Expert insight, analysis and commentary across the entire protection industry.
by ProtectionReview 07/04/15
On Monday 6th April the Easter Bunny brought some good news to people aged over 55. The advent of the new pension freedoms means that, as an alternative to taking an annuity income from their Defined Contribution pension schemes, they can now also take their fund as cash, or simply leave it in the fund to pass on to their heirs. Around the theme of ‘Your Money-Your Choice’, to help people understand their pension options, the Government are providing a new free and impartial national advice service called ‘PensionWise’. The service will take potential retirees through a series of steps…
read more »
by ProtectionReview 04/03/15
I have on the desk in front of me a book published in 1962: Anatomy of Britain by Anthony Sampson and an ABI publication from 2014: Identifying the Challenges of a Changing World. Most of this article focuses on the lessons that we might choose to learn from the ABI document, but it was a lucky accident that the Anthony Sampson book was next to it and that is where we start. Sampson was a senior journalist for the Observer. In his introduction he writes: “I first became interested in writing a book about the workings of Britain when I…
read more »
by ProtectionReview 09/02/15
What is the main problem with living a long life? You may well ask what I mean by problem; after all who wants to die young, apart from Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend and I’m not sure they were entirely sincere. The modern world has bought us many benefits, one of which is greatly extended life, so why should that pose a problem? We are living very much longer than we have for most of our existence as a species, and not just in the developed Western societies. Globally the number of centenarians is projected to rise 10-fold in the…
read more »
by ProtectionReview 28/01/15
They say that you can divide the whole consumer economy up into something over 100 separate sectors, from Alcoholic Beverages through to Yellow Fats (no Z). And when you do, and you examine them all, you’ll find that there isn’t a single one in which the cheapest brand is the market leader. Yes, certainly, in every sector you’ll find some consumers who take pleasure, or something, in buying the cheapest. But I myself am not one of them, and I daresay you’re not either. If I suggested we meet for lunch in the cheapest restaurant in town, and came to…
read more »
by ProtectionReview 23/01/15
Paul Jenkins, Medical Director of the European Scanning Centre, one of the UK’S leading diagnostic imaging centres, based in Harley Street, explains why standard health checks can give insurance clients a false sense of security. We set up the European Scanning Centre 12 years ago because it was clear that the technology was becoming available to give us an extremely accurate insight into our current and future health. When most people say they have been for a check-up and given a clean bill of health, they are usually referring to a basic GP assessment that looks at blood pressure and…
read more »
