Tag Archives: over 50 life insurance

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LV= Reports That Up To 1.2 Million Over-50s May Use Equity In Home To Supplement Pensions

LV= has revealed that ‘Home is Pension’ is a common mantra among the over-50s workforce in Britain as shown in a recent report published by the retirement specialist. Although 54% of the over-50s believe the value of their home has fallen over the last three years, an estimated 1.2 million ‘HIPpies’ (‘Home is Pension’) may use the equity in their home to help supplement their retirement income.

Only 19% of all over-50s still in work feel that they are financially on track to retire as planned, while the number of working over-50s that believe they may have to delay retirement for financial reasons has increased hugely, to 41% from just 28% this time last year. Homeowners over 50 estimate they have lost £60 billion in property value due to recent volatility in the housing market.

However, this has not put many off using the equity in their homes to help fund retirement, with nearly a quarter of working over-50s considering using some, or all of the equity in their home to fund their retirement. The ‘Home is Pension’ mantra is so valuable to over-50s, that 54% would suggest their children include investment in property as part of their retirement planning.

When working over-50s were questioned about the impact an interest rate rise would have, LV=’s research found that 40% would have to reduce their pension contributions just to meet the higher cost of paying debts. More than four in ten (44%) of all working over-50s and 34% of those aged 60-69 in work, have an outstanding mortgage debt on their home.

Vanessa Owen, LV= Head of Equity Release, said: “It seems to be increasingly commonplace for those approaching retirement to consider using the equity in their property as part of their overall retirement plan. Continuing doom and gloom over volatility in the housing market and seeing some properties fall in value, hasn’t deterred the UK’s “HIPpies” and many are still positive that the equity in their home is their best chance of having a more comfortable retirement.”

Via EPR Network
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LV= Promotes Best Practice For National Customer Service Week

LV=, the mutual insurance, investment and retirement group, is running a series of training and activities to promote and reward excellence in customer service as part of National Customer Service Week.

LV= is dedicated to delivering the best possible customer service all year round and will be using National Customer Service Week as an extra opportunity to highlight the value that customer service plays within organisations.

In addition to highlighting and rewarding those staff who have demonstrated customer service excellence, the group will be running a series of initiatives during the week such as problem solving training and ‘back to the floor’ sessions for senior management.

Two staff award schemes have been set up to celebrate the week. The LOVE awards are for employees who demonstrate Living Our Values Everyday (LOVE) and the Unsung Heroes awards are for staff to nominate colleagues who have gone the extra mile to improve an internal process or system.

In the general insurance business, each site has initiatives promoting great customer service throughout the week including managers’ mystery shopping and awarding prizes for great examples of customer service, quizzes themed around customer service, dress down and dress up days, job swaps and awards for the friendliest members of the customer service team.

Initiatives being rolled out specifically in LV=’s Bournemouth office include a dress like a rock star day, a ‘Know your Claims’ team quiz and retention spot prizes.

LV= handles more than 18,000 customer calls a day and has won numerous awards for its customer service, including the 2010 Moneywise award for best customer service in car insurance. The LV= general insurance call centre also won call centre of the year* in the 2009 National Customer Service Awards and is short-listed again for the same award this year.

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LV= Asset Management Equities Team Celebrates Year Of Strong Performance

One year after joining LV= Asset Management (LVAM), the fund management arm of mutual insurance and investment group, LV=, Graham Ashby and his team are celebrating an impressive set of numbers for both the LV= UK Equity Income Fund and LV= UK Growth Fund.

Graham joined from Credit Suisse and has been the lead manager of the LV= UK Equity Income Fund since 1 September 2009. During the year to 31 August 2010, LV= UK Equity Income Fund returned 12.18% versus a FTSE All Share Index figure of 10.57% and an IMA UK Equity Income sector average of 8.22%, marking it as 1st Quartile and 6th Percentile*.

Under the stewardship of Michael Crawford, an experienced manager who has worked with Graham for over 10 years, LV= UK Growth Fund returned a much improved performance of 9.29% against the FTSE All Share Index’s 10.57% and an IMA UK All Companies sector average of 8.62%*.

Graham and Michael also brought Marcus Chandler and Mira Bhogaita with them from Credit Suisse. Together with long-standing LVAM fund manager Chris Price, they make up LVAM’s UK Equities team.

The UK equity portfolios have a ‘backbone’ of stocks which have a proven record in creating value for shareholders and where fundamental analysis indicates that these high returns are sustainable.

The team also believes that UK equity portfolios should also be diversified in absolute rather than relative terms. As a result, they seek to ensure adequate diversification by limiting the exposure to individual stocks and adopting a ‘benchmark aware’ rather than a ‘benchmark driven’ approach to portfolio construction.

Recently, in response to demand, LVAM has moved to a quarterly income distribution for the LV= UK Equity Income Fund, which helps with clients’ cash flow and is also in line with the trend for UK companies to pay dividends quarterly; an institutional income share class has also been added.

