FAQs

Chart on How to administer your Policy.

Chart here.

I want to increase or decrease my cover. How do I do it?

You can make changes to your cover at any time.
Regulars simply fill in PAL JPA 1 change form and pass it or email it to your unit HR. Your PAL Rep can also help you. You should keep a copy of your form – and you can do that by using a scanner in a notes app on your mobile – again your PAL rep can help you. Please send a copy of your scan to info@palprotect.co.uk.

Reservists (& Civil Servants) and Veterans, please call 01423 297297.

Where do Regulars find the PAL JPA 1 Form?

You can find it in several places.
1) Your PAL Valo rep
2) By clicking here
3) Your HR Team
4) Download it from the MoD Intranet

The PAL JPA1 Form isn’t carbon copy now, why is that?

We all have targets to reduce use of paper, and at TRF we offset what carbon footprint we do have through tree planting projects. So it seems a bit daft to also be chopping trees down for the forms.

Of course we realise that sometimes a paper form is needed, and connectivity may not always be great. But even if we used the same number of forms, by moving to single copy, we halve the use of paper.

How do applications get processed now they are not carbon copy forms?

Every application form need to get to two places.
1) Your unit HR so that they can arrange Payroll deductions
2) The Risk Factor, so that we can issue your policy documents to you, and start putting your cover choices into the client portal we are building for you.
We know that some Unit HR’s have moved, and sometimes may be hard to get a hard copy form to. Therefore if you complete the form electronically, you can email it (ideally encrypted email); to info@palprotect.co.uk as well as your unit HR. If you want to print it and fill it in, that’s fine too. You can then scan it & send. (How to scan and sign forms using iPhone or Android phone | UMSL) or ask your Valo Rep to help – they can scan it and send it to us by secure encrypted email, and you can pass to your Unit HR as normal.

Helplines

For Personal Accident Claims you can speak to AIG directly on 020 8662 8126 (or +44 20 8663 8126 from overseas). 09:15 – 17:00 Monday – Friday

For Optional Life and Critical Illness claims you can speak to MetLife directly on 01273 872 492 or (+44 1273 872 492 from Overseas). 09:00 – 17:00 Monday – Friday

PAL Protect Helpline 01423 297297 (or +44 1423 297297 from overseas) 07:00 – 19:00 Monday – Friday and 10:00 – 12:00 on Saturdays

PTSD Resolution Counselling Service 0300 302 0551. Lines open 09.00 – 17:00 Monday – Friday.

Virtual Medical Care – GP Consultation Service 02 034 990 658. Lines open 24 hours a day / 7 days a week.

I have heard about some claim stories that weren’t covered and I think they should have been.

We’d love to hear the tale! Usually you only have half a story or it is an urban myth. Send your tales into MOD@theriskfactor.com and we will confirm whether those tales would be covered on this policy or not. And if not why not.

Heard the one about the Boots?

The tale goes that a claim was turned down because someone wasn’t wearing army issued boots when their foot was injured. Well, that isn’t an issue on this policy. We don’t care if you are wearing your regulation Boots, your own choice of boots, slippers, ballet shoes, clogs, flip flops, 6 inch stilettoes, sliders or barefoot. Not sure if it is the same for the employers compensation scheme, but we don’t have any influence or connection there.

Heard the one about the person who cancelled their cover and didn’t get to claim?

The policy you buy covers you for accidents that happen during the time you are on cover. If you had the cover when the accident happened, you can put in a claim and if the policy covers the accident, you will get paid out.

If you had cover on Monday, but cancelled on Tuesday, and you had an accident the Monday before you cancelled, then you could be covered. If your accident was the day after you cancelled on Wednesday – then you have no cover.

The same is true when you increase or decrease your cover. Your claim is dealt with on the level of cover you had at the time of the accident.

I was on payroll deduction and I just want my cover to continue as before. What should I do? 

You don’t need to do anything for your cover to just continue. We would like to confirm your cover is in place and send you updated policy documents electronically though. If you are OK with that, please email us with your service number, and mobile number so that we can send those to you. Email PAL@theriskfactor.com  

I had a PAX policy but not via Payroll Deduction. What should I do? 

Contact us at PAL@theriskfactor.com and we will help you. If you are payment via Direct Debit to AIG, you can continue with the same dd for the same amount. If you are payment by standing order, we just need to give you the new bank details to amend or replace the old standing order.

You should do this for the payment that applies to your June Cover onwards. If the payment goes to the old account details accidentally, the broker should just return that money to you. If you are deployed and unable to contact us right now, please contact us as soon as you are able to and we will help.

