Medical Assurance Society (MAS)

Document name

Winning sentence from Your Professional Life Plan policy document

Before

However, any application to increase or add new benefits under this policy in respect of an insured person will not be accepted during any period when we are paying premiums in respect of that insured person in accordance with this insurance module.

After

You cannot increase your cover or add new benefits while receiving the waiver.

Judges’ comments

You’ve gone from a verbose and complex 42-word monster down to a clear 13-word pet that accurately captures the meaning and is impressively concise.

In fact, the meaning of the head-scratching original sentence really only became clear in the rewrite. Well done for removing unnecessary legalistic phrases such as ‘in accordance with’ and ‘in respect of’.

This rewrite is like a breath of fresh air and is a more than worthy winner!

Media statement

MAS is committed to providing outstanding service for our Members including easily understood, concise insurance policies so our Members are clear on what they are covered for, and when they can make a claim. Insurance comes with its fair share of complexity and technical jargon so we were keen to embrace the challenge of applying plain language principles to our documents and wider communications.

We were delighted to win best Plain Language Sentence Transformation. Being recognised with this is testament to a whole lot of work by many people at MAS. Plain language is part of a culture change for MAS to strengthen the trust and confidence our Members have in us. We are more determined than ever to sustain the momentum of this work and will continue to offer training and support for our staff to enhance their plain language skills. Once sentence at a time.

Nicola Airey
Head of Brand and Partnerships
Medical Assurance Society