Holloway Friendly Income Protection [REVIEW]

Who Is Holloway Friendly?

Holloway Friendly has a longstanding history dating back to the 1800s, and is the originator and inventor of Income Protection Insurance as we know it.

Just as its founder George Holloway intended, it remains a mutual society that continues to provide Income Protection to support its members through times of sickness and injury. George believed that those off work due to injury or illness should still be entitled to protect their income, and so Income Protection Insurance was born.

With more than 140 years of experience under its belt, Holloway has grown substantially and expanded its range of protection over time. Its Income Protection products are now known as “My Sick Pay”, offering both guaranteed and reviewable policies.

Owned By Its Members

As a mutual society, Holloway is owned by its members. It therefore doesn’t answer to any shareholders, so its focus is purely on its members and making protection more accessible to everyone.

Guaranteed and reviewable “My Sick Pay” policies are very similar, but they differ in the way premiums are calculated. Give us a call on 02084327333 if you’re not sure which is best for you.

Samantha Haffenden-Angear
Independent Protection Expert at Drewberry

Holloway Friendly’s “My Sick Pay” Income Protection

Policy Overview

• Offers flexible policies (best for those in high-risk occupations)
• Choose to cover between £216 and £5,000 per month
• Option of one and two-year claim periods, as well as full term.

What Does “My Sick Pay” Income Protection Cover?

Holloway Friendly offers multiple Income Protection products. The most popular is “My Sick Pay”, which is aimed largely at workers, such as those in office-based roles.

Key Benefits

Terminal Illness Benefit

Holloway Friendly pays a lump sum benefit equal to six times your monthly payout if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness (given less than 12 months to live).

You’ll receive this regardless of whether you’re already making a claim.

Automatic Waiver Of Premium

In the event of a claim, Holloway Friendly automatically pays your premiums for you so you have one less thing to worry about.

Benefit Guarantee

The maximum benefit guarantee for “My Sick Pay” plans is available on both reviewable and guaranteed policies.

As with all insurers, if you lose income during the time between you taking out the policy and needing to claim, you’re eligible for a smaller benefit at that point. This is because your benefit is based on your recent provable earnings.

However, Holloway offers a benefit guarantee that means, in this situation, you’ll still get the lower of £1,500 per month or your monthly benefit.

No Deduction Of State Benefits

If you’re getting state benefits when you make a claim, Holloway’s My Sick Pay policy won’t reduce your payout as a result.

However, the payout may affect the level of state benefits you’re entitled to, especially income-based benefits, depending on the government’s rules at the time.

Indexed Cover Available

You can choose to index-link your income protection. Should you choose this option, your benefit amount rises with inflation based on the Retail Price Index (RPI). The maximum increase is 10% per year.

Life Change / Guaranteed Insurability

Without any further medical evidence, Holloway Friendly lets you increase your benefit if you experience one of their listed “life events”. These include:

• Marriage / civil partnership
• Birth / legal adoption of a child
• Salary increase or promotion including a salary increase (increase must be at least 20%)
• Change of job including a salary increase
• Taking out a new mortgage / increasing existing mortgage
• Rent goes up due to new rental property or because a landlord imposes an increase.

If you experience any of the above life events, you’ll need to inform Holloway Friendly within three months of them taking place and provide evidence of the change.

You can only increase your benefit once you’ve held the policy for 12 months, and by the lower of £9,000 per year or 50% of your initial benefit. Any increase cannot take your benefit to above 65% of your salary or the total maximum benefit of £65,000 per year.

Additional Benefits

Unlimited Free GP Consultations

If you’re insured with Holloway Friendly, you’ll get unlimited free access to HealthHero’s 24/7 GP service. Your partner and any children under 18 will also get access if they live with you. Choose from phone or video appointments to get consultations, prescriptions, referrals and fit notes.

Second Opinion Service

Sometimes you might want a second opinion on a diagnosis or the treatment that’s been recommended. If you’re insured with Holloway Friendly, you’ll get free access to HealthHero and Healix’s second opinion service.

