asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have received any reports, since January 2003, of insurance companies unilaterally seeking to change the conditions of an existing life insurance policy so that liability in the event of death or injury of a service person arising from military operations is reduced; and, if so, (i) what their advice to servicemen would be regarding the effectiveness of such changes; and (ii) whether they would regard such changes as fair. [HL242]

The MoD provides a good death in service benefits from the Armed Forces Pension Scheme and compensation for injury in service through the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. Commercial insurance is for those requiring additional cover. MoD cannot advise individuals whether to take out insurance or on the effectiveness of particular schemes as such matters are regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

In the run up to Operation TELIC, insurance companies did react to what they saw as the increased risk to Service personnel. Usually this was by closing their schemes to new applicants, or by increasing premiums. Some did, however, change benefits for existing policyholders deployed on operations by, for example, excluding cover for death caused by the use of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons. These were commercial decisions made by companies. Consequently, members of such schemes who were already on operations, or about to deploy on operations, were disadvantaged. In response to this, the MoD developed, and launched, a new life insurance scheme called Service Life Insurance (SLI). The SLI scheme, under a unique partnering arrangement with the scheme providers, guarantees worldwide war and terrorism cover, regardless of an individual's likelihood of operational deployment. There are no exclusions for death caused by the use of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons.