SEPTEMBER FORUM PART 2 – Consumer and adviser priorities when selecting protection products

​This insight is the second in our series of output content following our recent September Protection Forum. For our second session we focused on ‘what matters to advisers and consumers when selecting protection products‘. You can read part 1 of our September forum output, focusing on Consumer Duty, here. 

In this session we discussed the importance advisers and consumers place on things like cost, quality and underwriting considerations when it comes to protection insurance.

The hierarchy of importance placed on certain things will shape and inform how advisers and insurers market their products and services to consumers and the recommendations that are given. This topic is particularly important against the backdrop of rising living costs, as clients make tough decisions about what to spend their money on and the value they choose to place on protection insurance. Consumer Duty is likely to also have an impact, particularly in shifting the focus to fair value and suitability of products to meet consumer needs.

To kick the session off we head from The Exeter’s Shaun Ware on some interesting new research they’ve published, examining the health and financial fears of UK workers. Amongst other things, the research examined the importance of things such as cost, customer service and valued added benefits to consumers, as well as the quality of a proposition.

What followed was an interesting discussion on the importance of cost and value, alongside other considerations such as product quality. We also heard from Andrew Wilkinson, director of protection advice firm Moneysworth, on the challenges facing clients with medical conditions and how often underwriting considerations can trump other factors when recommending a protection solution. Andrew’s firm specialises in finding cover for clients living with health conditions, particularly chronic conditions that can often severely limit the availability of protection options available to them.

Andrew provided an interesting and thought provoking view on why underwriting outcomes and affordability will be especially important to some clients, and also why the industry still has some way to go in offering appropriate solutions for clients with health conditions.

Click the audio playback below to listen to the full session.