Rehabilitation Benefit

If you’re able to return to work after serious illness / injury, but initially only on a part time basis or in a reduced role, you can put in a claim for a rehabilitation benefit.

If Holloway approves this claim, it will pay part of your benefit for up to a year to top up your part-time / reduced hours salary.

Proportionate Benefit

If you’re able to return to work but only in a new, lower paid role, Holloway Friendly will continue to pay a proportion of your original benefit amount for up to a year to top up your new lower salary.

Medical Expenses Benefit

After an accident or injury your doctor may recommend a specific treatment or operation that they think will speed up your recovery. If this is the case, you can apply for a lump sum to put towards it.

Holloway Friendly will consult with their Chief Medical Officer to see if they’re in agreement. If so, you’ll be offered a contribution towards your treatment.

Premium Holiday Benefit

If you need to take a break from paying your premiums you can take a premium holiday. This means you can pause your cover and premiums for reasons such as: taking time off work to study, redundancy or having a career break.

Remember, you won’t be able to make a claim while you’re taking a premium holiday, but you can restart cover without having to answer any additional health questions.

This benefit can be used once you’ve had your “My Sick Pay” Income Protection policy for 36 months. After restarting your cover, you must have been back at work for at least three months before making a claim.

Member Assistance Programme

As a member of Holloway Friendly, you’ll have access to their member assistance programme, provided by Care First.

This programme offers telephone counselling services and advice from specialists on topics such as employment, health, and consumer rights.

You can use this service any time by contacting their 24 hour helpline and don’t need to be claiming in order to do so. It also offers an interpreter service in 150 languages.

Key Comparison Points

Best For Higher-Risk Occupations

“My Sick Pay” is aimed at those working in higher-risk occupations. So if your working environment is relatively low-risk, another policy / provider might be more suited to you.

Short Term Cover Option Available

Holloway Friendly’s offers both Long-Term Income Protection and Short-Term Income Protection.

Long-term cover pays out each month you’re ill / injured right up until retirement (if you’re unable to ever work again). Meanwhile, with short-term cover, you choose whether you want the policy to pay out for one or two years in the event of a claim. It’s a cheaper option, meaning you can tailor the policy to meet your needs and budget.

Premiums Reviewable After Five Years

With most other insurers, if you choose age-banded pricing, your premiums can only rise each year in line with your age. This annual increase is laid out clearly in your policy documents so you always know exactly what you’ll pay year-on-year.

However, with “My Sick Pay”, Holloway’s age-banded reviewable premiums include a clause that lets them adjust your premiums after five years. This might increase or decrease your premiums based on factors such as:

• The number, cost and length of claims Holloway has received
• Insurer’s running costs
• Length of time members hold their plans
• Impact of tax, legislation, capital requirements or interest rates.

This is much more like reviewable premiums after the initial five years than the age-banded premiums most other insurers offer.

Rental Specific Guaranteed Insurability

Many insurers only allow you to increase your benefit if your housing costs rise due to increasing your mortgage. However, My Sick Pay lets you increase your benefit if your rent increases when you move to a new rental property, or if your landlord increases your rent.

Hazardous Hobbies

If you regularly participate in any hazardous hobbies or activities, you can choose whether you want to exclude any related illness / injury from your policy to avoid increasing the cost of cover.

Many other insurers don’t offer this option and instead either charge you more as a result of your hobbies – or simply exclude them outright without charging you less.

Twice-Monthly Benefits

Holloway Friendly pays out twice-monthly benefits, which means you’ll receive one benefit payment on the 15th of the month and the other on the last working day. Payments will start after your deferred period has ended.

Most other insurers offer your benefit just once each month.

Compare Income Protection Quotes And Get Expert Advice

As you can see, there are a lot of points to consider when comparing insurers. With so many factors in play, it can be time-consuming to pull up key information across every single insurer in the market, so why not ask our friendly experts for helps?

Why Speak to Us?

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We all deserve a first class service when it comes to issues as important as protecting our health and our finances. Below are just a few reasons why it makes sense to talk to us.

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For help and fee-free advice on Income Protection, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Call us on 02084327333 or email help@drewberry.co.uk.