Immediate cover

If your clients apply for a Guardian policy and it doesn’t start straight away, we want to make sure they’re protected in the meantime. That’s why we offer Immediate Cover.

If they’re eligible, this is temporary cover that starts as soon as we receive the completed application form. The terms and conditions below explain if Immediate Cover applies to them.

This means your clients are covered even before the policy starts. And neither you, or they, need worry about delays if we need to get more information about their health or they’re waiting for their mortgage to complete.

For applications submitted on the UnderwriteMe Protection Platform please read the separate section at the end of this document.

For applications submitted using Guardian’s Protection Builder, Immediate Cover comes in 2 parts:

• Immediate cover before we make our decision and
• Immediate cover after we’ve offered terms.

WHEN WILL MY CLIENTS’ IMMEDIATE COVER START?

Immediate Cover will start once we receive their application, as long as:

• The answers to the questions asked in the application form are true, accurate, and complete.
• They’re not experiencing new symptoms and don’t intend to seek medical advice within the next 30 days for a condition other than any they’ve told us about in their application.
• They’re not undergoing or awaiting medical investigations, tests or follow-ups, or waiting for any form of treatment to start.
• They’ve not made a simultaneous application for the cover with another company.
• We haven’t told you that we can’t offer them Immediate Cover.

1. IMMEDIATE COVER ‘BEFORE WE MAKE OUR DECISION’ – ARE THERE ANY RESTRICTIONS?

If your clients are applying for Life Protection or Combined Life and Critical Illness Protection, we can’t give them Immediate Cover for the Life Protection element of cover if they’ve ever had any of the following:

• Cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma or leukaemia.
• A heart attack, heart disorder, angina, heart valve or structural abnormalities or cardiomyopathy.
• A stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA), brain injury, brain haemorrhage, brain lesion, any form of bleeding into the brain or any surgery to the brain.
• Diabetes or sugar in the urine.
• Any lump, cyst or growth of any kind (including skin growth) unless upon investigation it was confirmed as being benign or a sebaceous cyst.
• Any psychiatric or mental disorder (including eating disorder or suicide attempt) that has required an overnight stay in hospital or referral to a psychiatrist.
• A positive test for HIV or hepatitis B or C or if they’re waiting for the results of such a test.

If they’re applying for Critical Illness Protection or Combined Life and Critical Illness Protection, Immediate Cover for the Critical Illness Protection element of cover will only pay out on injury, illness or conditions that are the result of an accident.

If they’re applying for Children’s Critical Illness Protection, we’ll only pay out on injury, illness or conditions that are the result of an accident. Funeral cover will only pay out if death is the result of an accident.

An accident is defined as an event after the application has been submitted, that results in bodily injury or illness, directly and solely caused by accidental, violent and external means and where the injury or illness isn’t self-inflicted.

We won’t pay a Children’s Critical Illness Protection or Funeral cover claim if it is directly or indirectly as a result of a pre-existing condition that occurred before, or at the time, the application was completed.

HOW MUCH IMMEDIATE COVER CAN I HAVE?

The Immediate Cover will be available, up to maximum limits of:

• Life Protection: £1,000,000 or equivalent amount for Family Income Benefit which pays out as regular income (so for a 25-year term, the equivalent annual income would be £40,000 i.e. £1,000,000 divided by 25).
• Critical Illness Protection: £500,000 or equivalent amount for Family Income Benefit which pays out as regular income (so for a 10-year term, the equivalent annual income would be £50,000 i.e. £500,000 divided by 10).
• Combined Life and Critical Illness Protection: £1,000,000 (Life Protection) and £500,000 (Critical Illness Protection).
• Children’s Critical Illness Protection: £100,000.

IMMEDIATE COVER TERMS AND CONDITIONS

These terms and conditions apply only to Immediate Cover. However, there may also be some other specific terms and conditions that we’ll tell your client about on their cover summary.

We won’t pay an Immediate Cover claim if:

• We discover the information you gave us when they applied for their policy, or any other information we were given, was untrue, inaccurate or incomplete.

• The claim is caused by intentional self-inflicted injury, suicide or taking part in hazardous activities we’ve asked you about on the application form.

The Immediate Cover we offer on the terms ‘before we’ve made a decision’, will continue until we’ve made our underwriting decision, or will end if the application is withdrawn.

2. IMMEDIATE COVER ‘AFTER WE’VE OFFERED TERMS’ – SINGLE LIFE APPLICATIONS

Once we’ve made our underwriting decision, we’ll extend the cover, based on the terms we’ve offered, and without limitation on the amount covered:

• For a further 14 days or until the policy starts, if earlier.
• If your clients’ cover is in connection with a current mortgage offer, we’ll extend Immediate Cover beyond the 14 days to the date they complete their mortgage, subject to a maximum of 90 days. This is provided we have a completed direct debit instruction.

Your clients need to complete their direct debit mandate within 14 days of our decision for their cover to continue.

2. IMMEDIATE COVER ‘AFTER WE’VE OFFERED TERMS’ – DUAL LIFE APPLICATIONS

Once we’ve made a decision for one of the clients, we’ll extend the cover for that client, based on the terms we’ve offered, and without limitation on the amount covered for a maximum of 90 days, or until we’ve made a decision on the other client, whichever is sooner.

Once we’ve made our decision for both clients, we’ll extend the cover, based on the terms we’ve offered, and without limitation on the amount covered; either:

• For a further 14 days or until the policy starts, if earlier.

OR

• If your clients’ cover is in connection with a current mortgage offer, we’ll extend Immediate Cover beyond the 14 days to the date they complete their mortgage, subject to a maximum of 90 days

This is provided we have a completed direct debit instruction. Your clients need to complete their direct debit mandate within 14 days of our decision for their cover to continue.

APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED ON THE UNDERWRITEME PROTECTION PLATFORM

Immediate Cover is only available when:

• You’ve given us a future policy start date.
• You’ve successfully submitted the details to Guardian and had confirmation that the policy documents are available.

It’s based on the terms we’ve offered.

If your clients’ cover is not in connection with a current mortgage offer then it’s available for 14 days or until the policy starts, if earlier.

If your clients’ cover is in connection with a current mortgage offer, then it’s available for 90 days or until the policy starts, if earlier.