Unum Company Information – Critical Illness Insurance

Unum can be found to be very different to other insurance companies. It is based in Chattanooga in Tennessee where as most insurance companies are based within the United Kingdom. How this company came to light is because two other companies formed a merger, these were Unum Provident and Provident Life. Currently you will find that Unum is one of the biggest disability insurance companies in the world. In August 2008 Unum celebrated their 160^th birthday. Before Unum was know by its name today it was actually known as Union Mutual Life Insurance and was founded in 1848. This is thought to be one of the oldest insurance companies that operates in the United States It consists of three different sectors. These are:

1. Unum US (United States) – this is situated in Chattanooga in Tennessee, the United States. Kevin McCarthy is the president and CEO of the company
2. Unum UK (United Kingdom) – In Dorking, the United Kingdom. They operate under different legislation and on an independent basis from Unum Provident (US company). Unum UK is authorised and regulated by the FSA (Financial Services Authority). They have been established in the United Kingdom for a number of years offering specialist income protection plans. They have in recent times moved into the severity based serious illness plans; however this is a minor part of their business.
3. Colonial Life – Situated in Columbia South Carolina. It holds approximately 2.8 million policies which are in force and has been a part of helping at least 60,000 businesses and employers sort protection out for their employees.

Unum specifically deals in income protection and they are widely regarded by their peers as being at the forefront of the development of flexible income protection. Whilst Unum offer a progressive and flexible income protection plan, uniquely their underwriting questions are different to all other providers. The main ethos of Unum’s underwriting department is not to over emphasise past medical history, though clearly it is important, the underwriting questions will try to focus on the future. For example will previous medical conditions continue to cause problems in the future and thereby increase the chances of a claim or was the medical condition simply a problem that has been dealt with, therefore that medical condition could be dismissed. Also Unum no longer have any automatic exclusions, for example HIV exclusions that many other insurers do have.

Furthermore Unum no longer have geographical restrictions, thereby a purchaser can feel confident that the Unum income protection plan will protect them where ever they are in the world. If the claim is prolonged then Unum will ask for the individual to move to an approved country rather than an insistence on a move back to the United Kingdom, which is the requirement of most other insurers.

Unum are respected as a leader in the corporate and business income protection market, with a strong market share in the personal market. Though not leaders in numbers they are widely held as progressive income protection providers that many others have followed.