News & Views

Our Payment Protection Insurance is fully flexible, and can protect any combination of your customers mortgage, rental and/or loan payments if they become unemployed or suffer an accident or sickness.

It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of Michael Riding, our co-founder and Operations Director. Michael died suddenly on Sunday 6th November 2011 at the age of 41.

David Fulluck, Managing Director of 3XD said "Michael was an inspiration to all those who knew him and losing him at such a young age is a real tragedy. His family, friends and work colleagues are all devastated by the sudden loss and he will be sadly missed.

I know I speak on behalf of both the family, and the entire team at 3XD when I say that we are all absolutely determined to honour Michael's memory by fulfilling his long-term aspirations for the business.

To this end, we are pleased to announce the appointment of Rick Riding as Chairman, and Gareth Riding as Operations Director.

We would like to extend a warm welcome to Mapfre Assistance who are joining the 3XD insurer panel as our new provider of payment protection insurance. 

This follows the decision by Brit Insurance to exit the payment protection market last year.  All of the directors at 3XD would like to thank Brit for their support since our launch in 2007 and we look forward to continuing working with Brit on our landlord product.

Mapfre Assistance is part of Mapfre who are Spain's largest insurance company as well as one of the world's largest insurance group.  In the UK they provide insurance products in the insurance, finance and travel sectors as well as home emergency assistance plans.

The great news is that as a result of this transfer there are no increases in rates and minimal changes in the policy terms. The changes are (a) a 24 month benefit period is no longer available and (b) the maximum level of cover is now £1,500 per month.

Existing customers will continue to be underwritten by Brit until their current period of cover expires when they will be transferred to Mapfre with guarantee continuity of cover.

Our thanks to our intermediary partners who brought to our attention that some of the data on Defaqto for 3XD policies was more than a year out of date.  We've contacted Defaqto who have revisited our product and scored us using our current policy wording.

The great news is that as a result of this review our rating has been changed.  As we're not yet a paying member of the Defaqto community it would be a breach of the rules to tell you how we've done but you can, of course, check this out yourself on their website.

We're aware that some of our competitors have been directing customers to the comparisons provided by Defaqto which feature on the website www.find.co.uk and we encourage you to take a look now, it certainly makes interesting reading!

Don't worry, these upgraded terms and conditions have now been in force for over 12 months so every customer currently on risk benefits from the improved terms we launched when we partnered with Catlin Insurance last year.

We thank all of our intermediaries for their support and patience during the time it has taken to have this matter addressed.

Following a number of enquiries from intermediary firms, 3XD has re-stated our commitments to financial intermediaries by issuing a new guarantee that all of our business will (and always will) be submitted by intermediary firms.

This is in response to some re-positioning by some of our competitors who are now offering customers cover on a direct basis.

We have always enjoyed the support of a number of loyal intermediary partners and we have no intention of breaching the trust that they have placed in us - so we have ruled this out forever in the form of our new 100% intermediary business guarantee.

This guarantee prevents 3XD from offering business on a direct basis to consumers and is part of our suite of guarantees including our premium beating guarantee, no admin fee guarantee and our legally binding commission guarantee. 

We hope that this new guarantee gives our intermediary partners to reassurances they deserve. After all, we are an intermediary business!

We are pleased to confirm that our underwriters have agreed to accept some timber framed properties which were previous excluded by our definition of standard construction.

We are now able to accept any timber framed properties which were built in 1985 or later under our standard terms.  In order to proceed with a customer on this basis, please contact our Intermediary Support Team who can arrange for an endorsement to be applied to the policy to confirm this arrangement.

We know how hard you work to make a sale of general insurance and we appreciate your frustration when an over-agressive customer retention team questions the advice you have given in an attempt to steal back your customer.

At 3XD we never question the advice of our intermediary partners - if the right thing to do is for the customer to move on, so be it!  After all, they are your customers.

And, as you'd expect from 3XD, we always include a guarantee not to cross sell to your customers in our intermediary agreement.

Unfortunately, we're told that some of our competitors do not work to such high standards and we've been asked by a number of intermediaries to prepare cancellation letters which you can easily complete with the customer.  These letters cancel the previous policy in writing and specifically request that the former provider does not attempt to contact the customer to retain business for themselves.

