Protection News - February 2012
30/03/2012Aviva and Ageas helping advisers to talk about protection
Aviva has launched an adviser awareness campaign to help IFAs engage with clients and their families when discussing their protection needs.
Timed in conjunction with the re-launch of the firm’s life cover adverts featuring Paul Whitehouse, the project is aimed at helping advisers overcome barriers when discussing family protection with their clients.
The activity focuses on the positive aspects of family life and encourages advisers to open up conversations around ‘What makes your family special?’ and by switching the emphasis away from protection products towards individual family life Aviva believes advisers will be able to change the way people talk and think about protection insurance.
Louise Colley, head of protection sales and marketing for Aviva said: “Family life is such a compelling topic, it really helps to get consumers engaged - so we’re helping advisers to shift the focus of conversation away from finances and on to families.”
The insurer has also agreed a partnership with childhood bereavement charity Grief Encounter to provide support to all claimants with children.
Meanwhile, new research from Ageas Protect has highlighted that a third of parents don’t know if their existing critical illness policy includes children’s cover.
The provider is now calling for advisers and policyholders to check their existing policies to see if it extends to covering their children, which is an important element of CI cover.
Most advisers will be aware that modern critical illness policies available from the majority of UK protection providers include children’s critical illness cover, while raising the issue provides advisers with the opportunity to inform customers about the value of their existing cover, especially parents.
Both pieces of work are to be welcomed as they give advisers good reasons to talk to their clients about protection – beyond that of merely switching to save money.
How advisers choose to introduce the subject of protection with the clients varies from one to the next, however, with TV advertising, family related questions, positive claims statistics, a falling reliance on state benefits and last but not least rising protection rates on the horizon, there has perhaps never a better time to talk about protection.
Still not writing life policies in trust? Another reason to think again…
I recently heard a story about a single life policy, which was taken out to protect a mortgage, which had paid out when the policyholder sadly passed away.
As the policy was called ‘Mortgage Protection’, which is typical for mortgage related life insurance, his new family expected the money to pay off the mortgage in the house where they were living.
However, as the policy was not written in trust (nor on a ‘life of another’ basis), in the absence of a will, and as he was not yet fully divorced from his ex-wife, the monies went to the ex-wife, in-full, leaving his new partner (and their children) struggling to afford to live in the house.
Many people presume that the main benefit of writing life policies in trust is to avoid potential inheritance tax, but it is also to make sure the monies are paid swiftly, and to the right person, as decided by the life assured.
News
• Bright Grey has added to its simplified products offering with the launch of its Lifestyle Plus plan
• LV= paid 91% of income protection and 88% of critical illness claims in 2011
• Ageas UK has written 89% more protection business in 2011 than it did the year before
• Lloyds Bank is to strip five current and former senior bankers bonuses over their role in the mis-selling of payment protection insurance, according to the Telegraph
• PruProtect has criticised insurers’ use of subject access requests to bypass GP reports when obtaining customers’ medical information
• The government could force people judged too sick or disabled to be employed to do unlimited unpaid work or risk losing their benefits
• Legal & General has made a series of amendments to its group critical illness product including coverage for more illnesses
• Bright Grey has revealed that it has paid out 91% of critical illness claims in the last six months of 2011
• Two more cancer drugs have been provisionally banned for NHS after it was decided they were too expensive for the potential results
• The Protection Review and Income Protection Task Force have produced a list of the top ten things consumers should be aware of when purchasing income protection
• Holloway Friendly Society paid 96.2% of its income protection claims in 2011, up from the previous twelve months 95.5%
• Openwork is launching a mobile app that enables advisers to obtain protection quotes via Apple devices
• Stonebridge Group has added Legal & General to its limited life and protection panel
This column first appeared in Mortgage Introducer magazine