I read that the Legal Expenses Insurer has changed – does that matter? 

It has changed from Markel to AIG. The cover being provided is the same, and both those insurers have strong financial security and good reputations. The only difference is that if the incident causing you to need this cover happened before 01/06/2023 then you need to speak to Markel as soon as possible, and incidents from 01/06/2023 will be handled by AIG.

The PAL JPA1 Form isn’t carbon copy now, why is that?

We all have targets to reduce use of paper, and at TRF we offset what carbon footprint we do have through tree planting projects. So it seems a bit daft to also be chopping trees down for the forms.

Of course we realise that sometimes a paper form is needed, and connectivity may not always be great. But even if we used the same number of forms, by moving to single copy, we halve the use of paper.

How do applications get processed now they are not carbon copy forms?

Every application form need to get to two places.
1)Your unit HR so that they can arrange Payroll deductions
2)The Risk Factor, so that we can issue your policy documents to you, and start putting your cover choices into the client portal we are building for you.

We know that some Unit HR’s have moved, and sometimes may be hard to get a hard copy form to. Therefore if you complete the form electronically, you can email it (ideally encrypted email); to info@palprotect.co.uk as well as your unit HR. If you want to print it and fill it in, that’s fine too. You can then scan it (How to scan and sign forms using iPhone or Android phone | UMSL) or ask your Valo Rep to help – they can scan it and send it to us by secure encrypted email, and you can pass to your Unit HR as normal.

I cancelled my PAX policy after the First DIN about cover ending, but I’d like to have the policy back. What happens about my pre-existing medical condition?

Personal Accident Section

If you want to reinstate a policy after cancelling (after the first DIN about PAX ending) then you can do so by completing the PAL JPA 1 Application Form and emailing it to info@palprotect.co.uk, and just let us know in the covering email that it is a re-instatement of previous cover. Or give it to your PAL Valo Rep, or pass it to your Unit HR. You will not be able to claim for an accident that happened whilst the cover was cancelled.

Optional Life and Critical Illness Cover Section

If you already had a pre-existing medical condition which you previously declared, but cancelled sometime after the first DIN about PAX ending; you can reinstate your policy by the 14/06/2023. The insurer will continue your cover as if it had not been cancelled, with no new conditions around that medical condition.
If you are deployed and unable to contact us or your Unit HR by the 14/06/2023, contact us within the first 2 weeks of being able to resume communications with your PAL JPA 1 Application form instead.

There may also be people who had no pre-existing medical condition when they took the policy out; but since then, they have developed a medical condition. There would have been no need to declare this as an existing policyholder. If you have cancelled your policy after the first DIN about PAX policies coming to an end, and you reinstate your cover by 14/06/2023. The insurer will continue your cover as if it had not been cancelled, with no new conditions around that medical condition.

If you are deployed and unable to contact us or your Unit HR by the 14/06/2023, contact us within the first 2 weeks of being able to resume communications with your PAL JPA 1 Application form instead.

I am an MOD civil servant going on deployment how do I get a PAL Policy?

The Reservist Policy is designed for Civil Servants who may be deployed.
Reservists and Veterans policies brand change is happening on 01.07.2023. So you should refer to the following documents for more details of the cover. Once satisfied that you understand the cover, you can complete the application form, scan it and email to info@palprotect.co.uk.

Attachments:
A RPAX Brochure
B RPAX Policy Document
C RPAX Application Form

From 01/07/2023 those documents will automatically be replaced with PAL brand documents, and your cover will automatically move to the new brand, unless you request otherwise by contacting 01423 297 297. Please note that the legal expenses insurer will change at 01/07/23 from Markel to AIG.

If I have an accident whilst deployed in a conflict area involving an excluded nation (USA, France, Russian Federation); but the accident was nothing to do with the deployment – I just slipped whilst walking to the mess hall, can I claim?

Yes, as long as the cause of the accident was not the conflict, or made worse because of it.

For example, if you tripped over a shoelace and broke a bone, that would be covered. If you tripped because there was an explosion that shook the ground, or running to answer an alert, then that would be attributable to the conflict and if the nation was excluded, then there would be no cover.

If the conflict did not involve an excluded nation, then it wouldn’t be an issue anyway and would be paid.

How do pre-existing medical conditions affect cover?

Personal Accident is about accidental causes of injuries. Tripping and breaking an arm for example. Pre-existing Medical Conditions don’t have much effect on the Personal Accident part of the policy and no declaration is needed. However, if you do have a condition such as “brittle bones” or osteoporosis which makes your bones much more likely to break, then claims for broken bones would be excluded.

