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Martin Werth, managing director of Fortis, said intermediaries could waste valuable time and money chasing inefficient providers which could also result in the loss of clients.

He said: "Brokers should be looking to differentiate the service they are receiving from different insurers.

"They themselves have back office costs in managing the relationship between the insurer and the customer to keep it all on track."

Mr Werth said commission and premium cost may not be the best way for advisers to distinguish between providers.

He said: "They may find the net value added to their business is less than a company who can provide a lot more straight through processing who have automated back office systems so that their team know exactly what is going on without ringing around and therefore business gets on the books a lot faster."

Mr Werth praised Legal & General for the development of its OLP Connect system, which the provider said gave advisers access to its back office.

Jo Roberts, director of Staffordshire-based IFA Needanadviser, said she would like to see insurers adopt similar systems as wrap providers where the adviser can see all the clients investment history and value.

She said: "If we take over a client's policy, we will send a letter to the provider asking if they can send us all the details about it.

"That can take up to 10 working days and you often have to ring again. If you could have access to client records that were updated daily, it would save my staff 40 per cent of their time.

"I have staff who are specifically there to chase and deal with providers and they would be able to dedicate 40 per cent of their time to other work so if other providers were to do this, it could not come soon enough for me."