Iress expands ex-smoker pricing to Multi-Benefit service with backing from nine major insurers

Iress today announced an expansion of its ex-smoker pricing to its Multi-Benefit service on The Exchange, further simplifying protection advice and improving transparency for advisers and clients. The expansion also sees the addition of Scottish Widows, bringing the total number of supporting insurers to nine; including Aviva, HSBC, Legal & General, Royal London, Vitality, Zurich, National Friendly and Walsham Brothers.

Iress first pioneered ex-smoker pricing on The Exchange and Xplan Mortgage in 2024, introducing dedicated fields for ex-smoker and mixed-smoker statuses across its Term, Critical Illness and Income Protection comparison services. This innovation addressed a long-standing industry blind spot, where advisers previously had to navigate inconsistent insurer rules when pricing ex-smokers, often resulting in inaccurate quotes, delays and inefficiencies. Within months of introducing the ex-smoker feature, Iress saw average quote-to-apply times fall from 25 minutes to 20 minutes, demonstrating immediate efficiency benefits for advisers and clients.

The latest expansion to Multi-Benefit means that ex-smoker statuses are now fully supported across all Term, Critical Illness, and Income Protection services on The Exchange. Backed by growing insurer support, this update delivers greater price certainty, faster processing, and a more efficient experience for advisers, while helping clients secure fairer, more accurate premiums.

Iress’ Head of Product for Sourcing, Jacqueline Durbin, said: "We’re delighted to continue rolling out ex-smoker pricing and to gain the support of almost all insurers. This is an important initiative in our commitment to tackle complexity in Protection. With accurate ex-smoker data Scottish Widows, and the other insurers on the service, are well positioned to deliver greater certainty and transparency to their customers, which also helps build greater trust in advisers.”

Scottish Widows’ Head of Commercial, Protection, Scott Taylor, added: “We’re proud to work alongside Iress to enhance the adviser and customer experience through multi-benefit protection. By combining multiple cover types into a single streamlined policy, we’re helping advisers deliver more holistic, efficient solutions that reflect the full scope of their clients’ needs. The addition of ex-smoker pricing to this service is a powerful example of how technology and insurer collaboration can reward customers for making positive lifestyle changes, ensuring premiums are fair, personalised, and aligned with their health journey.”