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This month Legal & General's adviser confidence index showed intermediaries are no longer expecting buyers to start beating a path to their door any time soon.

The findings of L&G's poll came as the Council of Mortgage Lenders reported mortgage lending for house purchase remained subdued in March but remortgaging levels held up well in the face of funding constraints.

The number of loans for house purchase declined to 46,500 in March, down 1 per cent from 47,200 in February and 48 per cent from 89,000 in March 2007.

In the face of such facts mortgage advisers polled by Legal & General have clearly realised the credit crunch has bitten, things are not going to get back to normal quickly and they need to find alternative sources of revenue.

Stephen Smith, director of housing for L&G, said rather than fall into doom and gloom, mortgage advisers should realise this is the ideal time for to turn to protection to plug the income gap they could experience as a result of falling procuration fee revenue.

In the past intermediaries have moaned about the length of time it takes to arrange a protection policy for a client or that the cost associated with insurance put many consumers off taking out cover. In 2008 we are seeing increasing reports of rising repossession figures, soaring fuel bills and memories of last summer's floods. The need for protection is being highlighted for mortgage advisers' clients on the front page of national newspapers almost everyday.

With fewer clients coming through mortgage advisers' doors it makes sense to talk about taking out some form of insurance with the more than 1m remortgaging this year to make sure people keep the roof above their heads.

As this supplement will show in recent years protection providers have changed the way they work to make it easier for you to do business with them.

Tele-underwriting, application forms in plain English and clearer sales literature have been put together to enable intermediaries who were less than comfortable recommending protection policies to feel secure about offering advice on this area.

Industry experts have ruled a £2.3 trillion protection gap exists. Wise intermediaries would take the credit crunch as an opportunity to plug the gap for their clients, protect them from economic turmoil and earn themselves commission at the same time.