France: Senséo and Senséo Medical, provident policies for professionals

Aviva announces the launch of a new version of Senséo and Senséo Medical - provident policies that offer a broad range of guarantees in the event of death, total and irreversible loss of independence, incapacity for work or invalidity.

Senséo is a made-to-measure provident policy intended for employees, tradespeople, craftspeople and liberal professionals (lawyers, architects, solicitors, etc) who want to maintain their standard of living and protect their families against financial hardship in the event of a serious life event, supplementing their compulsory provident fund with additional cover.

Senséo Medical is a provident policy dedicated to employed or self-employed medical professionals (doctors, surgeons, pharmacists, etc) or paramedical professionals (nurses, masseurs, physiotherapists, etc).

These two provident policies offer a whole series of benefits:

• Four cumulative covers to protect the policyholder and the policyholder's family in the event of death or total and irreversible loss of independence.

In the event of death:

• Death benefit, which assures the designated beneficiary of receiving the capital subscribed (from €15,000 to €749,999);
• A life annuity, which provides the beneficiary with a regular income supplement, for the remainder of his or her lifetime;
• A spouse's pension, which entitles the surviving spouse to receive quarterly sums;
• Educational allowance, which provides an allowance for child beneficiaries until their 18 birthdays or their 26 birthdays if they remain in education. The policyholder can choose between a straight-line allowance, or a graduated allowance, whereby the sums paid out increase on the child's 12 and 18 birthdays.

In the event of total and irreversible loss of independence, depending on the death cover chosen, the policyholder will be able to receive death benefit in advance, or the designated spouse or children will be able to collect their pensions or allowances.

• Additional cover included with the "Death Benefit" or "Life Annuity" cover:
  • "Double Effect" (with the Death Benefit cover): if the surviving spouse dies before his or her 80^th birthday or suffers total and irreversible loss of independence before his or her 60 birthday at the same time or after the death of the policyholder, the death benefit paid to the financially dependent children will be doubled, up to the ceiling of €150,000.
  • "Family Event Adjustment" (with the Death Benefit or Life Annuity covers): following one of the following events - marriage, birth of a child, start of further education of children, death of the spouse or purchasing a main residence - the policyholder will have the possibility, within 3 months of the aforementioned events, of increasing the cover by 30% (up to a ceiling of €150,000) without any medical formalities.
• Optional ŕ la carte cover for tailor-made protection

In the event of temporary total incapacity for work:

• The "Short-term Daily Allowance" cover, reserved for liberal professionals, provides supplementary income for up to 90 days off work, with four choices of threshold.
• The "Long-term Daily Allowance" cover, available to all professionals, provides supplementary income for up to 1,095 days off work, with either five (Senséo Medical) or seven (Senséo) choices of threshold.
• The "Occupational Expenses Allowance" cover, reserved for traders, craftspeople and liberal professionals who have been working for more than two years, covers occupational expenses such as rent, salaries and social security contributions, business tax, payments to compulsory professional and social bodies.

In the event of disability:

• A disability pension, in the event of permanent total or partial disability, this cover can be taken out as a continuation of the daily allowances.
• A disability benefit (Senséo) or loss of livelihood cover (Senséo Medical), in the event of permanent total disability.

The following covers are also available:

• Hospitalisation cover: daily allowances in the event of hospitalisation are paid to the policyholder from the first day if hospitalisation as the result of an accident or on the fourth day if it is due to illness, up to the 365^th day of hospitalisation.
• Premium exemption cover: the policyholder's premiums are paid in full or in part, in the event of temporary total or partial incapacity for work, or disability.

Attractive taxation
Another major advantage lies in the taxation of these provident policies for self-employed workers.

Indeed, in addition to the advantageous context of life insurance, all the types of cover described, with the exception of "Death Benefits", "Additional capital in the event of accidental death", "Disability benefit" (Senséo) and "Loss of livelihood" (Senséo Medical), can be taken out within the framework of the Madelin Act. Consequently, the policyholder can deduct insurance premiums from his or her taxable earnings.

-ends-

Press contacts:

Aviva Vie
David Chenu
Telephone: +33 (0)1 7662 6792
E-mail: david_chenu@aviva.fr

HDL Communication
Cyril Chassaing
Telephone: +33 (0)1 5865 0077
E-mail: cchassaing@hdlcom.com

Notes to editors:

About Aviva
Aviva is Europe's leading provider of life insurance and long-term savings products with strong positions in other markets around the world. Based on gross premiums at 31 December 2005, Aviva is the world's fifth-largest insurance group. Aviva's principal business activities are: life insurance and long-term savings, fund management and general insurance. At 31 December 2006, Aviva had turnover of €61.9 billion and €543 billion of assets under management.

With more than 150 years' experience in France, Aviva is one of the top 10 players in the insurance market. Aviva France operates with a balanced multi-distribution model, which has proved hugely successful: 875 general agents, 1,800 branch staff, 400 life insurance advisers, 1,000+ brokers, and its partners (Union Financière de France and Médéric). Aviva France also has major partners such as AFER, the largest savings association in France, and the Crédit du Nord Group. Specialising in unit-linked products, Aviva is recognised for the excellent performance of its long-term funds and solid commitment to its customers through its Good Advice approach. Aviva employs more than 3,200 staff. At 31 December 2006, Aviva France recorded consolidated sales of €6.4 billion, a consolidated operating profit of €689 million (based on the embedded value - EEV/IFRS standards) and managed assets worth €72.9 billion.