There are prepared cancellation letters for all of the premium match providers who have central administration functions available to download in the documentation area of the site.

Don't forget - if you are worried about customers already insured by 3XD you can enrol for our free cancellation advice service.  If you do, we'll email you as soon as any customer asks us to cancel and allow you to try and retain your customer.   If you'd like this service, call our Intermediary Support Team who will be happy to help.

We're delighted to announce that Brit Insurance have joined our panel of providers for landlords insurance with effect from today's date joining AmTrust and Catlin to create a panel of three providers competing for this product.

Our landlord product offers comprehensive cover for buy to let landlords with buildings cover set at £300,000 and flexible amounts of contents cover (from £5,000 up to £25,000).  All of our providers offer cover on the same terms and conditions which allows you to select the provider based on price alone.

For more information about our buildings and contents for landlords, please refer to the product information section of the website.

3XD are launching a new income protection policy designed to protect up to 50% of a customer's income should they become unemployed and/or suffer an accident or sickness.  The policy is available for full accident, sickness and unemployment cover and can be restricted to either unemployment only or disability only to suit the customer's requirements.

The product is age related, reflecting the risk and the headline rates for a 30 year old customer based on a 60 day waiting period are: 

• Disability Only - £2.20 per £100 of cover
• Unemployment Only - £4.50 per £100 of cover
• Unemployment & Disability - £5.00 per £100 of cover 

The income protection policy pays a market leading commission rate of 30% of the monthly premium (excluding IPT) and is guaranteed to be paid for the life of the policy under the terms of our legally binding commission guarantee.

The new product launch further strengthens our relationship with AmTrust Europe Limited who also provide underwriting for our landlord home insurance product.

There is more information about the new income protection plan in the product details section of the site.

A new rate of Insurance Premium Tax is due for any policy where the start date is on or after 4th January 2011.  This applies to all new customers and for existing customers from their next annual renewal date.

For new customers, the new rate of Insurance Premium Tax is shown in the premiums now quoted on our quotation engine.  If you have already quoted for a customer the quotation is valid for 30 days.  To avoid the quotation being re-priced, you should not amend the policy record unless you have changes to make.  You can review the quotation terms without amending the record by printing a quotation.

For existing home insurance customers, the new rate of Insurance Premium Tax will apply from their next annual renewal date.  We are only obliged to increase the level of IPT on the existing cover term if an amendment is made by the customer.

For existing payment protection customers (where the policy start date is after 6th April 2010) our rates are guaranteed and the new rate of Insurance Premium Tax will apply from the next annual renewal date.  We are only obliged to increase the level of IPT on the existing cover term if an amendment is made by the customer.

For existing payment protection customers (where the policy start date is before 6th April 2010) we are obliged to alter the rate of Insurance Premium Tax from the next premium due. Please note, we do not intend to increase the gross premiums due from customers and will be absorbing the increase in tax in the existing cost. 

If you have any queries about the change to Insurance Premium Tax please email iptchange@3xd.co.uk for a response within 24 hours.

We're delighted to welcome Catlin and AmTrust as our new insurers for landlords.  The two insurers are offering cover on the same policy terms so you can choose the best price for cover without affecting the levels of cover provided.

When preparing any new quotation you will be presented with the results from all of our providers so you can make the choice of provider you require.

As a result of these changes, Groupama will no longer quote for landlord business but any existing business will remain with Groupama until their next renewal date when the risks will be transferred to Catlin.

In addition, we've switched our Keycare and Excess Waiver additions to a monthy basis making your existing sales process easier.  The benefits remain the same but now your customers can enjoy paying for extra services on a monthly basis. 

From applications received from the 1st September 2010, we've changed our legal expenses provider to offer an enhanced product which includes twice as much cover, new cover options and a cheaper price.

The new policy has all the benefits of the previous policy but now includes (a) a new cover level of £50,000 per claim, up from £25,000 (b) identity fraud protection included free of charge, previously an optional extra and (c) cover for schools admissions disputes.

