A note from Brett Yardley.

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) events continue to unfold, I wanted to offer reassurance in relation to your clients’ NEOS Protection plans and confirm the continuation of our leading service levels to advisers and clients.

Existing clients can rest assured

Your clients are covered for coronavirus just like any other illness. NEOS Protection plans do not contain any exclusion in relation to epidemics or pandemics. This means your clients can make a claim in relation to coronavirus if required. This includes any life, total and permanent disability (TPD), critical illness, child’s critical illness and income protection cover types.

As with all claims, clients must have fulfilled their disclosure obligations and met the terms of their cover in order to be eligible for a benefit payout.

If your clients are making enquiries regarding their cover and coronavirus, we have provided a statement on our website to offer reassurance. Please feel free to forward this on.

New clients will not be treated differently

All new clients will be subject to our usual underwriting process. This includes taking into account recent or proposed travel to countries for which the Australian Government has provided travel advice.

However, for clients suffering from the virus at the time of application, we will decline to offer cover until the applicant returns to good health.

Keep calm and carry on

In times of uncertainty, our clients especially value advice and life insurance.

NEOS is a modern business with all staff and activities able to be performed remotely – that has been our world since inception. With the situation uncertain, we remain focused on:

  • Looking after the health and wellbeing of our employees, advisers and business partners
  • Minimising the spread of coronavirus within the community; and
  • Maintaining the NEOS Experience.

NEOS and our business partners have all tested their remote working and BCP capabilities to ensure that under a diverse range of scenarios we can continue to offer fast, friendly and responsive service to our advisers and their clients. Our claims management team are fully resourced and continuing to provide excellent service to our claimants. For us, this is business as usual and we are continuing to invest in our future.

On that note, and as per my update last month, we’re on track to deliver the APRA-mandated changes to disability income policies this month. This means that from 1 April 2020, we’ll no longer be able to accept submissions for Income Protection Cover with Agreed Value or Guaranteed Agreed Value benefit types. For further information, see our frequently asked questions.

On behalf of myself and the NEOS family, we hope you and your loved ones remain safe and healthy. Should you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your BDM.