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We specialise in mortgages and protection but we are finding it increasingly difficult to get sensible sums assured for clients. Do you know which insurers would look at high sums assured to simply cover a large mortgage without the need for a complicated forms about assets, income and so on? Lenders and the government are concerned people are not properly protected yet the insurance industry seems to have created a gap between what people need and what they are prepared to offer. What do others think? Diane Saunders, Diane Saunders - Financial Advice, Leeds

Mark Jones, Friends Provident, London

Dear Diane,

At Friends Provident we have recognised the increase in demand for higher sums assured as a consequence of the rise in house prices in the last few years.

As such, we recently introduced new evidence requirements and increased the limits for financial underwriting on life cover, life cover with critical illness and standalone critical illness cover thereby enabling more straight through processing of applications.

We now only require financial evidence on applications for personal and business protection cases if the sum assured exceeds £600,000 for life cover or £350,000 for critical illness cover.

In addition, for applications through our eSelect system, we will only request a financial underwriting questionnaire to be completed if the sum assured exceeds £1.5m for personal life cover or £600,000 for personal critical illness cover.

We ask for annual taxable earned income, which clients should be aware of from their P60s or annual tax return, and any details of existing cover in order to avoid over-insurance. We will also ask for a reason for the cover.

If the reason is to cover a loan or mortgage then we will ask for the loan details. To speed up the underwriting of applications we ask clients submit financial evidence as soon as possible.

Like any responsible provider we must ensure the reason for and the level of cover is justified and the client can afford to pay the premium. We have all seen the results of irresponsible underwriting in the mortgage market.

Mike Taylor, Axa Protection, London

Dear Diane,

As people take out bigger mortgages we are increasingly seeing applications for bigger sums assured to cover them.

For life insurance or critical illness cover applications that are taken out solely to cover a mortgage all we would usually need is a copy of the loan offer letter. That is the case even with mortgages up to £2m.

We would not require a financial questionnaire unless the customer was taking out a large amount of cover for another reason, such as to protect a business. In those cases we would issue a financial questionnaire to check the level of insurance requested is appropriate for the customer.

What is important is a flexible underwriting operation, where experienced underwriters are able to make common sense judgements on a case-by-case basis.

For example, a quick telephone call to the customer's IFA can often clarify the reasons behind a request for large amounts of cover and means there is no need to request further information.

For very large cases – life cover greater than £1m or critical illness cover more than £500,000 and income protection in excess of £50,000 a year - advisers can submit applications via our large case team. This gives advisers a dedicated underwriter to case manage the application and to be a single point of contact for all queries. The large case team also offers a pre-application helpline.

Peter Hamilton, Zurich, Portsmouth

It is true to say in recent years some companies have drifted away from providing cover for large sums assured and focused on high volume, lower premium business that can be submitted electronically and requires very little underwriting intervention.

At Zurich we are delighted to get this kind of business but also recognise the importance and value of large case business. Indeed, we have a dedicated large case underwriting team that does nothing else.

This team's role is to place large risks and coach advisers on what is needed to get such business on the books smoothly and quickly. From our perspective, financial underwriting is no harsher now than it has been in the last 20 years.

We would argue the process is now simpler and more flexible. Our rationale has always been to decide whether or not the cover proposed makes sense. For domestic mortgage protection we have written individual life policies in excess of £5m.

We are happy to start the medical underwriting before the financial details are available, although a number of other offices will wait for the financial underwriting to be completed. In short though, we like large cases. There are some insurance companies out there for whom big is beautiful.

Robert Morrison, Bright Grey, Edinburgh

Dear Diane,

When it comes to financial underwriting advisers and providers should be singing from the same hymn sheet. When advisers are arranging the appropriate amount of cover for their clients, the role of financial underwriting should be unobtrusive and a complimentary part of the process rather than a barrier.

In recent times, the phenomenal growth we have witnessed in house prices has naturally resulted in larger mortgages and in turn this has been reflected in increased sums assured.

While financial underwriting limits do vary from company to company there have been several companies, including Bright Grey, who have raised their limits to keep in step with the wider housing market.

In the case of Bright Grey, this is reviewed on a regular basis with a view to making it easy to do business with us. This in turn helps to speed up the underwriting process for larger cases and also helps the adviser's clients get cover more quickly.

If advisers have any concerns about a large case they are submitting it is a good idea to contact the provider to check their requirements or any restrictions they may impose if you are recommending separate cover for each person in a couple.

This helps avoid the disappointment and frustration for both the adviser and the client by setting expectations about the level of cover that can be obtained and the information they will need to provide.