I was delighted to see so many of you at this year's COVER Protection Forum. Now in its ninth year,...
I was delighted to see so many of you at this year's COVER Protection Forum.
Now in its ninth year, the main issue seemed to be how to raise the industry's profile and ensure consumers know how important it is to have the right protection in place.
Debating how to solve this problem, the most popular option among delegates was to launch a generic advertising campaign.
However, views were divided on who should be spearheading such an initiative. Just under half of the audience thought the Association of British Insurers (ABI) would be the most qualified body to take on this job, while a quarter argued it should be run by a group of product providers.
With the ABI both lacking resources and time, the latter option is more likely to come to fruition, in particular, as insurers have both large advertising budgets and plenty of experience in this field.
However, this has failed miserably in the past, with providers falling short when trying to agree on how to launch such a campaign. All insurers have their own agenda and products they wish to promote. Spending advertising budgets that could have been used promoting their own brand is therefore hardly something insurers wish to do. That is understandable.
However, sometimes you have to lay competition aside for the greater good of the market.
Perhaps, rather than launching a full-blown campaign about protection, insurers should try to agree on a number of common issues they could all promote separately. This would benefit everyone involved in the long term.
This is what we at COVER believe, and we are therefore calling for providers to do something about this. And we hope you - our readers - will join our quest.
Johanna Gornitzki, editor
