Health awareness campaigns are crucial events for advisers to be aware of and to discuss with their clients.
November, for example, marks Lung Cancer Awareness month, Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month and Mouth Cancer Awareness month, among others.
These health awareness campaigns are growing in popularity and significance year-on-year and the levels of public involvement are also increasing annually.
Campaigns are backed by statistics which prove their impact and genuinely encourage the public to think carefully about their health and discuss any concerns they may have openly.
As a result, the public are more likely to begin exploring options for their own critical illness cover during awareness months and weeks, which makes these events the perfect time for advisers to raise the subject with their clients.
It is therefore a good idea for brokers to make a note of awareness events throughout the year and schedule them in their diaries, so that they have another opportunity to raise these vital issues with clients.
Such conversations can obviously be difficult, but they are essential, as they allow brokers to feel safe in the knowledge that they have successfully protected their client (or at least strongly advised them to take out critical illness cover) should there be an unfortunate circumstance where such cover is needed.
When is the right time to discuss critical illness cover?
In 2014, Legal and General paid out over £8.5m to women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and also discovered that the average age of a woman making a claim was just 49-years-old, which may come as a surprise to some.
Many women may feel that they are too young to need critical illness cover, but our research suggests otherwise.
It is therefore essential that critical illness cover is raised with all clients of all ages and that the benefits of this kind of policy are clearly explained.
After all, critical illness is not something that only affects ‘someone else’ – women in the UK now have a one-in-eight chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime, according to Cancer Research UK statistics.
Advisers must use whatever tools, strategies and talking points they can to prompt these important discussions.
For example, support could be expressed for Breast Cancer Awareness month by offering a donation of £10 to the charity for every policy sold during the month of October.
Increasing customer awareness is essential to driving protection policy up-take, as those who are aware of the risks are much more likely to take action.
This is where awareness campaigns, such as this month’s ‘Movember’ campaign for Men’s Health, help to catch the attention of the public and leave a lasting impression.
Deadline to the Breadline
