Changes we're making to Refuge Assurance Industrial Branch With Profits Policies

We’re merging the Refuge Assurance Industrial Branch Fund in to the Royal London Open Fund, which is our largest With Profits Fund and open to new policies.

These changes will allow us to increase both the current value of your policy and the minimum amount we promise to pay out. The changes will give you more certainty over the amount we’ll pay you or your family when your policy is claimed.

We understand that some of this information is technical. Please read your information pack carefully and consider discussing it with a trusted friend or family member.

If you still need help, please feel free to call us on 0345 646 1013 (or +44 1625 718586 if you’re calling from outside the UK) between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

We can’t give you advice, but we can explain the changes and answer any questions as best as we can.

As the Refuge Assurance Industrial Branch Fund is closed to new policies, the number of policies in the fund is reducing as policies pay out. The fund is getting quite small. Merging the RAIB Fund into the Royal London Open Fund now will let us share out the rest of the Estate with policyholders sooner than would otherwise be the case. It also allows us to spread the cost of making these changes over a larger number of policyholders.

Our proposal is also part of our plan to simplify and modernise the way we do things for the benefit of our longstanding customers. Our proposal will help us become a more efficient business. This will reduce our costs. We’d be able to share any savings with our policyholders through lower charges and higher payouts.

We expect to implement these changes on 30 June 2021. We will write to you later this year to confirm the changes have been made and the effect of the changes on your policy.

Royal London have carefully considered the interests of our policyholders. Our With Profits Actuary and Chief Actuary have provided reports to the Board confirming their view that the proposal is fair. We have also appointed an Independent Expert to make sure you and other policyholders are being treated fairly. Our Regulators have also been informed of the changes we are making.

Yes. Royal London is the largest mutual life, pensions and investment company in the UK and all with profits funds we manage are in a healthy financial position. The changes involve moving your policy into the Royal London Open Fund. This is a much larger, more varied fund than the Refuge Assurance Industrial Branch Fund.

We understand that everyone needs to be cautious these days. If the name Royal London doesn’t ring any bells, we’re the largest mutual life, pensions and investment company in the UK. We've been looking after your policy since it transferred to us from the United Assurance Group in 2001. So you feel safe that we’re not trying to scam you, you can find us registered with the Financial Conduct Authority.

We plan to change the way we calculate future bonuses on a small number of policies. This is so that we can use the same approach to calculating bonuses for similar policies and become more efficient as a business. This will mean a small change to the terms and conditions for some policies but won’t affect the amount we pay out when policies are claimed. If your policy is affected by this change, we’ll have explained this in the letter we’ve sent you.

Otherwise, we’ll continue to administer your policy in the same way as we currently do.

The changes we're making wouldn't apply to you if any of the following happens before we make the changes on 30 June 2021:

• The Life Covered dies
• You cash in your policy
• Your Endowment policy reaches the end of its policy term
• You stop paying your Premiums early and your policy becomes a Non Profit Policy

The changes will not alter the treatment of your policy for UK tax purposes.

Please complete the update your details form or give us a call on 0345 646 1013 (or 01625 718586 if you're calling from outside the UK) between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). There may be certain documents we need to update your details.

If you’ve told us about the person that you’ve appointed under your power of attorney previously, an information pack has been sent to them.

If you’ve appointed a person under a power of attorney but haven’t told us about it yet, please call us on 0345 646 1013 (or +44 1625 718586 if you’re calling from outside the UK) so we can keep their information on file. You should then tell that person about the changes and discuss the information pack with them.

If you’ve been declared bankrupt, ownership of your relevant policies may have automatically transferred to the trustee in bankruptcy. If this applies to you, you should make them aware of this pack and its contents. If you’ve been declared bankrupt recently or you think we may not be aware of your bankruptcy, please get in touch with us.

We’re sorry to learn that the Life Covered has passed away. Their next of kin should complete the notification of death form or call us on 0345 646 1013 (or +441625 718586 if you're calling from outside the UK) as soon as possible and we’ll talk them through what they need to do. Please make sure they have the Life Covered's death certificate when they phone.

We’re happy to provide your documents in a different format, such as Braille, large print or audio. Just call us on 0345 646 1013 (or +441625 718586 if you’re calling from outside the UK).