Press releases

Legal & General Retail Retirement enters the Immediate Needs Annuity Market

Legal & General Retail Retirement has today launched its Lifetime Care Plan to the whole of the market. The Immediate Needs Annuity is designed to better help clients mitigate the risk of running out of money while in care.

11 Feb 2020


Link to full press release

A growing cohort of people can expect to use some form of long-term care during their lives. However, this area of financial planning often gets overlooked. Our research shows just five percent of people in care have sought financial advice and put a plan in place to make their money last.

Legal & General’s Lifetime Care Plan pays a lifetime guaranteed payment towards a person’s care, enabling care costs to be capped should someone live longer than expected. Payments made directly to a registered care provider are tax exempt. When setting up the plan, each case is individually underwritten using medical information collected via a form completed by the Care provider and, in rare cases, a GP’s report. However, this process can be slow, sometimes taking months before advisers receive quotes.

To improve the process, Legal & General is trialing a new approach to how the information used to generate quotes is collected. Instead of relying on postal forms, Legal & General will be conducting tele-interviews with care homes, with the aim to make the process much more efficient.

Emma Byron: "We already provide products to support people throughout their retirement journey, from working out what they had to start with, to understanding what to do with their pension pot and how to access money to boost their income through retirement.

We wanted to take this one step further, with a competitive and compelling proposition, that provides people with a guaranteed income for life to support them when having to pay care costs. As well as helping people find the best solution for their needs, we want to help raise consumer awareness around the importance of seeking professional financial advice in what is a complex area. We will be supporting financial intermediaries with all aspects of a client’s care journey, this will include helping clients navigate through the fragmented care system with tools and resources to support them.

We want people to live longer, happier, healthier lives in retirement but finding and funding care is the elephant in the room – it is a broken market that needs to be fixed. This is precisely the kind of challenge where Legal & General’s inclusive capitalism, our brand and balance sheet can make a difference. We are looking at strategies that reach across a broad range of areas, these include understanding, finding and funding care."


The information contained in this press release is intended solely for journalists and should not be relied upon by private investors or any other persons to make financial decisions.

Buying our Immediate NeedsAnnuity (INA) is a once-and-for-all decision. The options a customer selects when they buy the annuity cannot be changed later on. Depending how long they live for, the total income paid to the customer may be less than the amount used to buy the annuity.

The annuity cannot be cashed in or surrendered at any time.

For an INA, the customer needs to be over 60 years of age, currently receiving care, or they will require care when the Plan starts. The provision of care is expected to be permanent, until they die. The care received must be provided by a UK Registered Care Provider, either in the customer’s own home or in a care home.

Further information

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Millie Hyde-Smith

Director of PR and Content

Legal & General Retail

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Maddy Morgan-Williams

Lansons

T: +44 7947 364 578

Email Maddy Morgan-Williams

Notes to editors

Established in 1836, Legal & General is one of the UK's leading financial services groups and a major global investor, with £1.2 trillion in total assets under management1 of which 40% is international. We have a unique and highly synergistic business model, which continues to drive strong returns. Legal & General provides powerful asset origination and management capabilities directly to clients, which also underpin our leading retirement and protection solutions. We are a leading international player in Pension Risk Transfer, in UK and US life insurance, and in UK workplace pensions and retirement income. Our purpose is to improve the lives of our customers and create value for our shareholders. Through inclusive capitalism, we are investing in long-term assets, such as real estate and infrastructure, that can help build a better society for the future.

1Data as at 31 December 2023.

Legal & General Retail Retirement’s mission is to help its customers lead longer, healthier, happier lives. We believe everyone should be able to have a ‘more colourful retirement’. The Division comprises the Group’s retirement savings and income, later life lending and care solutions businesses. In 2020, LGRR wrote £910 million of annuity premiums and issued £791 million of lifetime and retirement interest only mortgages.

*at 31 Jun 2021