Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the 12-month period insurance firms require for terminal illness benefits to be paid, and in particular whether that requirement meets the needs of terminally ill people.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In England, the term ‘end-of-life care’ refers to the care given to those identified as likely to be in the last 12 months of their life.
Under the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) consumer duty, insurers must ensure that their products and claims processes deliver good outcomes for consumers. This includes those relating to terminal illness benefits. In October 2023, the FCA published a review of insurance companies’ approaches to terminal illness benefits, which is available on the FCA's website.
The findings from the review did not suggest that insurance firms are routinely delivering poor customer outcomes for terminal illness benefits. The review considered the requirement for a 12-month prognosis of death. The FCA concluded that it’s not clear that overall outcomes would be better for customers if insurers implemented a different time frame for the prognosis, for instance if policies required a diagnosis that the insured was likely to die within six months or 24 months, rather than 12 months. If the 12-month period was extended, it’s possible insurers would increase premiums to reflect increased risk. The FCA believes that insurance firms should be able to set their own policy terms by taking into account policy costs and the level of cover offered. The FCA suggested best practice was not to assume the 12-month requirement is appropriate without evidence that it meets customer needs.
The Government continues to monitor the FCA’s work in this area and supports its efforts to ensure that insurance products and claims processes meet the needs of terminally ill people.
The Department for Work and Pensions supports people nearing the end of life through the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL). This enables people who are likely to have less than 12 months to live to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment or serve waiting periods. In most cases, they receive the highest rate of benefit. SREL applies to five key benefits that support people with health conditions or disabilities: Personal Independence Payment; Disability Living Allowance; Attendance Allowance; Universal Credit; and Employment and Support Allowance.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the European Union acts which have been added to the relevant Annexes of the Windsor Framework since the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement came into force have been (1) acts which were capable of having the Stormont Brake applied, and (2) acts to which the Stormont Brake was actually applied.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
New EU legislation can only be added to the Windsor Framework by means of Joint Decisions by the UK and EU at the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee, and in line with the UK Government’s commitments in Schedule 6B to the Northern Ireland Act 1998. A record of those decisions can be found online on the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee page of the Government’s website. Since the Windsor Framework was agreed in 2023, 9 new EU acts have been added to its annexes - with 4 added in 2023, 1 in 2024, and 4 in 2025.
The scope of the Stormont Brake is also clearly set out in Schedule 6B to the Northern Ireland Act 1998. The Stormont Brake mechanism is provided for in relation to relevant EU replacement legislation, and any notification under it would be required to satisfy the requirements set down in law.