Critical IllnessApr 25 2018

How to boost uptake of critical illness cover

  • Learn about the likelihood of getting ill and the financial impact on households.
  • Grasp what are the main barriers preventing people from taking out critical illness cover.
  • Understand what the protection industry can do to help advisers talk to clients about critical illness.
  • Learn about the likelihood of getting ill and the financial impact on households.
  • Grasp what are the main barriers preventing people from taking out critical illness cover.
  • Understand what the protection industry can do to help advisers talk to clients about critical illness.
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Approx.30min
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How to boost uptake of critical illness cover

Likewise, most advisers haven’t been to medical school, and they probably don’t want to. To be able to explain the policy to clients, they need to understand it themselves.

There’s nothing wrong with adding conditions if the coverage provides genuine value to some buyers. But insurers need to get the basics right first – keeping it simple with compelling coverage for the conditions that really matter, and which make up the vast majority of claims.

Advisers have a responsibility to make sure they explain the options well to clients.

That means not just understanding the cover but understanding what the client's demands and needs are, as well as what they are looking to protect.

Is a lump sum on a diagnosis going to provide what they need – or would income protection be more appropriate?

If they can clear the mortgage with a critical illness policy, what will they live off afterwards?

Advisers need to understand both the policies and the people they’re selling to, so they can guide them to the right solution.

Time to talk

None of this is going to happen if advisers don’t raise the issue, however.

Protection is a product that’s sold, not bought; customers won’t raise it themselves usually, and advisers can only tackle their clients’ misconceptions and needs if they have the discussion with them and understand their protection needs.

Advisers have a duty of care to outline the risks; what they could mean for an individual or family; and how the policies can help.

Mortgage advisers have a crucial role to play in this awareness as the mortgage application process is an ideal opportunity to map out the financial risks of a critical illness to the ability to keep up repayments.

But it’s not the only opportunity.

For a start, there are the other life events advisers will hear about if they start the conversation.

Legal and General Intermediary's 'Deadline to Breadline' studies found that having a child is an even more common trigger than buying a property when it comes to persuading people to take cover.

Illness, too, is a powerful prompt to consider insurance to cover future incidents; it’s harder to think serious illness is something that happens to other people when you’ve already suffered it yourself.

Humanise the issue

If we’re really going to see a change in the numbers of people covered, the industry can’t afford to wait for those big occasions to raise the issue – and advisers and providers don’t have to.

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