Think Tank: New CI definition changes not sufficiently publicised to advisers
By Johanna Gornitzki
IFAs have been left in the dark about the new critical illness (CI) definitions after providers failed to give the changes enough publicity, it was revealed at COVER's latest Think Tank.
According to delegates at the roundtable, which looked at what impact the new Association of British Insurers (ABI) Statement of Best Practice for CI may have on the future of the product, advisers have not been given enough information about the guidelines, leaving many unaware about the new circumstances that came into effect at the beginning of April.
Roy McLoughlin, senior partner at Master Adviser, said he was "worried" there had not been enough publicity given.
"As an IFA, the only reason I know about the changes is because I am on several committees, but I can't recall any broker consultants coming to our offices and telling us anything about this. In fact, I just did a little experiment this morning and rang two up and said 'do you know if there is anything different about what has happened today [2 April]?' and they said no," he said.
Agreeing with McLoughlin, Alison Turner-Holmes, head of marketing, UK new business, at Scottish Provident, admitted that "we have heard that the Statement of Best Practice hasn't been communicated as widely as it should have been".
Also taking part in the debate, Andy Milburn, IFA market manager at Royal Liver, said this issue has arisen mainly because no one knew who should be responsible for educating the IFA community.
"The real issue here stems from the fact that people perceived that the ABI was responsible for communicating this with the industry. But the ABI only has a certain amount of resources," he said.
He added: "Every provider should have an educational website, should be offering training sessions for advisers, should be offering guides on what conditions are easier to claim on, what conditions are harder to claim on, what conditions have not changed, and, also, what the impact would be on claims."
According to a study conducted by the Exchange on behalf of Royal Liver, a month before the new definitions were implemented, some 48% of advisers were still unaware that CI definitions were changing and 91% said they had not received any training from a provider on these changes. The study questioned 503 advisers.
n For the full Think Tank debate, please see supplement
