LEGAL & GENERAL AMERICA
“ The reality as well is sometimes missed in all this . As life insurers , we ' re there to pay claims . And 99 % plus of claims are paid whether it ' s in the UK or the US ”
MARK HOLWEGER PRESIDENT & CEO , LEGAL & GENERAL AMERICA
And for his team at Legal & General America , the task of reducing the protection gap can ’ t happen soon enough .
According to a 2020 LIMRA Insurance Barometer Study , just 54 % of all Americans have life insurance coverage . The number has declined over the past decade , as in 2010 63 % of US citizens had some form of insurance protection . The study also shows there are 60 million uninsured and underinsured households in the US .
Holweger says , “ Our whole strategy actually , even pre-COVID , was all around digital transformation and making life insurance more accessible . We ' ve already been pioneering and driving the use of data , leveraging new technology and digital platforms to make the purchase of life insurance easier .
“ We ' ve taken a lot of our learnings from the UK . But one of the big differences in the US is the requirement of a medical or the need to often have a medical where you ' re taking fluids , which happens far less in the UK .”
The procedures are triggered by contestability , explains Holweger , who points out that in the UK , a life insurer can check the information was correct at the time of claim . However , in the US , after two years , even if the information you collect about the customer was incorrect at the time - or maybe the customer made a mistake and didn ' t tell you about a medical condition they had , insurers must still pay a claim .
“ This is why in the US , the process has been so complex and it takes so long ,” he says . “ It takes months historically to get offered life insurance cover , and that ' s
32 December 2021