In assessing residential risks, it's key that the underwriter take into account the interplay of all risk factors and how they are accentuated by a country of past residence. When completing an application form with applicants who have been resident in or spent significant periods of time in countries with a high prevalence of infectious diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B or C we encourage you to contact underwriting to discuss the details from the outset. Our guidelines cover over 200 countries around the world and each country has been assessed for HIV, hepatitis B and C risk according to World Health Organisation and UN figures. As a result, we follow the most up to date reports and figures and, as residence and travel risks can be highly individual and guidelines can change, we advise you to contact underwriting where you feel special consideration is required.
In recent years, due to our claims experience and screening results, Irish Life has been in a position to approach the underwriting of certain high risk countries with greater leniency and it has been possible to waive medical evidence on favourable cases. We encourage you to phone us directly to discuss the case from the outset as it may result in the case being accepted straight away following a discussion with underwriting.
Residential underwriting - key information we need to know
- How long has the life assured resided in Ireland?
- Where did they reside previously and for how long?
- What is their residency status within Ireland? (eg. citizenship, work permit etc)
- If they have a work permit please advise when it expires.
- Is there any intention of travelling or residing abroad other than on holidays (ie. under four weeks per annum)? If so please provide details of destination, frequency of travel, purpose of travel and duration of stay
- If the life assured has already undergone a HIV or hepatitis screen, and the date and result of this can be provided, underwriting can take this into consideration.
Foreign travel underwriting
When assessing a particular foreign travel risk, we base our assessment on the general political, social and economic infrastructure, of the destination together with the specific risks presented by crime, kidnapping, terrorism, accident and the quality and availability of medical services. Each case is different and each country outside of our territorial limits has varying degrees of risk attached, so depending on the individual merits of the case at hand, an extra per mille loading may be required.
Per mille loading explained
€1 per mille = €1 extra per annum for every €1,000 cover
€2 per mille = €2 extra per annum for every €1,000 cover
€3 per mille = €3 extra per annum for every €1,000 cover
€100,000 with a rating of €1 per mille = an extra premium of €100 per annum
We would usually contact our reassurers on these on a case by case basis so please contact underwriting from the outset when writing a case for an individual who plans to travel or reside for more than four weeks or who is currently residing outside our territorial limits.
Foreign travel underwriting - key information we need to know
- Intended country of travel or residence
- Frequency and duration of trips abroad
- Where will they stay whilst abroad? Will they stay in major cities or rural areas and i what type of accommodation? e.g. hotels, private dwellings or secure compound?
- Do they intend to travel around within the country? If so where, and by what means of transport? Do they intend to travel by light aircraft, for example?
Our current life territorial limits include
- European Union
- Australia
- Canada
- New Zealand
- Norway
- South Africa
- Switzerland
- United States
Irish Life Financial Services - Residency Criteria for New Business January 2013.
Irish Life Financial Services (Retail) is authorised to market and sell policies to customers in the Republic of Ireland (ROI). The requirements set down for acceptance in relation to residency for new business acceptance are as follows:
- The policy owners must be physically present in ROI at point of sale
and
- The policy owner must be habitually resident in ROI at point of sale
The broad requirements for habitual residence are that a policy owner must declare all of the following:
- Permanent home in ROI
- Residential address in ROI (usually the same as the permanent home)
- Bank account in ROI (where a bank account is required)
The policy owner must be a tax resident in ROI at the point of sale. This does not apply for protection policies
Note:
The policy owner is the person or entity who is the proposer on the policy. For company pension schemes, this is the trustee of the pension scheme. For PRBs, it is the member.
For clarity, any references to Republic of Ireland (ROI) do not include Northern Ireland.
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