SFS Group Life Insurance Scheme

Terms and Conditions of Membership

Important note: Data Protection Act

Any information you provide to SFS Group Ltd will only be used for the operation of your membership as it relates to you, and for internal SFS Group Ltd marketing purposes. It will not be released to any third parties.

SFS Group Ltd follows a confidentiality policy, which means that your personal data will be processed fairly and securely in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

Your personal data will be available only to those who need to see it for the purposes stated above. This may include our Insurers.

1. Definitions

   Admitted Parent means the natural father or mother or such other person regarded by the Trustee as a parent provided that:

   1. he/she is aged 60 or under when membership including life and terminal illness protection only commences;
   2. he/she is aged 55 or under when membership including critical illness protection commences;
   3. he/she is a citizen of one of the member states of the European Union or a foreign national Ordinarily Resident within the European Union; and
   4. he/she has completed an Agreement and a direct debit mandate in respect of the payment of contributions and both have been received by SFTS Trustees Limited.

   Agreement means an application for membership of the SFS Group Life Insurance Scheme, duly signed by both the Trustee and the Admitted Parent.

   Beneficiary means, in relation to Benefits payable under the SFS Group Life Insurance Scheme, a fee-paying school attended by the named child(ren) in the Agreement. If the named child is at university and benefits are being paid, then the named child is the Beneficiary.

   Benefit(s) means the amount(s) payable by the Insurer under the group policy issued to the Trustee (as described in the current SFS Group Life Insurance Scheme brochure at the date of the claim for benefit) as a result of the death, or diagnosis with a Terminal or Critical Illness, of an Admitted Parent.

   Critical Illness means Accidental AIDS, Alzheimer's Disease, Aorta Graft Surgery, Balloon Angioplasty, Balloon Valvuloplasty, Benign Brain Tumour, Blindness, Cancer, Chronic Lung Disease, including Emphysema, Coma, Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery, Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease, Deafness, Heart Attack, Heart Valve Replacement or Repair, Hodgkin's Disease, Kidney Failure, Loss of Limbs, Loss of Speech, Major Organ Transplant, Motor Neurone Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Open Heart Surgery, Paralysis/Paraplegia, Parkinson's Disease, Permanent Total Disability, Pre-Senile Dementia, Pulmonary Artery Surgery, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Severe Head Injuries, Stroke, Third Degree Burns. For full definitions of each illness, please contact Customer Services on 01306 746300 or visit our website at www.sfs-group.co.uk

   Due Date means in relation to the contribution for any month the first day of that month until the April of the academic year in which a child becomes either eighteen or twenty-three, if university protection has been selected.

   Gap Year means the twelve month period after the end of secondary school and prior to a child starting at university.

   Insurer means Unum Limited (trading as Unum) or any other insurer for the time being underwriting the Policy.

   Joint Membership means that both Admitted Parents have elected to join the Scheme and have paid the appropriate contribution as stipulated in the current brochure.

   Member means an Admitted Parent who has completed an Agreement; who meets the requirements for joining the Scheme; and who has remitted the appropriate contribution to SFTS Trustees Ltd.

   Ordinarily Resident means a person who resides, spends or intends to spend at least 183 days in the European Union during any continuous period of 365 days.

   Policy means the policy issued by the Insurer in the name of the Trustee providing for the primary, secondary and tertiary education of a named child or any policy substituted therefor by agreement between the Insurer and the Trustee.

   Pre-existing conditions means:

   1. that the Trustee will not pay any Benefit for death or Terminal Illness arising directly or indirectly from disease or disorder of the heart; a stroke; disease or disorder of the kidneys; if, during the sixty months before joining the SFS Group Life Insurance Scheme, the Member consulted a healthcare practitioner, underwent diagnostic investigations or received treatment for any disease or disorder of the heart or kidneys, stroke, diabetes mellitus, persistently raised blood pressure, persistently raised cholesterol, transient ischaemic attack, intracranial aneurysm or occlusive arterial disease; or
   2. that the Trustee will not pay any Benefit for death or Terminal Illness arising directly or indirectly from disease or disorder of the liver, pancreas or lungs; cancer, growth or tumour; organic brain disease; neurological disease; if during the sixty months immediately before joining the SFS Group Life Insurance Scheme the Member consulted a healthcare practitioner, underwent diagnostic investigations or received treatment for that condition.
   3. that the Trustee will not pay any benefit for a critical illness condition which you have suffered prior to joining the Scheme and the following should be noted:
   1. for the purpose of this exclusion, the suffering or undergoing of a heart attack, aorta graft surgery, coronary artery by-pass surgery, balloon angioplasty, heart transplant or stroke is considered to be the same disease, e.g. if a heart attack has been suffered prior to entry, no benefit shall be payable for any future heart attack, aorta graft surgery, coronary by-pass surgery, balloon angioplasty, heart transplant or stroke;
   2. treatment with psychotropic medication prior to joining the Scheme will be taken as an indication that the Member is suffering from Parkinson's Disease and no benefit will be payable on any future diagnosis;
   3. if a Member has previously suffered any critical illness, no benefit is payable under the permanent total disability/paralysis definitions;
   4. if you have a family history of Alzheimer's Disease, Motor Neurone Disease or Parkinson's Disease and you are diagnosed with one of these critical illnesses, benefits will not be payable under this Scheme;
   5. in addition, no benefit will be payable for any critical illness occurring within two years of a Member joining the Scheme which, in the opinion of the medical advisor nominated by Unum, has resulted directly or indirectly from any condition which the Member was known to have suffered at, or prior to, the start of membership. Such conditions shall include, but are not restricted to, the critical illnesses listed above

