British friendly showcase page
Protection Guru has worked with British Friendly to create a concise objective analysis of their product range.
Quick Links
BFS PROTECT
BREATHING SPACE
BF CARE
CLAIMS
British Friendly in their own words
“British Friendly was founded in 1902 and with over a century of experience, our members can feel good to be covered by us. As a mutual we are managed and run solely for the benefit of our members, who are at the heart of everything we do.
We specialise solely in Income Protection and offer policy solutions for all types of clients, from the harder to insure such as manual workers, key workers, the self-employed and those who may find it difficult to prove a regular income, through to doctors, teachers and other professional occupations.
When your clients choose us they get more than just Income Protection. We offer access to extra support and rewards for your clients and their families every day, whether they claim or not and at no extra cost through our discretionary Mutual Benefits and BF Care programmes.”
Income Protection solutions for all types of clients
British Friendly specialise in offering income protection insurance, with their proposition including two plans – BFS Protect and Breathing Space – designed to provide flexible options for a range of client needs.
BFS Protect
British Friendly’s BFS Protect product is their traditional income protection plan. Available on either a long-term basis or with the choice of limited benefit terms (1,2 & 5 years) at a lower cost, Protect includes all the things you’d expect on an IP plan (GIOs, indexation etc) and a number of features and benefits to support different client demographics and needs.
Premium Options
Advisers have the choice of selecting either level guaranteed or guaranteed age-costed premiums for their client.
Benefit guarantee
Up to £1,500 minimum benefit guarantee, providing a safety net in the event of the client’s earnings dropping.
Short defer periods
Optional 1 day* and 1 week defer periods are available on policies with the guaranteed age-costed premum.
Sick pay matching
52 week defer period sick pay matching for NHS doctors, surgeons, nurses, midwives and dentists, and teachers.
Premium Holiday
Option to pause cover and premiums for up to 6 months, to help if the client experiences financial hardship.
*1 day defer period only available on full-term plans. Client must be off work for at least 4 consecutive days for benefit to be back-paid.
Breathing Space
British Friendly’s Breathing Space product is one of a small number of unique income protection plans, providing clients with valuable cover but no financial underwriting or link between the monthly benefit and their earnings.
Breathing Space is particularly suitable for those with irregular earnings such as the self-employed or gig economy workers, but could suit a whole range of clients for whom traditional income protection plans are too inflexible.
“The standout [non-financially underwritten] product is Breathing Space from British Friendly, which provides the most options in terms of defer periods, GIOs and maximum claim duration of 1 or 2 years. Whilst the policy doesn’t cover the highest benefit [compared to other non-financially underwritten plans], there is no stipulation on what it’s used for and no minimum working hours requirement (something that could be problematic for clients with no fixed contracted hours). “
Value-Added Services
Client’s covered by a BFS Protect or Breathing Space policy also have access to a range of value-added support services and benefits alongside their Income Protection policy. These are included at no extra cost and mostly available to use at any time, regardless of whether the client is claiming on the core policy benefit and provide significant extra financial and wellbeing support.
BF Care
BF Care is a package of discretionary benefits linked to your client’s Income Protection cover and provides up to £2,000 for your clients and their families during life-changing events at no extra cost.
Death benefit
Bereavement benefit
Terminal illness benefit
Care assistance benefit
Recovery support benefit
The best illustration of the value and impact these additional benefits can have are the various real-life claim stories and case-studies. We would encourage advisers to share these examples with their clients, to highlight the importance of income protection insurance and some of the unexpected ways insurers support clients at a difficult time.
Terminal Illness Benefit Case Study
As a British Friendly member, your client, and their family, can enjoy fast access to digital health services through Symbio. This easy-to-use mobile app, powered by HealthHero, is available as part of our discretionary Mutual Benefits programme. Discover more about our Mutual Benefits programme here.
Access for all the family
Clients can share access to certain Symbio services with their spouse/partner or children (child age and access limitations apply).
Easy digital access
Symbio can be accessed through a smartphone app, providing clients with a quick and easy digital journey to book, use and track the services.
free to use
Symbio is offered to clients at no additional cost, giving them access to valuable services and helping them avoid NHS waiting times.
Roll your mouse over or touch to read more
Digital GP consultations
physiotherapy
mental health support
second medical opinion
health check
Claims Statistics and stories
As well as sharing their yearly claim stats, British Friendly regularly produce a range of additional claims case studies and stories. These feature real British Friendly clients that have claimed on their policy and are an effective way of highlighting the importance and value of protection insurance, through real life stories.
We would encourage advisers to share these videos and stories with their clients, perhaps in email correspondence or any other promotional content, especially when recommending a British Friendly policy.
“I was so well supported by the team at British Friendly, I feel nothing was too much trouble – any call or enquiry had was dealt with quickly and easily… I have to mentioned Lesley, she was one of the claims managers who helped me so much during my claim. She just oozes empathy and compassion and I can’t thank her enough….The policy really came up trumps for me…I want to tell my story because I want people to be like me, and be supported by income protection.”
Read Steph’s full story here.
“I had a rough ride, but knowing that if I have any issues and I’m off work, I can go to British Friendly and they would support me again I think is a great relief, knowing that I have got someone on my side.”
1 Month
75% of British Friendly claimants receive their first benefit payment within a month of submitting their claim form.
Over £100,000
Paid in BF Care claims to British Friendly members and their families in Q1 2022.
Over 50%
Of BF Care claims paid were under the Bereavement Benefit.
£5.1 million
Paid in claim payments to members in 2021.
Adviser Support Materials and Agency Registration
Support Materials and Resources
Looking to register an agency with British Friendly?
Learn more about our agency registration process here.
Areas for improvement
It’s been great to see British Friendly making a number of significant changes to their income protection products over the last 12 months, but as with every insurer there are still a couple of areas we’d like to see them improve.
For linked claims, British Friendly will waive the defer period if a new claim (for the same or a related condition) occurs within 6 months of the end of the previous claim. There are other insurers that offer a longer period of 12 months where the defer period is waived for linked claims.
The maximum monthly benefit available on the Protect product is one of the lowest on the market at £4,750. Whilst admittedly this only going to be an issue for the very highest earners, it may nonetheless be restrictive for some clients.
For some of the Value-Added Services, access is a little more restricted than we would like to see. For example the client is limited to a certain number of appointments per year for a couple of the benefits, whilst in the case of mental health only the client’s children between the ages of 18-22 can use it (and the service could be extremely valuable to younger teenagers).
Protection Guru has worked with British Friendly to create a concise objective analysis of their product range. British Friendly have had input to the design of this page and contributed to the cost of this construction maintenance, however Protection Guru have maintained editorial control over the content to ensure objectivity.