Lutine, the niche and specialist life division of Ryan Direct Group, is to launch a simple group life product for SMEs in partnership with Paradigm Protect, the specialist protection business within Paradigm, the intermediary support services provider.
Andy Coles, business development director at Lutine, said the product is aimed at SME and micro businesses where product requirements for death-in-service cover are often straightforward. “SMEs want to be able to offer their people simple, jargon-free benefits which considerably improve their employee proposition and help retention and recruitment in the new auto-enrolled world.”
Mr Coles said that Paradigm Protect intermediaries would benefit from simplified underwriting processes with enhanced non-medical limits, and use of the Lutine MasterTrust, so ensuring their SME clients can also benefit from scale advantages not previously available to them. “The key is simplicity, Mr Coles said, adding: “The SME market is on the threshold of major change, thanks to the next phase of auto-enrolment, where small business owners and their employees can access competitively-priced protection products and associated employee benefits .”
The tie-up with Paradigm is one of a number of deals Lutine is seeking with other providers and networks, as it aims to double in size during 2015. In April it launched an online employee benefit platform Lutine Lifestyles, in partnership with BHSF (the not-for-profit healthcare insurer) and Mr Coles expects more deals to be signed during the next few months.
Mike Allison, head of protection at Paradigm Group said: “We are delighted to forge this new partnership with Lutine for the users of the paradigm protect proposition. We are continuing to develop our protection model for all directly authorised firms who wish to use us and the addition of group products was a natural extension to what we have done on the individual side.
He added: “We have a significant number of wealth firms who operate within the SME market, specifically within the auto enrolment sector, and this will be a valuable addition to their own propositions to small to medium size firms at the perfect time. Small business owners and their employees need fairly-priced life protection cover. Under-insurance continues to be a problem in the UK, and we want to help fill that protection gap.”
About Lutine
Lutine Assurance Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of RSG and a fellow Group Company of Direct Group. Lutine acts as a marketing and service company; underwriting, accepting and managing individual, group life and scheme other scheme related risks received via the intermediary market.
Established in 1989, Lutine was created to act as a marketing, administration and service company for a consortium of Life syndicates at Lloyd’s of London.
As a business we provide a wide range of individual and corporate protection based products to some of the largest insurance businesses in the United Kingdom helping to look after the interests of over 30,000 individuals.
About Paradigm Protect and Paradigm Mortgage Services
Paradigm Protect is the specialist Protection Arm of Paradigm Mortgage Services providing a wide range of Products and Services to Directly Authorised IFA and Mortgage Firms who operate in the Protection sector
Paradigm Mortgage Services offers IFAs and mortgage intermediaries the same opportunity. Members of the proposition benefit fully from market-leading procuration fees, have access to exclusive and semi-exclusive products, and share in the club’s ownership. Members will also have the added opportunity of building additional value wholly attributable to their own individual businesses.
Paradigm Mortgage Services also offer a dedicated Mortgage Desk to members.
Paradigm Mortgage Services is an associated business of Paradigm Partners LLP, the IFA support firm established by Paul Hogarth.
Paradigm Partners is a limited liability partnership. It offers those firms who sign up the opportunity for them to share in the capital growth of the business via a discretionary trust.
For more information please contact:
Ben Welsh: Certus Ltd – 07568 382040