement cover, as rates now might be considerably less than when you took out your assurance years ago.


Please call or email for a specific quotation. Information required as detailed:

 

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