Individual Protection

In the first of a planned series of protection policy improvements, Ageas Protect has extended its existing partnership with Best Doctors and now gives all new customers access to expert medical opinions as soon as their policy goes on-risk.

Gender-neutral increases will move providers away from competing on price and restore a more consumer-led market, Friends Life has said.

Selling stuff is simple: a need must be identified, a product recommended to satisfy it and someone to sell it who gets paid for doing so. The protection world however is not so simple.

LV= is "intensely" monitoring gender split risks after reporting massive sales figures in the run up to G-Day.

The industry is continuing to report pre G-Day sales spikes as it moves beyond the deadline.

Advisers are actively acknowledging the importance of execution-only protection capability but are struggling to make viable propositions.

Exeter Family Friendly has noted an influx of new advisers into the protection arena post RDR.

There has been a growing noise across the industry about the ability of the aggressive aggregators to pilfer protection business from financial advisers.

Insurers need to act now on their failure to "engage adequately" with customers about gender neutralisation, an insight agency research has warned.

With sales of individual IP on the slide, industry is agreed something needas to be done. However, as Nicola Culley discovers, opinion is divided as to how to reverse the decline.