Who Are Guardian 1821?

As the name suggests, Guardian was officially founded in 1821 and has offered various insurance products over the years, including life insurance, as well as pensions and annuities.

In 2016 the company was acquired by ReAssure which renamed the business ReAssure Life Limited. In 2017, Gryphon Group Holdings bought the Guardian business and name and launched the company as an insurance provider in 2018.

Guardian’s products are only available through financial advisers such as Black Lion Insurance.

What Does The Policy Look Like?

The Life Protection cover is geared towards working families and couples and can run to the age of 90. The key features of the policy are as follows:

• Couples can arrange single life policies so each person is covered separately and won’t lose their cover, especially if the other person makes a claim.
• Terminal Illness Cover is included in all Life Protection policies
• The Critical Illness Cover covers 74 full payment critical illnesses as standard (as well as 21 additional critical illnesses).
• Children’s Critical Illness is available as an additional policy option- it can be added onto an adult’s life policy.
• The cover is available for up to £100,000 for all of the adult definitions, as well as specific child-oriented illnesses.
• The Waiver of Premium is included for free which covers redundancy and maternity or paternity leave.

As an additional benefit, policyholders can access the Guardian Anytime and HALO packages. Anytime provides private GP consultations, as well as second medical opinions, and additional claims support. HALO is a dedicated team that provides support and assistance to policy claimants who work to understand the claimants’ situation and needs and provide access to appropriate services, from legal advice to counselling.

Critical Illness and life cover are not offered as a combined, as life cover can cease after a CI claim is made. But a multi-policy discount applies at this point.

Policies are available to UK residents aged between 18 and 65. Customers can add Children’s Critical Illness Protection and Fracture Plus Protection too onto their policy.

What Type Of Cover Do You Need?

Many policies have one or two levels of cover, Guardian provides four:
• Level Cover: You get to choose the amount of cover you want and the length of time you want. Level means that the amount is fixed. You can choose whether to receive a lump sum or a regular monthly payment.
• Decreasing Cover: This is designed to cover mortgages and long-term borrowing. This means that as the outstanding borrowing goes down, the cover goes down too, resulting in lower premiums.
• Increasing Cover: As your cost of living goes up, the amount of cover you get rises with inflation.
• Family Income Benefit: The other policies pay out a cash lump sum if you die, but Family Income Benefit makes sure your family receives a regular payout for the rest of the policy's life. For example, if you take out a 30-year policy, but die 2 years in, your loved ones will get regular payment for the remaining 28 years.

How Does It Work?

They pride themselves on stating that their Life Protection provides a financial payout to your loved ones if you die during the policy being in force. As a policyholder, you decide with the financial adviser how long you want the policy to last and the amount of cover you need. If you die, that is the amount paid out. But this, as with many other insurance policies, depends on your age and health when you apply.

Other Points On Guardian Life Insurance

The insurance company prides itself on guaranteed insurability for many sorts of criteria, including, but not limited to:

• An increased mortgage term or new mortgage.
• An increase in your salary.
• Getting married or entering into a civil partnership.
• Childbirth or adoption.
• Loss of group cover.
• Inheritance tax increase.

There are aspects that they do not cover:

• ”Official” joint first death cover.
• Fracture Cover.

But due to the comprehensive nature of the Guardian HALO package and the fact that they pride themselves on a holistic approach, they can work with you to find the right policy for your lifestyle.

Should I Choose Guardian Life Insurance?

As the company is relatively new, there is little to find on the company. There is no information on Trustpilot but it’s worth noting that Guardian 1821 offers something different than other companies. For example, in the event of a heart attack, stroke or MS, getting the definition of the event means that a consultant in the UK needs to confirm the event has happened which is much clearer than many other policies where the definitions on the policy can be somewhat muddled.

The company’s strength is in relation to the fine print. For example, the Premium Waiver is usually part of a policy, but with numerous exclusions, however, Guardian includes it for everyone with no extra charge. It stands apart from many different providers, especially on some small details which can make all the difference in choosing a policy that needs to cover a wide variety of issues.

While Guardian have many positives, as they are a new company they need to prove themselves. It is a company that is geared toward younger policyholders, as such, it is not available to older customers wishing to take out a policy. As they are new in approach, some of their tactics seem different to traditional insurance companies, for example, having a joint policy. But for those who are looking to start with life insurance and need a policy that is holistic and covers a lot of ground, Guardian provide a lot of detail.