Our purpose is Helping Britain Prosper.
Social housing is an integral part of the UK’s housing landscape.
Lloyds Banking Group incorporates many household names.
This report provides an update on our progress towards the Group's sustainability ambitions.
In 2023 we partnered with Crisis.
As with all necessary struggles it’s often the actions of brilliant and tenacious individuals that create lasting change.
Disclosures relating to our strategic, financial, operational, environmental and social performance.
See all the key dates in the financial year.
Higher, more sustainable returns as we continue to Help Britain Prosper.
It's the alphabet that no child should have to learn.
If you want to bring your knowledge and skills to a truly transformative, widescale digital environment, we’d love to hear from you.
Xinyi is pioneering AI and advanced analytics at the Group alongside her part-time role as a concert pianist.
Lloyds Banking Group is best known for its portfolio of financial services brands.
Our purpose is Helping Britain Prosper.
Social housing is an integral part of the UK’s housing landscape.
Lloyds Banking Group incorporates many household names.
This report provides an update on our progress towards the Group's sustainability ambitions.
In 2023 we partnered with Crisis.
As with all necessary struggles it’s often the actions of brilliant and tenacious individuals that create lasting change.
Disclosures relating to our strategic, financial, operational, environmental and social performance.
See all the key dates in the financial year.
Higher, more sustainable returns as we continue to Help Britain Prosper.
It's the alphabet that no child should have to learn.
If you want to bring your knowledge and skills to a truly transformative, widescale digital environment, we’d love to hear from you.
Xinyi is pioneering AI and advanced analytics at the Group alongside her part-time role as a concert pianist.
Lloyds Banking Group is best known for its portfolio of financial services brands.
Scottish Widows launched income protection to help support customers through life’s biggest challenges.
Anyone can be at risk of financial vulnerability. According to the FCA, 1 in 4 (24%) UK adults have low financial resilience, with consumers from a wide range of demographics including “female, younger, unemployed, working in the gig economy or from an ethnic minority group” at the highest risk of low financial resilience, or to be in financial difficulty.1
Many people believe that the most effective way to build their financial resilience is through building their savings. And while it’s important to put money away for a rainy day and for retirement, it can take a long time to build up a reasonable savings pot – and in the meantime, many people are unprotected with no financial solution to fall back on if they found themselves unable to work for an extended time.
Protection is one of the building blocks of financial resilience. Everyone faces shocks in life, from the boiler breaking down to dealing with sickness. But if someone is unable to work and earn money for a long period of time, then this can have an impact on their long-term standard of living.
For example, being able to make payments for their home, car, or into their pension – all the things they rely on. Life doesn’t go in a straight line; things do happen, but the point of protection is that, when things are difficult, it can help people get back on their feet.
Research by Scottish Widows, the pensions and insurance arm of Lloyds Banking Group, has found that 42% of UK adults worry that their household wouldn’t cope financially if they had to stop working due to illness or injury.2 An earlier survey found that only 8% of people had an income protection product, meaning that most working people could become financially vulnerable if they are ill or injured.3
Scottish Widows is making it easier for working people to maintain their income should they fall ill, by launching a new, flexible Income Protection insurance.
Income protection is a type of insurance that provides customers with income if they are signed off work due to illness or injury. It differs from Critical Illness cover in that a Critical Illness policy will pay out once in a lump sum, while Income Protection means that a customer will receive regular payments, until they are able to return to work.
The research by Scottish Widows found that 30% of adults have taken an extended period out of work due to illness or injury, and that the average length of an extended period off work is 22 weeks – or approximately five months. However, many people are unclear about what they would be entitled to receive from their employer if they were off sick for this long. In fact, 29% of UK adults didn’t receive any support from their employer during their sickness. This increased to 33% for women and 40% for adults aged 45 to 54.
It’s crucial that anyone who does experience a period of difficulty is able to maintain their lifestyle so that they’re not having to worry about rebuilding and can put their energy and focus into getting better.
However, on average, people would only be able to support themselves at their current living standard for 77 days if they were unable to work, well below the 22 weeks. Any longer than that and they would need to dip into savings (34%), seek the support of loved ones (23%) or take out a loan to cover living costs if they were out of work for a prolonged period, all of which could compound their vulnerability.
The survey found that the top financial concerns of UK adults if they were unable to work due to illness were the burden of monthly bills (51%), keeping a roof over heads (38%) and being able to provide for loved ones (26%).
These concerns are particularly prevalent among those in their 40s and 50s who are often navigating higher outgoings and more complex financial responsibilities, making them more susceptible to any dips in income. Income protection can help to cover these costs and give customers peace of mind.
The main barrier to Income Protection seems to be, simply, lack of awareness. According to the Scottish Widows survey, 15% of people have never heard of protection products before. Of those who don’t have it, 28% have never thought about needing it.
For those who have taken it out, 24% said that it was having children that prompted the decision, and for 19% it was when they bought a property. However, 87% of mortgage holders don’t have Income Protection, and 20% of private renters would struggle within a month of income loss. Given the already perilous state of the housing market, and with 1.5 million households in Great Britan currently on waiting lists for social housing, making sure that people have the means to support themselves through a turbulent period is crucial.
To tackle this growing problem and help give our customers peace of mind that their future is secure, Scottish Widows launched a simple to understand Income Protection cover. This can be a complex area, so the aim of our new product is to make it easier for advisers to provide tailored protection to reduce their clients’ financial risk if they are unable to work due to illness or injury.
Since everyone's needs are different, this product is tailored to individual requirements and available through advisers. Our income protection gives the customer choice with an option of full-term cover or a 2-year cover and deferred periods of four to 52 weeks. Fracture cover is included as standard.
Protection Director, Lloyds Banking Group
Rose St Louis is the Protection Director at Lloyds Banking Group. She joined the Group on March 15, 2021, succeeding Gary Burchett. In her role, she leads the development of Lloyds' and Scottish Widows' protection business, focusing on creating financial resilience for customers and addressing the UK's protection gap.
She is also CEO of Cavendish Online and before joining Lloyds, Rose St Louis was a director in the insurance practice at KPMG and has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, including roles at Zurich and as a financial adviser.
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