As a mutual society, we are committed to providing our membership with genuine value through plans that are fair and honest. In compliance with the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) new product oversight and governance requirements, we are pleased to announce that our pure protection products were assessed and found to be of fair value for our members.

Shepherds Friendly pure protection plans, relating to our Income Protection and Over 50s Life Insurance, from across our product groups, were assessed by the Society’s Fair Member Benefit Committee, Risk and Compliance team, and Chief Actuary. The assessment covered both active open and legacy plans, based on the target market, and product value was determined on product design, risk and costs, distribution, data, and testing.

Following the audit, the Executive Directors and Board have found no evidence of any plans delivering unfair value to members and they approved a new product oversight and governance policy to ensure we continue to meet the needs of our target market and members.

Head of Risk and Compliance, Graham Findlater, commented on the assessment: “The Financial Conduct Authority regulations are in place to ensure that the plans being offered to our members are valuable and offer the level of service that our membership has come to expect from us. We are satisfied that our active open Income Protection and Over 50s Life Insurance plans and closed active pure protection products provide fair value and comply with the new product governance policy from the FCA.”

To download a PDF summary of the Product Governance and Fair Value Assessment, click here.