31 January 2018
My New Year's resolutions
The end of January is often when New Year's resolutions are broken, with abandoned diet plans and gym memberships going unused. But this is also a good time to think about what we want to achieve professionally in 2018. With that in mind, I'd like to share with you what I'll be aiming to accomplish this year.
Keep talking about welfare reform
The impact of welfare reform will continue to be felt throughout 2018, with April marking the first anniversary of changes to bereavement benefits. According to the Childhood Bereavement Network, 91% of parents will be supported for a shorter time under the new system (up to 18 months), than they would have been under the Widowed Parent's Allowance (WPA), which was paid until the youngest child left full time education. With the average claim period under WPA being 5-6 years, this means that many under the new benefit (receiving £350 per month vs ~ £460 per month previously) will have a lower total amount of support.1
April is also when Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI), the only safety net in place for many families who are unable to pay their mortgage, changes from being a benefit to a repayable loan. This change impacts both SMI claims in progress and new claims, making the issue relevant to all mortgage clients.
I'll look to raise awareness on how these and other welfare changes, such as Universal Credit, will impact on protection needs. But I ask that you also raise these with your clients whenever you have family or mortgage protection conversations.
Show the true value of Protection
This is one we can only tackle together as an industry. Continued economic uncertainty, combined with stagnant wage growth and increased living/transport costs, means pressure on people's disposable income. With money tight, we need to work effectively to demonstrate the value of financial protection advice, products and services.
You can help by challenging the perceptions clients have about protection. Highlight to them that even some protection can be better than none at all. Research by Macmillan Cancer Support shows that four in five people with cancer are, on average, £570 a month worse off as a result of their cancer diagnosis.2 So even £25k of critical illness cover, could help negate the cost impact for a period of over 3½ years.
Demonstrate we deliver on our promises (share the industry's strong ABI/provider claims statistics). And show them that with added value financial resilience services such as Scottish Widows Care, provided in partnership with RedArc, protection products now deliver real benefits to clients and their families, even if they never have to claim on the policy.
This can really help move the conversation from the purely financial into the more emotional and makes insurance much more tangible. This is something I really want to talk about more this year.
Embrace new technology
Last year was a positive one for the industry from a technological perspective, with IRESS, iPipeline, LifeQuote and the Finance & Technology Research Centre (F&TRC) all bringing innovation to the market. We need to continue to innovate in 2018, but I think there is scope to be more radical. Too often in the past we've used technology as a way to improve our existing processes, rather than looking to change radically how we serve our customers. The UnderwriteMe Comparison Service is a good example of a possible game changer, with one underwritten quote and application process that covers multiple providers. Although UnderwriteMe has been on the radar for a while, 2018 could be when the service comes of age, and I'll be looking to see how competitors react.
Helping you with your protection conversations
Finally I know there is a wealth of provider support out there in the form of tools and calculators (we've recently launched our new recommendation tool for instance). But something that can also be helpful is to talk about health awareness campaigns and other topical events. These can keep your protection conversations relevant and up to date, especially when you link them to other research and claims statistics. I'll certainly be using these when talking about the importance of financial protection.
With that in mind here is a list of events happening in the next couple of months to put in your diaries:
February
| Health Events |
Other Events |
| National Heart Month www.bhf.org.uk |
Universal Credit 7 day waiting period removed so claimant entitlement starts at day 1 |
| 2nd National Wear It Red Day www.chsf.org.uk |
Centenary of women's suffrage |
| 4th World Cancer Day www.worldcancerday.org |
|
March
So, I'm sure you'll agree, there's a lot to get on with this year. I'll write a blog post next December, letting you know how I've got on with my resolutions.
Source 1: Childhood Bereavement Network
Source 2: Macmillan Cancer Support