The protection gap is not a surprise. Treating it as one is.

At the Protection Distributors Group's (PDG's) tenth anniversary, the FCA's Ed Smith said the shock was not the gap. It was that so many people had never considered their needs. They were "not even at first base." There was, he said, "a real level of disengagement." He may be right, but what he is describing a symptom, not a cause. Let's get real. A large protection gap is not new. It has outlived the FSA, RDR, the Duty, several recessions, the smartphone, comparison sites, automated underwriting and every campaign launched to "raise awareness". Products changed. Distribution changed....