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A Brief History of… Product Reviews - Andy Couchman - Protection Review

Finally, we look at what happens after a new or updated product is launched. Protection Review co-chairman Andy Couchman has reviewed well over 1,000 new products since 1994 and he seems to believe that gives him the right to give us a brief history of reviews of protection insurance products.   As long as there have been products to buy there have probably been product reviews too. Egyptian hieroglyphics; early cave paintings? Chances are someone either reviewed them or maybe one or two actually were reviews themselves. ‘It may be that Adam woz here, but he only wrote that because…
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Money and Marbles - Jo Throp - Krysalis

One of the big issues in any product design these days – and rightly so – is value-added benefits. Not whether we should offer them (we should…) but which ones, how, and how should we promote them. To be honest, I’m not sure we’re doing a very good job just yet. We’re still too engrossed in measuring value financially and less good at asking what are we really trying to achieve? We‘re too tick boxy. Perhaps that reflects our training, experience and culture and the fact that such benefits are still at an early stage in the product mix? To…
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Let the Adviser Advise - Alan Lakey - CIExpert

Having considered both insurers and reinsurers, the next element of the value chain is the distributor – the first contact most potential customers have with the product they will buy. If we ignore over 50s guaranteed acceptance whole life plans, protection insurance distribution is dominated by advisers, brokers and specialist intermediaries. So, are advisers always consulted before changes are made or new products are introduced? Alan Lakey is a top adviser and the founder of CIExpert, and his views on this important topic are telling…   Insurers often state that they market test new product designs with advisers and, as…
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Reassured by Reinsurance - Kuen Chik - Pacific Life Re

For most insurers, reinsurance is a key element in product design. Reinsurers not only take part of the risk (and that varies from insurer to insurer) but they also provide technical input and a range of other key support functions. Ultimately, they play a key role in pricing and underwriting too. Pacific Life Re’s Kuen Chik gives us the lowdown on product review from their viewpoint.   Product development in the protection industry has gathered pace in the last few years, with value-added services emerging as a rich platform for innovation. But progress has been slow when compared with other…
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The Creative Art of Protection - Jennifer Gilchrist - Royal London

Not every insurer looks at product development and design in the same way, so we also asked Jennifer Gilchrist of Royal London – one of the largest protection providers - for her views on the creative art of protection.   I have never thought of myself as being the creative type. While I can’t draw or paint, I like to think I can channel some of my creativity into designing propositions for the protection market – well we can’t all paint like Monet! I’ve worked in protection for more than 20 years, living through the ups and downs. But what…
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From the Original to Today - Martin Sincup - Holloway Friendly

Product development is a much more sophisticated art than in the past, so we have asked two insurers how they approach the challenges and the opportunities. We put various questions to each and first up, Martin Sincup of Holloway Friendly answers our questions about the product review process at the UK’s oldest IP provider: What's the process for deciding what product to update/design? Our strategy includes a proposition roadmap that looks a number of years ahead. We tend to score ideas against a wide range of things that help us understand how viable they are, or what we would need…
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The Good Ol’ Days? Er, No! - Andy Couchman, Protection Review

Back in the 1970s (yes, I am that old…) a new product made itself known if you worked for an insurer by the actuary announcing one morning that it would be launched on a particular date and with these premium rates. Most products followed a well-trodden path, so it was usually just premium rates and policy fees that determined how different you were from your competitors. The late and much-missed actuary Des Le Grys headed up Munich Re for many years and he used to tell the story of when, as a young actuary, his employer asked him to reprice…
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Changing the mindset from “Should Do” to “Will Do” by Steve Casey, Square Health

Steve Casey, Marketing Director, Square Health comments on the topics covered at the Protection Review Conference 2021. In the second week of December, The Protection Review ended the plethora of life and health conferences, seminars and award ceremonies. These had to be shoe-horned in between the various COVID guidelines issued by the Government as attempts to keep people safe and well here in the UK. Trending 19th on Twitter for the day, the conference promised much in terms of the future direction and ideas needed to promote the industry, protect the rights of consumers and building their trust. Did the…
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Engagement between client and adviser and value added services by Setul Mehta, Openwork

Setul Mehta, Head of Business Development & Adviser Services at The Openwork Partnership talks about the engagement between an adviser and their clients from the point of view of added-value services. Following a thought-provoking session on consumer trust, where it was clear that at the heart of everything, it’s the engagement between the client and the person they are talking to within our industry that has the biggest impact on their lives, it’s easy to say it’s what the payout brings? Or what the policy costs but actually when it came down to it, for Stephanie King it was all…
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Trust. Trust. Trust by Jiten Varsani, London Money

