The APH Team | Investigations and Campaigns

Work Tasks | Campaign against task based definitions in income protection policies

Income protection insurance provides policyholders with a tax-free income in the event they are unable to work through sickness or accident. However, as our founder, Chris Hargreaves found out to his cost not all income protection policies are the same.

Policies are underwritten in general using three definition; own occupation which is the superior definition, suited and finally ‘task based’. The campaign against ‘task based’ definitions was launched after Chris was refused a claim by insurance giant Scottish Provident. The case which was ‘high-profile’ and featured in the national press, media and specialist trade magazines including;The Times, The Mail on Sunday, The FTAdvisor.com, Yahoo! Finance, Which?, Cover Magazine and on the BBC consumer programme Rip Off Britain.

The case and campaign which took 2.5 years resulted in UK insurers agreeing to underwrite income policies using own occupation and to stop the use of the useless ‘work task’ based definitions. The campaign was supported by industry experts, UK insurers and the public resulted in consumers with manual occupations being able to get cover for their occupation rather that being assessed on their ability to do a number of set tasks – such as being able to hold a pen, walk 200m on a flat surface, read 16 point print or being able to communicate in a way to be understood all with the assistance of others or aids.

Project Parker | Investigation into illegal chauffeur services in the UK

Angry Policyholders was contacted by the UK trade association for the private hire and chauffeur industry who had serious concerns about the insurance implication for consumers and businesses using unlicensed chauffeur services.

Tasked with investigating the UK insurance industry Angry Policyholders was shocked that it was possible to obtain insurance without ever being asked to provide evidence that the service, vehicles or driver were acting in accordance with the law. The investigation quickly expanded to investigate the UK financial service sector after serious concerns and failing were discovered whilst investigating UK insurers.

This investigation which is still ongoing will have serious ramifications for the UK financial and insurance industry after systematic failing were uncovered by Angry Policyholders. Due to the sheer scale of the problem several other investigations were started by Angry Policyholders and The APH Team.

Seven Families| Income Protection Awareness Campaign

Seven Families is a charity led campaign to provide a tax-free income for one year to seven people who have lost their income because of a serious or long-term illness or disability. The initiatives aim is to highlight the need for people to plan financially in case they become too ill to earn an income where the main breadwinner has been forced out of work by an accident or illness and not received any related insurance pay out.

The campaign has three aims: To raise public awareness of the financial impact of long term illness or disability; to help seven real families who are facing financial meltdown; and to demonstrate the value of independent living support, rehabilitation and counselling, through trying to help get people back to work.

The campaign is supported by a number of charities, organisations, journalists, insurers, industry experts and Angry Policyholders.

Funding Companies:
Aegon, Ageas Protect, Aviva, British Friendly, Canada Life, Cardif Pinnacle, Ellipse Exeter Friendly, Fineos, Friends Life, Hannover Re UK Life, LV=, Royal London Pacific Life Re, PruProtect (VitalityLife), RGA, Scor, Scottish Widows, Unum, Zurich.

The APH Team investigates complex cases that are in the public interest. Along with complex consumer and criminal cases, Angry Policyholders also campaigns to raise awareness of issues that are affecting consumers across the UK, especially cases where consumers are either being put at risk or could suffer a financial loss through poor practices or complex scams.

The APH Team is experienced in investigating cases of all sizes and depending upon the current case load the team brings in experts who specialise in the field to enable cases to be brought to a successful conclusion.

Current cases | Project Parker, Operation Shield, Car Clocking

Previous cases | Work task – activities of daily living definition in income protection policies. CLOSED
Background: This case was successfully concluded after two-and-a-half-year campaign when all UK insurance companies agreed to stop selling these definitions and only sell the far superior own occupation definition.  

If you have a case you feel needs investigating or support with a campaign please don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of our team.  You can contact us here in confidence