   If Option 2 or 3 is selected, no benefit will be paid in the event of a critical illness claim in respect of the named child for any condition from which the child is already suffering at or prior to the date membership of the Scheme commences.

   No benefit will be payable where a critical illness occurs and the condition arises from drug abuse, participating in a war (whether declared or not), invasion, riot or civil commotion.

   Terminal Illness means a medical condition due to which, in the opinion of the medical specialist involved, but subject to the agreement of the Insurer's Chief Medical Officer, the advent of death is highly probable within 12 months.

   Trust means the trust established by trust deed of which SFTS Trustees Ltd is the present Trustee.

   Trustee means SFTS Trustees Ltd and any other trustee or trustees of the Trust from time to time.

2. Payment of Membership Contributions

   The Admitted Parent agrees to pay to the Trustee on or before the Due Date all membership contributions as shall from time to time be notified to the Admitted Parent by the Trustee.

   Membership contributions are reviewed, although not necessarily changed, annually.

3. Application of Benefits

   Following the death, or diagnosis with a Terminal or Critical Illness, of the Member, Benefits will be paid to the Beneficiary at the rate prevailing in the current schedule of Benefits until he/she ceases to be at a fee-paying school; or until the end of the academic year in which he/she becomes eighteen; or completes his/her university studies; or reaches twenty-three years, whichever comes first.

   Benefits are reviewed, although not necessarily changed, annually.

   1. In any case of Joint Membership where both Members have died in circumstances rendering it uncertain which of them survived the other, the elder shall be deemed to have died first and Benefits will be paid only in respect of that Member who is deemed to have died first.
   2. The Member expressly agrees that the Trustee will hold the Benefits on trust and will apply them as specified under the terms of the Trust.
   3. All Benefits, of which more than one term has been paid, will be increased annually from 1 September by the amount of the Retail Price Index (or any equivalent index if the Retail Price Index is abolished) in May of the same calendar year, plus 2%.

4. Period of Membership

   The Admitted Parent shall be a Member from the start of the month in which the first contribution is paid and after an Agreement has been completed and received by SFTS Trustees Limited, until the first to happen of:

   1. the Member's death or the payment of any Benefit in respect of a Member where there are Joint Members
   2. any contribution due not having been received in full by SFTS Trustees Limited within four weeks of the Due Date.
   3. the Member, being a foreign national, ceasing to be Ordinarily Resident in the European Union. (The Member is required to notify SFTS Trustees Limited if, being a foreign national, he/she ceases to be Ordinarily Resident in the European Union).
   4. the end of the academic year in which a child reaches eighteen; or completes his or her university studies or reaches twenty-three years, whichever comes first.

5. Termination of Agreement

   SFTS Trustees Limited reserves the right to terminate this Agreement at any time on not less than three months' notice, if Clause 4b, 4c or 4d above occur. The Agreement can also be cancelled by the Admitted Parent at not less than one month's notice.

6. Notice

   Notice shall be deemed to be received if sent by recorded delivery post and properly addressed, or if confirmed by SFS Group Ltd in writing after a telephone call.

7. Transferring Membership

   It is possible to maintain your membership after the child moves to another fee-paying school or university providing a change in the level of membership is not requested. A change in the level of membership is only possible where there is a transition from junior to senior school, or from day to boarding school. SFS Group Ltd should be notified of any such change.

8. Misstatement

   Any material misstatement by the Member on the face of this Agreement shall entitle the Trustee to repudiate any liability under this Agreement.

9. Cooling Off Period

   Once your application has been accepted and your membership documentation issued, SFTS Trustees offer a 30 day cancellation period during which you are entitled to a refund of any contributions you have paid.

10. Complaints

    Complaints in connection with the SFS Group Life Insurance Scheme should be referred initially to the Scheme's appointed administrators:

    SFS Group Ltd
    Crossways House
    54-60 South Street
    Dorking
    Surrey
    RH4 2HQ
    Telephone: 01306 746300

    If the matter is not resolved satisfactorily, the complaint should be referred to:

    Customer Relations Manager
    Unum
    Milton Court
    Dorking
    Surrey
    RH4 3LZ
    Telephone: 01306 887766

    If the Customer Relations Manager is unable to resolve the problem, the case can be referred to:

    Financial Ombudsman Service
    South Quay Plaza
    183 Marsh Wall
    London
    E14 9SR
    Telephone: 0845 600 6666

Click here to buy this product now