In July this year, LV= UK Equity Income Fund received a Standard & Poor’s ‘A’ rating and in addition, both Graham Ashby and Michael Crawford are ‘A’ rated by Citywire.

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LV= Research Suggests That Poor Sighted Drivers Put Lives At Risk

LV= has revealed new research conducted amongst motorists that shows many drivers are still getting behind the wheel, despite having poor eye sight.

The research conducted by LV= car insurance reveals that 4.2 million drivers who don’t currently wear glasses admitted their vision was ‘not perfect’ although they still drive and 1.1 million drivers who are prescribed glasses or lenses for driving said they don’t always wear them whilst behind the wheel.

Among the 53% of motorists that don’t currently wear prescribed glasses or lenses, the statistics reveal that nearly a quarter (23%) confess that their eyesight is ‘not perfect’, and around one in ten (11%) admit to finding it difficult to see at night and one in twenty (6%) say they struggle to see in poor weather.

Yet despite these problems a third of these motorists say they haven’t had their eyes tested in the last five years with a further one in eight (13%) saying they either had a test over ten years ago or they have simply never bothered.

Aside from the number plate reading test in the driving exam, drivers are not currently legally required to have an eye test until they are 70 years old, although medical experts recommend that all drivers have an eye test at least every two years, regardless of whether they think their eyesight is okay for driving.

And in a test among 256 randomly selected drivers, one in ten (9%) were unable to make out a number plate just over 20 metres away on their first attempt. This rose to 18% of all drivers aged 55 and over5.

If motorists drive when they cannot see clearly and do not meet the visual requirements, they could be fined £1,000, receive three penalty points or be disqualified from driving. If drivers are involved in an accident caused by their lack of vision they could be charged with reckless or dangerous driving and potentially face a prison sentence.

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LV= Reports Kids Come First As Parents Increase ‘Back To School’ Spending To £709 Million

LV=’s new Cost of a Child study has found that parents will spend £709 million* on ‘back to school’ basics including uniforms, stationery, sportswear and winter coats as parents prepare to kit their children out for the start of the new school year. This is equivalent to parents spending an average of £122 on their children. This rises to£139 for secondary school aged children, compared to £96 for infants. Parents living in London spend the most preparing for their kids to go back to school at £158 on average.

Despite many families continuing to feel the squeeze in the current economic climate, 46% of parents expect to spend a greater amount this year on ‘back to school’ items than last year. When asked to consider the financial pressures of kitting their kids out for school, 48% said they are feeling the strain of having to spend ‘excessive amounts’, rising to 64% among parents in the North East.

54% parents are considering using low cost suppliers for back to school items, such as supermarkets to buy basics like uniform and stationery, and 23% are considering second hand items, including hand-me-downs and goods from charity shops or eBay. This rises to 70% and 41% respectively for families in the South East.

Mark Jones, LV= head of protection, said: “It is surprising that many parents are responding to increased money pressure this year by spending more on back to school basics; clearly kids come first despite the downturn. And it’s even more surprising that many parents are spending more despite looking at ways to be frugal and economise, by purchasing from cheaper suppliers such as their local supermarket or eBay.”

The annual LV= Cost of a Child study shows that parents are now likely to have to shell out more than £201,000 on raising a child from birth to the age of 21**. This equates to £9,610 a year, £800 a month or £26 a day. Education (not including private school fees) remains the second biggest expenditure behind childcare, costing parents £52,881 over a child’s lifetime – an increase of 4% on last year.

Via EPR Network
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LV = Launches New 50 Plus Plan TV Advert

LV=, the insurance, investment and pensions group, has launched its fifth TV advertising campaign to promote its ’50 Plus plan’. The new TV advertisement was created by creative marketing agency ‘redtag’ to promote the LV= life insurance policy.

The new TV advertisement has been developed with the LV= brand and features three different families, with each one giving their perspective on losing a parent. It highlights how the money they received from the 50 Plus insuranceplan provided by LV= helped them at a difficult time. The theme of the advertisement is to ‘Look after what you love’.

Geoff Bates, Head of Direct Distribution for LV=, said: “We get a lot of feedback on the reasons why our customers buy our product, and leaving a legacy that helps their family at a difficult time is at the core of those reasons. We are pleased that the new advertisement demonstrates so clearly that protecting families is at the heart of our business.”

Launched in October 2004, the LV= 50 Plus plan is aimed at 50 to 80 year olds, living in the UK. The over 50 life insurance policy provides guaranteed cover with a cash lump sum payable on death, without the need for a medical or answering any health questions.

Kevan Kelsey, Creative Director at redtag, said: “It’s a new approach that takes the tried and tested formula we know customers like and uses it in a dynamic and emotive way”.

The life insurance advertisement was previewed on Facebook and YouTube in December 2009 before being launched on terrestrial, satellite and cable channels in January 2010.

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