Jiten Varsani from London Money takes a close look at trust, a recurring topic from the Protection Review Conference 2021. Trust. Trust. Trust. Throughout this year’s Protection Review Conference, you could not miss the topic of ‘Trust’. Both amongst the speakers and throughout networking with industry colleagues. "Trust", from my adviser perspective, forms the basis of every stage within the Protection Planning process. From the moment of initial engagement, a client must trust that I am the right adviser for them. They must trust that from advice to application to underwriting to ongoing reviews and claim, they are in safe…
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To really build customer trust the ‘value exchange’ needs to be constant by Nick Telfer, Vitality

With Trust, Value and Engagement appearing as standout themes at this year’s Protection Review Conference, Vitality’s Nick Telfer looks into why protection needs to be more than just "peace of mind" I seem to remember that the last face-to-face Protection Review Conference was back on 11 July 2019. This was the day that England hammered Australia by eight wickets to go through to the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup. On 11 December 2021, the Protection Review provided another thought-provoking conference, however, the England Cricket team this time failed to deliver in the first Ashes Test in Brisbane. For…
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Avoiding negativity and building customer trust by Charlotte Nixon, Quilter Financial Planning

Charlotte Nixon, Proposition Director (Protection and Mortgages), Quilter Financial Planning talks about how we can avoid negativity and help to build customer trust. If you pick up a copy of any of the national papers and flick to the Money Section, you will invariably find a story about a protection product. Unfortunately, it is almost always negative. Whether we like it or not, negative news gets more attention but those in the industry know that these types of adverse stories about protection claims going wrong are outliers. However, consumers faced with these stories justifiably get wary and lose trust in…
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Good and bad complexity by Tim Smith, Hannover Re

Tim Smith, Head of Protection at Hannover Re talks about Good and Bad Complexity At the Protection Review Conference on 8th December, the topic of complexity in our industry cropped up in almost every session.  We heard how consumer trust is being eroded by the complexity of our products, with the numerous options and unintelligible definitions compounding the existing belief that insurers will do anything to avoid paying claims. However, we also heard that adding additional bells and whistles to our products, such as 24 hour GP services, has the potential to increase sales. I would like to unpick, briefly,…
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The emotional power of case studies by Susan Barclay, Scottish Friendly

Susan Barclay, Relationship Manager at Scottish Friendly talks about the emotional power of case studies. There were so many elements of the Protection Review conference that I very much enjoyed. Dusting off the business suit (I’m so over loungewear), meeting up with people in the industry for the first time in a while, and genuinely just catching up and having the opportunity to throw around a few ideas.  Not to mention so much variety on the stage to keep the audience engaged throughout the day. One stand out for me was the live case study interview with income protection claimant…
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Think adviser numbers are falling? Think again!

In research conducted by the Protection Review over a decade ago, a group of advisers questioned were pessimistic about their future and that of their peers, remembers Paul Yates. They predicted that the number of advisers in the UK would fall during the next decade. Not by much, but a predicted fall, nonetheless. When this research was repeated just two years later, the picture was even bleaker. This time respondents predicated a substantial decline in adviser numbers in the years to 2023. Thankfully, for all involved in the protection industry and for the future financial security of millions of families,…
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Have our distribution predictions come true?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, says Ron Wheatcroft. Predicting change is, at best, an educated guess based on what we know at the time. We've all done it and probably got it wrong! Ten years ago, we were emerging from an economic crisis. A seemingly endless round of consultations on the RDR was finally coming to an end. Tied sales forces accounted for almost 40% of new term policies and more than 56% of new income protection policies. Even then, tied sales volumes were in decline. New sales from IFAs and directly-authorised firms were doing OK and grew between 2006…
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10 years of Government policy and state benefit reform

Have Government policy and state benefit reform have been the biggest influences on business over the last 10 years, asks Johnny Timpson? Protection Review carried out protection colleague research in 2011, 2012 and 2013 asking the market what they thought the biggest influence on business would be in ten years’ time. In 2011, Government policy was seen as the likely biggest influence on business in 2021. Reform of State benefits was seen as the biggest action the Government could take to help protection sales in both 2011 and 2012. So, ten years on, have Government policy and state benefit reform…
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Is it time to revisit a generic Protection advertising campaign?

