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CV: Mr Mallon has worked in the insurance industry for nine years, having joined Scottish Provident in 1999. Delivering business solutions within e-commerce, he was involved specifically in developing electronic quotes, application and underwriting solutions. In his current role at Axa, Mr Mallon is responsible for delivering the strategy for the Axa Protection Account, which was launched in the UK in 2005. He has an MBA from Edinburgh University and a business degree from Herriot-Watt University.

MA: What have been the main barriers to selling protection in the past?

IM: From a mortgage adviser's point of view you are sitting with the end customer who has taken out a mortgage in the very difficult circumstances we are all in. You have asked them hundreds of questions to get the mortgage arranged and the customer has been through quite an emotional experience with the house and their mortgage. Having got the mortgage, the adviser has developed a strong relationship with them and helped them get that dream home. Now, for the first time, the mortgage adviser is going to try to sell them a protection policy. The problem is when it comes to selling protection at the end of it with buildings and contents, mortgage payment protection insurance and life insurance in total you have 200 questions to ask to complete those three sales. The consumer can understand the need that if they get ill or are made unemployed they need life insurance not many younger first-time buyers think about becoming critically ill or dying. So part of the problem is advisers have to move the customer mindset and how they think about this product and also take them through a more difficult selling process. What they need to do that is time. One thing life insurance has not generally lent itself to is speed.

MA: How are you working to ensure the protection sales process can be sped up?

IM: What the industry had built was a two-wheeled car. Everyone was working frantically to improve it and did not realise if they put a third or fourth wheel on it they would have a much faster car. The process needed completely redesigning to give the adviser more time so they can sell it and also make it quicker to process. When selling the product you need to be able to demonstrate you are adding value to the customer. You could just explain the basic need for the product and ask them what would happen if they died and get them into the right mindset. They then have choices of how much to they choose to protect. While you may have saved time on the sales process you have now added time with choices and that is where a competitive menu like that offered by the Axa Protection Account comes in. What you can do is if you are selling to a couple and the monthly premium for critical illness was £60 and that was too much for them then you could look at the menu of products and finding a combination that is right for them. When you requote normally you then have to go through the question process again. Advisers say they get a person interested and then run out of time. With menus you have a range of products such as life only, joint life or critical illness and you get all that on one screen that can then be discussed with the customer. With the products sat on screen you can play with it and change products from joint to single life, change the sum assured downwards or put the premium in there and see what cover that would give your client. The system is very flexible and it is designed for the adviser to have an interaction with the customer. What that interaction is doing is adding value to the intermediary and the customer.

MA: You have referred to price and the barrier to sales this can have. Has the competition between insurance providers to undercut each other on price benefited customers and advisers?

IM: We should be competitive premium wise as well and we are competitive. A lot of pricing has gone down because people are healthier and living longer and that is being passed on to the customer. It is not just about a total price war. People are obsessed with price. If I had not worked in financial services perhaps I would have gone and bought life insurance online and bought life only. Because I am in financial services I have not bought online, I have not bought life only and I have gone through tele-underwriting. People think it is a straightforward product but it is not. For example, with critical illness we have double mastectomy cover and we also have hospitalisation benefits. These are interesting things we have in our products but the most interesting thing we have with our products is tele-underwriting. We have re-engineered the process and we have yet to reject a claim made under tele-underwriting. It is the best way of collecting information and therefore we will pay the claim.

MA: How vital is tele-underwriting and mortgage advisers to your protection proposition and what form does your tele-underwriting take?

IM: When it comes to selling something like critical illness it must be intermediated because it must be explained. You have to explain the underwriting to people and why it is so important. If you underwrite you can claim right. With tele-underwriting our application process becomes shorter than a buildings and contents application as it goes down to around 30 questions. We get 80 per cent of our customers processed in five days through tele-underwriting. That is much more like a general insurance sale. Advisers know when they go through this process they are going to get their clients on risk quickly, it gives them space to do the selling and they can be confident that we are going to pay the client's claims because they have gone through a rigorous underwriting process. A survey of our customers showed 99 per cent were satisfied. The tele-underwriting process is absolutely ideal for mortgage advisers as it is fast and short. That is what you really need for something where protection is at the end of the process.

MA: Do you think it is easier for mortgage advisers to offer protection insurance because of the economic downturn?

IM: It will be harder as the cost of a mortgage has increased. People are going to be tight for money but the lack of income for mortgage advisers means more are looking to sell protection and they know this will mean they are treating their customers fairly. Not selling this product is against treating customers fairly. Customers need this product but advisers have been reluctant to sell it in the past because they are aware of the problems but if we can help them with the sales process, give them piece of mind and with selling to budget then that is an easier sell.

MA: How has the FSA's treating customers fairly principles affected protection?

IM: Protection is vital for intermediaries and for us. What we have done is putting paying claims at the heart of what we do. Our purpose is to pay claims. Most life insurance companies do not have a reputation for paying claims but that is the number one driver of what we do. That is why we re-engineered the process because we felt it was not always working. We had an instance with our tele-underwriting that a claim came in and the document sitting there had no evidence of a related condition. We then listened to the tele-underwriting tape recording and found the customer had mentioned it but the relatively new tele-underwriter had not picked up on it. That is a really good example of just how important tele-underwriting is for paying claims. It is a very powerful tool and makes it an easier sell than buildings and contents or MPPI.

MA: What are the main benefits to mortgage advisers who offer protection?

IM: Protection meets a client's needs. Life insurance is the most important bit of protection you can buy. If your house burnt down you still have the land. If you die you do not have the land or the house. It is all gone. From an income perspective mortgage advisers have to make a profit. Whether you are in the heyday of a large number of mortgage sales or less sales you should still be selling protection to generate that commission. Especially now, you should be selling protection. A lot of advisers have been put off selling protection because of the way life companies have historically dealt with it. Axa Protection Account is absolutely ideal for these people. It gives them a fair price, a competitive price and a very strong product as well.

MA: Do you expect mortgage advisers to sell more protection policies in 2008?

IM: We do learning and development for advisers and the demand has been huge. That indicates mortgage advisers really want to start selling protection and if they need more help with understanding the process they should contact Axa.