The Market You will have seen the initial output from the FCA on the Protection Market Study - more about that below - although it is unlikely at this stage that it had much tangible effect on the completed market volumes during 2025. NMG produce information not around the broader Protection market, but something they call “contestable” data - that is business written via intermediaries. Recent output from them seems to indicate that contestable sales grew in 2025, with some of the information and rationale set out below: • Consumer Duty and FCA review influenced Protection sales, emphasising Protection discussions and evidence. • Growth driven by Whole of Life (+55%) and Business Protection (+24%), with Term products declining. • Market segmentation showed Risk Specialists and Streamlined Specialists experiencing growth, while traditional segments decline. • The number of firms writing protection decreased slightly in 2025, mainly due to fewer directly authorised firms. • Key barriers to increasing protection sales include perceived client costs, underwriting complexity, staffing, and process inefficiencies. The latter bullet is interesting given the actual price points for Term during 2025; we still have some of the cheapest Life Assurance in Europe, so perceptions need to be changed regarding the price - something we believe the industry should support. Mike Allison Director of Protection Paradigm Protect Protection Market Update 04 SPRING PROTECT NEWSLETTER Welcome to the latest edition of the Paradigm Protect Newsletter, the first of 2026! There has been a lot going on in Protection world this quarter - both from a regulatory perspective and from a research perspective, all aiming to focus on what the Regulator has now deemed ‘the protection gap’, which is something we have been speaking about for a number of years. In this edition, AVIVA set out some learning points on objection handling to try to support intermediaries in helping clients think about their Protection needs – it’s well worth a read! The current world order is a constant reminder of human vulnerability, and whilst thankfully we are less directly affected by the current Iran conflict, many of us will be indirectly affected via inflationary costs and interest rate rises - yet again putting pressure on household spending and potentially protection sales. Some Insurers have started asking different underwriting questions about travel plans so please ensure that these are answered to the best of your ability.
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