Aviva pushes for IP to form part of mortgages package

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Aviva pushes for IP to form part of mortgages package

Aviva has called for income protection to form part of the mortgage process, stating that it is integral to any discussion that surrounds property lending.

Speaking at an event held yesterday (24 February) in the House of Commons, Julie Higman, income protection product manager at Aviva , said that anyone taking out a mortgage should have income protection recommended and discussed as part of their journey.

“Also anyone that’s renting a property, as they’ve got those same outgoings that anyone with a mortgage has got, so its just as important there,” she added.

Earlier this month, the Pink Network questioned why the regulator did not make income protection conversations mandatory as part of the affordability processes implemented under the Mortgage Market Review, as it issued a decree to all members to tackle protection with all new mortgage clients.

They told all advisers to discuss income protection with their clients from their very first mortgage meeting. Mark Graves, Pink’s director, argued that it was a “moral obligation” to make sure every client can understand the full implications of what will happen if they lose their job or are off sick from work for any length of time.

Ms Higman also stressed that it is more than just giving money to people every month, “there is so much more that we can do to help people”.

Looking towards the upcoming election, Helen White, head of protection at the Association of British Insurers, summarised the organisation's standpoint by saying she would like to see the next government put in place measures that engage people with income protection within the workplace and encourage employers and employees to use it.

“Because of the kind of psychological and emotional barriers that we were talking about, we believe that is the most realistic and pragmatic people to solve that problem is by trying to engage people through the workplace,” she commented.

ruth.gillbe@ft.com