Expert insight, analysis and commentary across the entire protection industry.
by ProtectionReview 07/10/13
Today I am thinking about perception. Why do so many of us perceive that we are immune from catastrophe? What is ‘catastrophe’? How do you make a risk assessment? I perceive a catastrophe as being loss of life, loss of health, loss of home or loss of income. Others may have a different perception. The insurance policies that are compulsory in the UK are motor insurance (if you drive) and employers’ liability (if you are an employer). We buy buildings insurance and life insurance when our mortgage lender insists. We are frequently told that we under insure our house contents…
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by ProtectionReview 24/09/13
At the end of the summer I spent two weeks on holiday in Fiscardo Bay, at the northern end of Kefalonia – a beautiful spot, ideal for reflection and recharging the batteries. The harbour is ever-busy with the comings and goings of yachts; they come in all sizes and nationalities, and are united by a common passion for sailing. This started me thinking, and my thoughts turned to my days in marketing agencies, and the battles we often had with big clients who wanted to sponsor an event. “Why?” and “What is the commercial purpose?” were the first two questions…
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by ProtectionReview 17/09/13
If you work for a life office on the protection side you could be forgiven for thinking that the actions of your investment cousins don’t really impact upon you. Well, you’d be wrong. I have been saying for as long as I can remember that for advisers who advise across a mix of product lines, the actions of the brand as a whole has a big impact on whether we like you or not. This maxim has been brought into sharp focus of late with the over-eager actions of certain life offices, to legacy trail commission on pre-RDR investment business.…
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by ProtectionReview 03/09/13
When you see the beat of a heart that you’ve just implanted into your patient, the feeling of triumph that course through your veins is exceptional. Telling your patients family that the transplant was a success and watching the joy on their faces, visiting your patient and watching them recover – the feeling of pride in your profession is overwhelming. But then watching them and their family slip into financial poverty is heart breaking. It’s hard to believe that thirty years have passed since my vision for critical illness insurance became a reality. It was a long hard journey to…
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by ProtectionReview 03/09/13
Someone told me they saw my twitter breakdown the other week and asked if I was now ok? While the comment was somewhat tongue in cheek, the question referred to half a dozen tweets I posted while reading a hundred or so award entries, which is enough to send anyone into meltdown. I dread to think how many award entries I’ve read over the last ten years, but its well into the thousands. Unfortunately many of them, in fact most of them, have been and continue to be pretty awful. I should caveat briefly that I’ve also written dozens of…
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