Openwork has said it will be making changes to its protection systems over the course of 2017 to build on recent growth.
Philip Martin, the network’s marketing director, said the lack of adequate protection cover in the UK is “alarming”.
He said Openwork is keen to help its advisers meet the challenges presented by the protection gap, saying the company will “do its utmost” to address this issue.
Mr Martin said: “While we are pleased that, since 2015, Openwork has more than tripled the number of protection policies recommended to clients, we recognise we have much further to go.
“As such, we will be rolling out a system which will allow advisers to produce a combined income protection, critical illness and term assurance life cover quote.
“This will be augmented by a new process, which will identify and capture the reasons behind a sale or non-sale, giving advisers the information they need to improve their skills in this area.
“Protection is the cornerstone of our business – a key reason why we have dramatically enhanced our advice capacity here – and we are determined to be at the vanguard of efforts to ensure far fewer people and companies are under-insured in the coming months and years.”
Earlier this year Openwork said its members wrote 134,000 policies in 2015, covering a total of 160,000 individuals.
This was an increase of more than 200 per cent on the previous year when it wrote 44,000 policies.
At the end of 2014 Openwork announced it was increasing its protection advice capacity by taking on MetLife UK’s protection advisers, who numbered more than 750.
damian.fantato@ft.com
