Friday Five Focus on Protection – 5 Questions in 5 Minutes – 31 Jul 2026

Friday Five Focus on Protection – 5 Questions in 5 Minutes Every Friday

What’s this all about?

Each week, we ask questions relating to one of these topics: Investments, Taxation, Pensions, Protection, or Regulation. This week, our Friday Five is relevant to Protection; this is useful as you prepare for the CII’s R05 exam. The challenge is for you to answer them in 5 minutes. Answers at the bottom of the page.

Questions

IMPORTANT! These questions relate to examinable tax year 2025/26, examinable by the CII until 31 August 2026. They do not relate to tax year 2026/27 which is only examinable by the CII from 1 September 2026.

1. Emil took out an income protection policy in June 2016 and has now been living and working in Thailand for the last 15 months. How is this likely to affect her policy?
   1. The benefits would only be paid for a maximum of six months.
   2. Any benefits payable will likely be suspended or cancelled.
   3. Her premiums will have to be substantially increased.
   4. The term of the policy will be reduced to a maximum of age 50.

2. Maureen has taken out a budget plan private medical insurance policy. She should be aware that if she makes a claim, her policy is unlikely to cover
   1. home nursing.
   2. doctor’s fees.
   3. drugs.
   4. accommodation.

3. James has completed a sales process with a client and sold a protection product. To meet the FCA rules he should keep copies of the
   1. fact-find, written recommendations, and suitability letters.
   2. fact-find.
   3. fact-find and suitability letters.
   4. fact-find, product application forms, and suitability letters.

4. Jane is in receipt of State pension credit. If she receives support for mortgage interest loan payments, they will be paid
   1. immediately, up to £100,000 of any mortgage covered with no limits on the length of claim.
   2. after 39 weeks and until her mortgage is paid off.
   3. after 26 weeks for interest on mortgages up to £100,000.
   4. after 39 weeks for a maximum of 2 years.

5. Where a business is considering putting in place key person insurance, they could do this in the form of
   1. life assurance or critical illness only.
   2. life assurance, critical illness or income protection.
   3. critical illness or income protection only.
   4. life assurance or income protection only.

Answers

1. B; See R05 Study Text, Chp 6; Rationale: Because Emil has been outside her provider’s free limits for more than a year, it is very likely that they will suspend or cancel her policy.
2. A; See R05 Study Text, Chp 9; Rationale: A budget plan private medical insurance policy provides the very minimum of cover. It is therefore highly unlikely that home nursing will be available.
3. A; See R05 Study Text, Chp 10; Rationale: To meet FCA rules, James should keep copies of the fact-find, the written recommendations and suitability letters. There is no need for him to keep a copy of the product application form (although he might like to do so for his records).
4. A; See R05 Study Text, Chp 3; Rationale: For pension credit claimants, Support for mortgage interest (SMI) loan payments are paid immediately, there is no maximum length of claim, and it will be paid on the first £100,000 of any mortgage.
5. B; See R05 Study Text, Chp 2; Rationale: Key person insurance to protect a business is available in the forms of life assurance, critical illness cover, and income protection.

Grab the resources you need!

If you want a clearer sense of what exam-standard R05 questions look like, structured mock exams make the difference. Our full R05 E-Mocks are built to reflect the real paper. Access the free taster to preview the layout, style and depth of the complete resource.

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