The programme already provides advisers with a detailed ranking system and knowledge base of current and historic CI policies to help them assess the most appropriate policy for their client.
CIExpert has introduced a ‘personalised predictive analysis’ tool as a free upgrade to the system. The new tool takes into account the client’s exact family situation and uses that information to assess the likelihood of a future claim and payment level.
This data is then analysed to calculate the value of a plan for that specific client, taking into account the conditions included and the likelihood of such conditions for the consumer.
Other updates to the service include allowing brokers to choose between level or decreasing plans and input the plan term, which can help calculate the overall value of any particular plan.
CIExpert also now allows advisers to value the impact of children’s cover — which has become an increasingly common add-on to CI policies — and the system now analyses adult age ranges which link to mortgage terms and run beyond age 70.
The system also produces summary or comprehensive reports for advisers. The summary is designed for client use while the comprehensive version can be used for compliance purposes to show why a certain policy was recommended.
According to CIExpert, it has "never been so difficult" to compare the values of competing critical illness plans with 140 conditions in use and more being added at a steady rate.
On top of this, no two insurers agreed on which conditions should be included or match on the claim wording used, the firm said.
Alan Lakey, director at CIExpert, said: “Advisers want a speedy and simple to use tool which compares every condition using past incidence to assess the values.
“They also need to produce a personalised report, which explains the rationale behind the recommendation and provides a solid compliance back-up.”
The new system has been trialled by a number of protection firms over the past few months.
David Mead, joint head of protection at St James’s Place Protection Planning, said the improved service was easier to read, more user friendly and helped make a client report more bespoke.
He added: “We’ve been CIExpert users for several years now and can’t imagine how anyone could provide critical illness advice without this tool at their fingertips. CIExpert forms an integral part of our advice process.”
Lucy Brown, head of protection at L&C Mortgages, said: “CIExpert remains the go-to tool for the comparison of critical illness and stands head and shoulders above its competition.
“It adds peace of mind that we’re ensuring customers have the most comprehensive cover with the provider that’s most likely to provide the best outcome for them.”
She added the upgrade helped advisers “unravel the ever more complicated range of definitions” and consider the varying value of full term and decreasing policies.
Just last month advisers told FTAdviser that CI policies that had simple illness definitions could become more commonplace as advisers said complicated policy terms could be off-putting for clients.
imogen.tew@ft.com
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