The demand for more technology is up this year, with most variations on the technological theme ahead of last year, according to The Protection Review.
This year's Protection Review book, a revieew of current trends in protection, which will be launched at its awards dinner on 11 July, polled the Personal Finance Society (PFS), the professional body for the financial planning profession in the UK, on attitudes and expectations towards technology.
It found social media remains the laggard, although that is up significantly from its very low base last year.
Most respondents (over 80%) said underwriting is the area which would most benefit from technology improvements. Underwriting is on a solid upward trend, with 84% of respondents expecting improvements in technology in this area.
Kevin Carr, chief executive of the Protection Review commented: "Given that technology now drives how most of us buy motor and household insurance, for example, this is perhaps a recognition that our industry is indeed falling behind and needs to invest more in technology to help grow business overall."
As a supplementary question, the Review asked about the use of social media.
That some advisers are behind many of their clients in the use of technology is reflected in the fact that almost half still do not have a smartphone and one in four works for a business that has no website.
• 72% said their firm had a website.
• 16% said they used Twitter.
• 51% said they used LinkedIn.
• 26% said they used Facebook.
• 64% said they liked to complete business online wherever possible.
• 14% disliked applying for cover online.
• 54% said the online experience was generally good.
• 22% said it was generally poor.
• 56% said they had a smartphone.