Critical Illness and Life policies almost always ask you to declare a pre-existing medical condition. For example Diabetes, Asthma, Kidney Disease. Insurers then investigate the condition to see if it increases the person’s risk of needing to claim on the policy. They may then decide to do one of several things:
1)They cannot give any cover at all
2)They will give cover for everything that is not related to the condition
3)They will give cover as normal
4)They will charge a higher price
5)They will give cover, but temporarily exclude anything related to that condition. If after a set period (eg 2 years), there has been no worsening / recurrence / new medication or similar, then the policy automatically goes back to full cover.

If you take out a policy, it is important to declare such conditions, because if you need to claim, the insurer will get medical reports about you that would show any previous diagnosis of, or treatment for a related condition; and it could invalidate your claim if you have not told them about it.

If you take out a policy, and had no medical conditions at that time, but later develop one, there is no need to declare the condition, if your cover is continuous (you don’t cancel it).

Some examples:

1)Jane had a minor heart attack in 2015. She took out a PAX PA & CI policy in 2017. She declared the condition, and after answering a medical questionnaire, and some investigation, insurers decided that there were no continuing issues, the cause having been addressed, full cover was granted. The same full cover will apply to Jane’s new PAL policy.

2)Nivesh is severely asthmatic. He regularly uses inhalers, has had a number of serious incidents requiring hospital treatment. Insurers agreed to grant cover, excluding any claims caused by asthma. The same exclusion will apply to Nivesh’s new PAL policy.

3)Jim was born with some valves missing in his kidney. It caused him a lot of problems as a child, and at one point he nearly died of Sepsis. But those incidents have gotten rarer and rarer over time. Pax insurers agreed to give Jim cover, with a 1 year exclusion on claims arising due to the kidney problem. After a year, the policy cover would be full cover, with no continuing exclusions. PAX cover ended after 6 months, so Jim’s new Pal policy will continue with the remaining 6 months of cover restriction, and then full cover will be in force.

I have a great suggestion for the Policy to make it even better – who should I tell?

Fantastic – we would love to hear it. Please email us at MoD@theriskfactor.com. If we use your idea, and you were the first to suggest it through that email, then we would love to send you a little thank you too.

I have heard about some claim stories that weren’t covered and I think they should have been.

We’d love to hear the tale! Usually you only have half a story or it is an urban myth. Send your tales into MOD@theriskfactor.com and we will confirm whether those tales would be covered on this policy or not. And if not why not.

Heard the one about the Boots?

The tale goes that a claim was turned down because someone wasn’t wearing army issued boots when their foot was injured. Well, that isn’t an issue on this policy. We don’t care if you are wearing your regulation Boots, your own choice of boots, slippers, ballet shoes, clogs, flip flops, 6 inch stilettoes, sliders or barefoot. Not sure if it is the same for the employers compensation scheme, but we don’t have any influence or connection there.

Heard the one about the person who cancelled their cover and didn’t get to claim?

The policy you buy is a monthly policy and it covers you for accidents that happen during that month. So if you had the cover when the accident happened, you can put in a claim and if the policy covers the accident, you will get paid out.

If you had cover on Monday, but cancelled on Tuesday, and you had an accident the Monday before you cancelled, then you could be covered. If your accident was the day after you cancelled on Wednesday – then you have no cover.

The same is true when you increase or decrease your cover. Your claim is dealt with on the level of cover you had at the time of the accident.

How safe is my data?

As part of the tender process run by the MoD, The Risk Factor and insurers have all had to meet the MoD specified requirements for data security, including Cyber Essentials +, and having or obtaining ISO 27001 certification. Another MoD requirement is that neither we, nor insurers store your data outside of the UK for security reasons.

Non UK data storage is pretty common, often with EU or US data warehouses. You should always check where your data is being held, as once it leaves the UK, different regulations on the security of the data and what can be done with your data may apply, and it may not be the standard you would want or expect.

The individuals working at TRF and your insurers who may have access to your personal data have also had additional security checks and MoD clearances.

We use encrypted emails as standard, and have additional layers of encryption for emails coming from the team that look after your policies.

There are never any complete guarantees, hackers build new tricks all the time, but we do all we reasonably can to stay one step ahead. You can protect yourself not just on insurance, but all your electronic data, by looking for credentials such as Cyber Essentials Plus, ISO 27001, and where your data is stored.