Legal & General has updated its Income Protection Benefit plan (IPB) available through Intermediaries, to enhance the support they are offering to customers when they need to make a claim.

This includes greater flexibility for NHS doctors, nurses and surgeons, and more competitive pricing across all occupation classes – including customers in light and heavy manual labour jobs.

NHS doctors, nurses and surgeons have a different sick pay structure within the first five years of service and often traditional IP products cannot offer the flexibility needed to support this. Legal & General’s offers the solution by adapting the payment stages to help ensure these key workers receive their monthly benefit when they need it.

The insurer wants to raise awareness among brokers of the need to discuss IP with customers, following the latest Mintel report revealing only 10% of UK adults have some form of IP.

This announcement follows the launch of a rehabilitation support service and the introduction of a two-year benefit term.

The Rehabilitation service, which is available at no additional cost, offers qualifying claimants access to a specialist team of rehabilitation professionals. The service is designed to help customers with a structured return to work programme without the need for waiting for their deferred period to start.

Craig Brown, director of Legal & General Intermediary, said: “We are always listening to Intermediaries to find new ways of developing our products and help close the protection gap, whilst providing the highest level of support to our partners.

“Intermediaries are invaluable to our business and following feedback for greater pricing and support for NHS workers, we have added these benefits to our current income protection offering.”