In addition, Arc also provide access to other discounted legal services where the event is not covered by the legal expenses insurance.

The policy is now provided by Arc Legal Assistance but remains underwritten by Inter Partner Assistance, part of the AXA group of companies.

The new cost of cover is 70p per month, previously £1.20 including the optional ID Fraud extension.

For existing customers, we'll be rolling out the new extension at their next renewal date with the exercise completed in 12 months time.

We're delighted to announce further improvements to our Premium Beating Guarantee which includes increasing the discount you can apply when matching Select & Protect prices - so you can now discount the premiums by £2 per month.

In addition, we've increased the levels of cover for customers when matching other providers to ensure that 3XD always offer the best cover options for the price.  For more information about the changes please visit the Premium Beating information shown in the main site.

From 1st August 2010 we're delighted to announce that Excess Waiver Insurance is available as a further extension to our home insurance contract.  This insurance refunds excess payments which are paid by the customer for claims on home insurance, motor insurance and pet insurance policies.

The policy is available as a separate annual policy at a flat premium of £60 per annum and covers excess payments up to £300 in any one year.

If the customer is willing to take the risk of smaller claims, you can use the policy to discount the home insurance policy.  For example switching from a £50 excess to a £250 excess would save our average customer around £90 a year - more than the cost of this policy extension.

The new excess waiver insurance is underwritten by Inter Partner Assistance, part of the global AXA group of companies.

In addition, we"ve changed our procedures so that intermediaries can receive quotations for high net worth buildings and contents insurance rather than Sterling always contacting the customer - this is following feedback from our intermediaries.  The new quotation request form is available in the documentation area and on the product details page.

On 9th July 2010 we're making two new products available on our website.  This includes a high net worth buildings and contents product offered by Sterling Insurance and a stand alone version of our Keycare product.

The high net worth buildings and contents cover is suitable for customers where the standard 3XD policy does not provide sufficient cover for their requirements.  It can also be used for some unusually contructed properties.  For more information, please see the product information section of the site.

A stand alone version of the Keycare product will also be available.  This is suitable when you wish to add Keycare for an existing customer or where a customer does not require a 3XD home insurance policy.  For customers who already have another 3XD product we are offering the stand alone product at the same price as the extension to home insurance.

We're delighted to confirm that Catlin Insurance (UK) Ltd have now joined our home insurance panel of insurers, effective from applications received on the 1st June 2010.

Catlin are a fantastic addition to our panel.  In the UK they operate the largest Lloyd's syndicate and a separate UK underwriting company who is supporting our product.  They offer fantastic security, being rated A by Standard & Poors, and capacity as 3XD continues to grow.

Catlin will replace Jubilee on the quotation engine and have adopted their rates, making only minor adjustments many of which are in favour of the customer.  Any existing customers will remain with Jubilee until the next renewal date.

In addition, we have launched our new Keycare extension to home insurance.  This is the first in a series of new product additions, allowing you to offer greater security to your customer and develop you general insurance book.  This addition extends the key cover under the policy to £1,500 and includes all keys attached to a keyfob provided by 3XD.  For more information, please visit the Keycare pages in the Product Information section of the website.

From the 24th May 2010, we're delighted to announce that customers can select from three different payment dates for their monthly premium collections.

The available dates are the 1st, 10th and 20th of each calendar month and you will be given the option to provide us with the preferred date when you set up the Direct Debit arrangements.  If your customer does not select a preferred date, we'll choose the date that best matches the policy start date.

As part of this change, we're also moving the collection of Direct Debits from our administrator to our head office team in Clitheroe.  Direct Debit payments will also now show as being paid to 3XD Limited (previously Plus One-3XD) which we know will be less confusing for your customers.

The different payment dates also mean that we can be more flexible with the first premium on new policies.  Where appropriate, we'll now collect the first premium on a different date to stop the need for two collections in the following month. 

For existing customers, we'll be switching them over to premiums being collected by 3XD at their next renewal notice and offering them a chance to choose a different payment date.  However, if you have customers who specifically want to change the date now, please let us know by calling the Intermediary Support Team on 0845 519 4966 and we'll make the change from the next premium due.