5 star income protection from Friends Provident

Friends Provident has earned a Defaqto 5 star rating across its entire range of individual Income Protection (IP) products. The rating, which signifies a mark of excellence in the marketplace for both advisers and customers, was awarded following enhancements to its product suite.

The enhancements were made to the Guaranteed Increase Option (GIO) on all Individual Income Protection allowing customers to increase their benefit without the need for further medical evidence.  GIO now includes special events such as:

Marriage
Registration of a civil partnership
Birth of a child
Legal adoption
Mortgage increase
Salary increase
Every third anniversary up until 18 years.

Ben Heffer, insight analyst for General Insurance at Defaqto said: "Friends Provident has been 5 Star Rated for their individual Income Protection as their product reflects one of the best quality products in the market, with an excellent range of features and benefits and very high cover levels."

Ed Stuart-Brown, head of protection said: "Following our move to make IP available online, and supported by a true intuitive underwriting system, the 5 star rating is excellent news. It really highlights the market leading qualities of all our IP products and the enhancements to our Guaranteed Increase Option make it one of the most flexible in the marketplace."