Industry
Advisers and insurers have come under attack from CWC research for failing to clearly communicate the benefits of income protection (IP) and critical illness (CI) to consumers.
Details from research among distributors and providers entitled, Reinventing Income Protection, from CWC Research, Le Beau Visage and Munich Re, has shown there is mass confusion about the product offerings.
Clive Waller, head of CWC Research slammed insurers for focusing on competitors and not clarity.
"Insurers spend too long differentiating income protection products from those of their rivals. This is not clever as it causes confusion and more work for advisers," he said.
Waller added that the popularity of CI and the subsequent backlash when certain claims are declined can also be attributed to providers' unclear literature.
"There is a significant level of ignorance among advisers of the causes and nature of long-term disability. The hype of critical illness marketing has convinced consumers, media and advisers that heart attacks and cancer are major causes. They are not," he said.
Commenting, Kevin Carr, senior adviser at LifeSearch, said: "That is overly critical, but I do think many advisers fail to realise the complexity of different products."
