Opinion

I wonder just what impact RDR will have on the protection industry. There are tiny shafts of light starting to show through in the form of unqualified advisers.

It was great news when the Coalition Government decided to look at what it could do to improve Britain's sickness absence record. It is an area of public policy that is important to get right if Britain is going to win the global race for business.

Mental health concerns have been high on the agenda of late, from adviser corporate client discussions to Association of British Insurers conferences and Labour leader Ed Miliband's speeches. How significant is this issue for employers and are insurer...

The benefits of group risk products are severley restricted if payouts are not recieved in a timely manner. John Ritchie airs his concerns.

Selling stuff is simple: a need must be identified, a product recommended to satisfy it and someone to sell it who gets paid for doing so. The protection world however is not so simple.

There has been a growing noise across the industry about the ability of the aggressive aggregators to pilfer protection business from financial advisers.

Product innovation is a term I continue to hear regarding income protection (IP). What do we need to do as an industry to engage the millions of people with a pressing need and ensure IP sales gather pace?

Does RDR apply to protection pricing? This one appears simple. No. Job done. But in reality it isn't that simple.

There appears to be confusion among consumers, some financial advisers and in particular claims chasing companies, when it comes to payment protection insurance (PPI) and income protection (IP).

The challenge for income protection continues. The current focus for most providers is currently on the legislative issues of Solvency II, RDR and gender neutral pricing. These issues are large and distracting from product development.