Restructure of
Travel Insurance premiums
We are making a change to improve the
quality and accuracy of our data.
With
effect from the 5th April, within the Single Trip, Annual Trip and Extended
Trip travel tables, we will be removing the majority of our Premium columns.
Columns which will remain for Single, Annual and Extended cover are–
· In Annual
Travel, columns are kept for Europe and Worldwide Ex USA. In each case, Single
and Family columns are shown, and in each of these cases, the options with and
without Winter Sports.
· In Single Trip
Travel, columns are kept for Europe, USA and Worldwide Ex USA. In each case,
Single and Family columns are shown, and for each of these cases, trip
durations of 7 and 17 days are shown.
· In Extended
Trip Travel, columns are kept for Europe, Worldwide and Australia/New Zealand.
In each case, 6- and 12-month trip durations are shown.
A variety of columns for the Single Trip Travel table have been created –
· For each of
the options in Single Trip travel, a Winter Sports column has been added.
Please note that, due to the fact that Winter Sports premia are now shown for
Single Trip products, the duplicate products showing “[Product Name] (Winter
Sports)” or similar are being removed.
Junior
ISAs were launched on 1st November.
This
tax-free children’s savings account offers parents a tax-free way to save for
their children’s future.
Money
can be deposited into a cash account or ‘stocks and shares’ account with a
total yearly limit of £3,600. When the child turns 18, the account will become
a regular ISA.We now cover product information on Junior ISAs in our data
tables, which will continue to grow as more providers launch their products.
Caravan
Insurance table now live
A
new table for Caravan Insurance is now available. The table lists the 41
providers and 67 products currently available in the market.
Having
the right competitor intelligence is key to staying ahead of the rest. This
latest sector data gives you all the intelligence you need and is available in
the following formats:
•
Within your existing subscription to Defaqto Research
You
can compare and sift on; fees and availability, perils covered, contents and
fittings that can be covered and any claim excesses.
•
Data only
The
raw data across all product features and all providers in this product
category. Perform your own analysis, identify trends and determine how to
position your product to ensure it remains competitive and ideally positioned
in your market.
•
Brochure text only
Text
from the product documentation from all providers in this sector helps you to
understand the finer details of your competitors’ products.
•
DNA only
Our
bespoke methodology for rating retail finance products against industry
benchmarks gives you the provider listing in ranked order.
For
more information, or to add this table to your existing subscription, please
contact your Defaqto Account Manager on 0808 1000 804, or our Customer Support
team - customersupport@defaqto.com or 01844 295544.
2011 Defaqto Star Ratings
On 1st February we will be
publishing our 2011 Star Ratings. In preparation, we will also be
reviewing and changing the product DNA scores for a number of columns in some
of the star rated Aequos tables over the next few weeks.
It is possible that these changes may
impact the way some saved views function. In particular where DNA sifts
have been used to create views, and in those tables with amended DNA
scores. These impacts may include products being displayed or not
displayed.
The areas particularly affected are:
·
Buildings
insurance
·
Contents
insurance
·
Cat
insurance
·
Dog
insurance
·
Business
bank accounts
·
Current/Cheque
account
·
Credit
cards
·
CAM
& offset mortgages
·
Equity
release mortgage
·
Income
protection insurance plan
·
Mortgage
ayment protection policy
From 1st February, this work
will be complete and you’ll need to amend some of your saved views to take the
DNA changes into account. If you have any questions, please contact us on
01844 295 544
Small
Self Administered Pension Schemes (SSAS) table live
A new table for Small Self Administered Schemes is now in place. This will
impact any saved views you had for the old table, these views will need to be
re-created using the new table. For any questions relating to the table please
contact your Defaqto Account Manager or our Customer Support team using
customersupport@defaqto.com or by calling 01844 295544.
We have had a SSAS table for many years, the products all being offered by the
main life companies. The schemes were all based around Executive Pension Plans
which have lost favour since 2006 and currently we have offerings from three
providers on the table.
However, many of the SIPP providers also offer a SSAS which have the same self
investment attributes of a SIPP. We receive comments on a regular basis from
both providers and advisers asking if we are planning to provide information on
the available schemes. The answer given was that we only collect data on the
insured schemes.
Given the increase in attention now being given to the schemes we have
rejuvenated the table to reflect this change.
New Short Term Income Protection table
A new table entitled Short Term Income Protection (STIP) will be added to the
Creditor section of the database with effect from 1 October 2010. Short term
income protection plans have, until now, been displayed in the Mortgage Payment
Protection Insurance (MPPI) table. This table will now contain only mortgage
payment protection products and any short term income protection products will
be displayed in the new table instead. This has been done in order to
distinguish between products that specifically cover mortgage payments (MPPI)
and those that cover a percentage of the clients income (STIP).
The STIP table is placed within the Creditor area because the STIP products are
largely offered by general insurers and are typically annually renewable
contracts. Long term income protection (IP) plans can be found in the Income
Protection Insurance table in the Life, Pensions and Investments section of the
database.
Any short term income protection products that are currently displayed in the
MPPI table will remain on both tables for a period of 2 weeks until Friday 15th
October.
Pensions, Life and Investments Table updates
Please be aware that from 1 October 2010, the Standard and Poors Provider
Ratings will no longer be displayed. This change affects the Pensions,
Investments and Life tables which currently display this information.
Defaqto’s Consumer Appeal Analysis data has arrived!
Defaqto is delighted to announce the launch of our new Consumer Appeal Analysis
data in our comprehensive motor insurance table. Consumer Appeal Analysis, or
CAA, provides powerful insight into the appeal of different product features
among a sample of 5,000 consumers.
CAA combines Defaqto’s expert assessment of product features with rich data on
what consumers consider to be most important when buying motor insurance. CAA
offers a multitude of potential benefits across product development,
underwriting, marketing, sales and customer service activities as well as
helping to support Treating Customers Fairly initiatives.
For further information about new CAA data and functionality in Aequos Online
please take a look at our What’s
New Guide and to learn more about the potential benefits please read our CAA
brochure. Alternatively please contact your Defaqto Account Manager with
any further questions you may have.
New Wedding Insurance Star Ratings now launched
Defaqto is pleased to announce the launch of their first Star Ratings for
wedding insurance accompanied by a new product table within Aequos Online. The
Star Ratings analysis, which includes a detailed review of 85 products
available from 14 providers will now align with the standard Star ratings
calendar (Feb-Feb). For more information, please speak with your account
manager.
Provider fund governance details now on Aequos Online.
Over the past few years there has been a major change in the funds available
through both pension products and insurance bonds. Originally, there were just
in house insured funds moving to a few wrapped funds from third party managers
which could be institutional funds or unit trusts and then to large lists of
linked funds or even platforms. More recently refined lists have been offered
which have been honed with the assistance of third party qualitative fund
assessors.
Companies who have taken this new route usually offer risk rated portfolios and
constant fund monitoring to ensure that the lists are relevant.
To assist Aequos Online users these details have been added to the Defaqto
database with sifts available in Aequos Online.
Please see the Investments and Pensions product update pages for greater
detail.
Customer Support
If you have any questions about Aequos Online or would like any help, please
contact Defaqto Customer Support at customersupport@defaqto.com or 01844
295544.