Many still not progressing with online applications
By Peter Carvill
Intermediaries' two biggest concerns in protection business are new regulations and the varying standards of paperwork produced for applications, the latest COVER Insight survey has shown.
Talking to delegates at last month's COVER Protection Forum, Heather McKenna, senior research executive at Incisive Media, revealed that new regulations were cited by over three-quarters of respondents as one of the key issues confronting the industry, with nearly a fifth stating that they had stopped recommending certain products due to regulatory requirements.
The online systems used for applications also received a rough ride in the survey with 40% saying they still submitted paper applications because some providers lacked the online capability for some of their products. There was, however, a strong correlation between the best online systems and those being used with The Exchange - which was named by advisers as the best third-party portal.
Andy Milburn, IFA market manager for Royal Liver, said that there are a lot of providers that are scared to switch from paper.
Roy McLoughlin, an IFA at Master Adviser, said: "One does often feel like sending in paper applications because of the extra time an online application can sometimes take. This position is exacerbated when various head offices assure you that these are faultless systems."
The survey was conducted online over six weeks with over 270 intermediaries taking part.
