The Finance & Technology Research Centre (F&TRC) has launched a function allowing advisers to compare and review child critical illness policies between providers.
The financial research consultants have added the feature to its existing adviser hub, Quality Analyser, in response to the "considerable" evolution of the child critical illness market.
Advisers can now compare policies across the market using data analysis across age, condition type and insurers.
Each insurer’s child definitions have been scored from zero to 100, based on the likelihood of a client being able to claim in the event of a child’s diagnosis.
In an effort to help advisers compare propositions, F&TRC have sourced age banded incidence data identifying which conditions are more prevalent at different ages of childhood.
An F&TRC spokesman said: "By capturing the child’s date of birth, gender and the term of the plan, we are able to understand which conditions a child is most likely to suffer from during the policy and apply weightings accordingly to produce an overall comparison of insurer child critical illness propositions."
Adam Higgs, head of research in adviser services at F&TRC, said the market has "evolved considerably" since it was first introduced in the 1990s.
He said: "Advisers have flagged to us that trying to compare the various options and to know what offering is best for their clients is now incredibly complex.
"With F&TRC using an age-banded approach to review the child critical illness conditions available, advisers will be better placed to focus on the cover that is most appropriate for their clients, given the age and gender of their child or children."
Roy McLoughlin, associate director at Cavendish Ware, said the child critical illness market is continuously evolving and this approach to comparing the cover available will be valuable.
He said: "Firstly, in having a better understanding of the various conditions covered and then crucially to be able to focus on the conditions that will really matter to my clients.
"Also, most importantly, establishing the providers who are most likely to pay a claim. The level of detail will enable advisers to ensure we continue to identify the best possible cover for clients in an increasingly complex market."
rachel.addison@ft.com
