05 WINTER PROTECT NEWSLETTER Continued on next page... Previously the trigger for Protection and GI reviews has been the time leading up to the end of the Mortgage “fix” period. - perhaps the opposite should now be the case where annual Protection and GI reviews should be the driver to discuss any contact from Lenders and taking the opportunity to remind clients how important independent advice is. With the “Protection Gap” getting wider and wider, opportunities to speak to clients about all things Protection are invaluable. The regulator isn’t helping by removing the advice trigger here (a point we have made via AMI and at every chance we have with the FCA) but clearly the answer is to “front foot” the contact with clients as this is something advisers can control themselves. We can all talk about Artificial Intelligence and what it means at a Macro level but anything that supports more regular ability to communicate with clients cannot be ignored – the Big 6 Lenders with unlimited resources will be vying to do this in all product areas they operate in (and potentially in some they do not yet!) so the “personal service” that Advisers offer to firms should be brought to the fore and any AI service that helps to do this should be at least considered and form part of future communications strategies. Protection Market Overview The reality is that despite considerable efforts from AMI, IPTF and other bodies promoting Protection Sales we are still seeing growth in sub 5% p.a. numbers in the Protection space Product development is limited by Insurers and is confined to “tweaking” features in all three mainstream Product areas namely Term, Critical Illness and Income Protection. In the past 5 Years we only saw the pandemic years focus people’s attention on mortality and morbidity and even then only slight rises were evident and considered to be a “spike”. There can be lots of reasons why this has been the case, from Insurers seeing that they are “doing enough” to maintain market share in a shrinking provider landscape to distributors not giving it the focus it perhaps merits, the latter not being down to anything other than being too busy with Mortgage and Conveyancing timescales and not “trusting” signposting as a viable alternative. The market needs innovation and it perhaps doesn’t lie in the product areas but the process and ease of access to some if not all products. Underwriting has created barriers – again not necessarily the “fault” of Insurers, perhaps more so Reinsurers who are demanding more and more comfort that they aren’t going to see Claims go through the roof and are forcing more post samples, which in turn ties up New Business underwriters in many Insurer firms and guess what? – That slows down new business underwriting and service which causes clients to abandon the process The recent AMI Protection Viewpoint told us that nearly 50% of Customers who abandoned the Protection journey staggeringly did so after quotation stage, which may point to alternatives not being offered and the price frightened them. One can only surmise that the risks hadn’t been fully explained in each of the three product areas OR that the need for all three at outset was not the only solution to supporting them when they needed it. From a Paradigm Protect point of view I am delighted to say that we are “bucking the trend” for Protection sales this year being significantly ahead of last year in a flat marketplace– so again as ever a big thanks go to all who have supported u. In terms of Life and associated covers, of course commercially it makes sense to review a client’s needs every time the opportunity arises whether it be Remortgage or Product Transfer. This very much includes General Insurance too. We are seeing Buildings and Contents Cover rise at a pretty strong rate due to general cost of living rises and many of our firms are taking
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI4MjU4NQ==