Way back in the noughties, it seemed obvious that in order to get consumers to buy the protection they should, we needed a generic advertising campaign, funded across the industry, to educate consumers as to the life and money risks they unwittingly run and the ease with which they can cover those risks off, says Tom Baigrie from LifeSearch. So I used LifeSearch’s retail clout to persuade insurers and reinsurers to contribute to a fighting fund and raised a total of well over £100,000 with almost all contributing. We spent the money getting famous consumer goods advertising agencies to research…
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Will Electronic Health Records finally see off GPRs?

One of the paradox’s the Protection industry faces, is our desire to get cases underwritten quickly, whilst at the same time, wanting to achieve a claims payment record of c100%, says David Mead from Future Proof 10 years ago, Protection Review carried out some research on the use of GPRs and many respondents suggested that they wouldn’t be required at application stage by 2021. Whilst there has been some excellent innovation over the last 10 years, about 20% of all applications still require additional medical information. It’s fair to say that the medical profession has been under enormous pressure for…
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Karla Edwards, The Protection Parent

I have learned so much about this role and industry over the past two years, but most importantly I have gained confidence in myself. Here are three tips that I would give any new adviser starting in this business. Tip 1. The first thing I realised whilst training to be a protection advisor is that I cannot expect everyone to have the same enthusiasm towards insurance as I do. Unfortunately, clients do not always understand the need or the worth of the product. I would feel very frustrated by the lack of care sometimes given towards the cover offered and…
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Chris Barnard, Drewberry

As a protection adviser, you would have heard the phrase "every client is different" and this is true. However, what is said less frequently but is as equally as true is that every adviser is different. What works for one adviser may not work for another. However, from my experience, there are three fundamental principles that if you are able to master and implement, will help you give far better advice. These principles are: Tip 1 - Talk less, listen more This seems like a remarkably simple concept yet it is consistently overlooked with damaging consequences. Rather than telling the…
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Brian Walters, Regency Health

Honing your advisory skills is a continual process of reflection and refinement - here are my three tips for advising on private medical insurance. Tip 1 - Understand your market The PMI market is full of nuance, from subtle differences in moratorium clauses to the way that the various insurers apply claims loadings, to differences in fee guidelines and directional-care programmes. When you combine these nuances with the more obvious differences between products, and then factor in different underwriting stances, it all adds up to a market that's more complex than it might first appear. Having an in-depth understanding of…
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Ben Burgess, LifeSearch

I arrived in London in 2017 with no UK work experience after studying geopolitics and Spanish at school in America.  My first job out of uni was in Chile to run an English language computer lab at the Chilean Naval Academy.  I met my wife in a Santiago hostel. My parents and grandparents were schoolteachers. I was the first in my family in the protection industry. Almost ANY authentic person can be a successful protection adviser. I am not trying to wild out on LinkedIn and teach you how to stunt on your peers with these knowledge darts. I practice…
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Matt Chapman, Plus Financial

When coaching advisers on how to advise and ‘sell’ protection, the three most important tips I would give would be to: Tip 1 - Focus on outcomes. I think that protection advisers underestimate the importance of their role. Anyone who has processed a successful claim will tell you the undeniable difference that protection makes when things go awry. When we make recommendations for protection insurances, we do so in the hope that our client will never need to make a claim. But what if they do? Are we confident that the recommendation we've made has resulted in the best possible…
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Mollie Burdge, Future Proof / St. James’s Place Protection Planning

Starting in the industry at 18 with no prior experience let alone financial service experience can be a daunting prospect. I was taught the following and these vital pointers have seen me well through my career so far! Tip 1 It is a good idea to absorb the experience of those around you, who have been in the industry a lot longer. I learnt from the start that it is great to have up to date product knowledge but when dealing with clients, selling the individual products simply does not work. Either for insurance uptake or lapse rates further down…
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Robyn Allen, Robyn Allen Solutions

When this topic was first put to me my mind immediately went into overdrive with all the useful little hints and tips I’ve picked up over the years, not the mention the acronyms, oh the acronyms! But. Then I thought about it. What do I wish I had been told as a fresh adviser, or rather what was I told that I still hold onto now? I’ve come up with my Top 3 (there’s a LOT more) Tips for Advisers, these are my ride or dies, my mantras, the key to my success! Ok, I may be getting carried away.…
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