Press releases

Legal & General comments on latest NICE Long Covid guidelines

17 Feb 2021


Full press release

Dr Tarun Gupta, Medical Officer at Legal & General Insurance: "Legal & General welcomes NICE [National Institute for Clinical Excellence] guidance, published recently, which provides GPs and treating clinicians with recommendations for Long Covid care in line with evolving evidence.*

It’s important that, as a group income protection insurer providing dedicated Long Covid support we keep up to speed with such recommendations to ensure that our services complement public sector support as far as possible. Following careful analysis of the guidelines, it’s clear that our newly designed programme does that, with the potential to help relieve pressure on NHS rehabilitation services in the process. Our programme helps meet the typical psychological and physical needs of those classified by NICE as having Ongoing Symptomatic Covid-19*, a group that is not explicitly or necessarily being served by the NHS in this way at present.

Legal & General’s income protection claims management approach is based on early intervention, proactive case management and rehabilitation where appropriate, with the ultimate outcome being to help support the individual back into the workplace. Because our Long Covid support kicks in early, following an absence of four to six weeks, it dovetails nicely with public sector services. It fills a current void where individuals would otherwise be unable to access such services. The NICE guidelines indicate that referral into the NHS for multi-disciplinary assessment via the NHS’ newly commissioned specialist clinics is from 12 weeks onwards.

Our Long Covid support package, which includes up to eight hours of bespoke therapy and rehabilitation sessions, is designed to capture as many people as possible, providing a level of support at an early stage that is clinically appropriate. If symptoms persist beyond 12 weeks, deeper and broader therapeutic input - appropriate for the challenges faced by this group - is then available via the NHS post Covid-19 clinics."

Further information

Notes to editors

Established in 1836, Legal & General is one of the UK's leading financial services groups and a major global investor, with £1.2 trillion in total assets under management1 of which 40% is international. We have a unique and highly synergistic business model, which continues to drive strong returns. Legal & General provides powerful asset origination and management capabilities directly to clients, which also underpin our leading retirement and protection solutions. We are a leading international player in Pension Risk Transfer, in UK and US life insurance, and in UK workplace pensions and retirement income. Our purpose is to improve the lives of our customers and create value for our shareholders. Through inclusive capitalism, we are investing in long-term assets, such as real estate and infrastructure, that can help build a better society for the future.

1Data as at 31 December 2023.

Legal & General Insurance (LGI) has been offering life insurance cover since 1836 and is the UK’s number one individual life insurance provider. Our group protection business in the UK offers life insurance and income protection products to individuals through their employers and we offer term-life insurance in the US. We now have over 5.5 million UK life insurance customers, 1.8 million people in group protection schemes and approaching 1.3 million US term-life insurance policyholders. Here in LGI, we protect our customers and their loved ones throughout life and death.

*at 31 Jun 2021