News Review: Protection How UK life has changed since the 1970s by


Kevin Carr chief


executive of the Protection Review and MD of Kevin Carr Consulting


more holidays abroad, re- maining in education for lon- ger and smoking less: these are just some of the changes that have shaped our society over the last 40 years as high- lighted in a recent report by the office for national Statis- tics. the study also found that


life expectancy at birth for males in the uK was 77.8 years and for females was 81.9 years. in 1970, life expectancy at birth for males in the uK was 68.7 years and for females was 75.0 years.


that’s one of the key rea-


sons why the cost of life cover keeps falling – we are all living longer. medical science con-


“We are more likely to survive many illnesses than ever before”


tinues to improve, in particu- lar around detection as well the treatment itself, and while we can’t always do a lot about the diagnosis of a condition, we are more likely to survive many illnesses than ever be- fore. the 5-year survival rate for all cancers combined


The F&TRC Protection Forum has agreed to produce a draft good practice statement on ways to improve business retention – and cut the number of protection policies being cancelled as a result. At the last Protection Forum session in June, leading protection distributors identified business retention as the most important operational issue needing to be resolved by the protection industry. By producing a good practice statement


the group aims to improve the early warning systems and real time alerts in place from product providers so that intermediaries can be notified immediately about any policies that have been cancelled or where a direct debit has been missed, rather than finding out when it is too.


is now at 50% with females (56%) slightly higher than men (43%). So, while life cover remains


an essential protection prod- uct, it isn’t the product that most people would end up claiming on – which is why it is less expensive than critical illness cover or income pro- tection, for example. and talking of price, smok-


ing roughly doubles the cost of a protection policy, but anyone who has given up for more than a year would be counted as a non-smoker. in 1974, 26% of men and 13% of women who smoked were classed as heavy smokers, where as in 2008, just 7% of men and 5% of smokers re- spectively are classed as heavy smokers.


Protection Forum looks to improve business retention systems


F&TRC managing director, Ian McKenna, says: “As the industry faces challenging economic times anything that can be done to ensure that consumers maintain their protection cover is a benefit to clients and advisers.


“Early notification when direct debit mandates fail will help the adviser act quickly to the cover stays in force where appropriate. “It has also been suggested that millions in commission could be saved across the industry by using better business retention systems. The Protection Forum is demonstrating that providers are not only listening to the distributors, but many are already moving forward and acting on their feedback, which is exactly what these meetings are about.”


News in brief


• PruProtect has launched a new product that combines Private Medical Insurance with traditional protection benefits saving up to 25% on the combined cost


• The Post Office has launched specialist business insurance tailored for mortgage brokers • Assureweb launches quote tool for adviser websites to allow customers to generate their own quotes online • Bupa International has developed a quality assurance programme for its 7,500 recognised providers worldwide with the assistance of Joint Commission International (JCI), the world’s leading international healthcare accreditation body • PruProtect has teamed up with Saga to launch an over-50s life over plan


• The protection industry is thought to be largely in favour of a professional requirement for pure protection advisers, with QCF level 3 thought to be the most appropriate qualification level • Unum had created a master trust for group life cover businessand Real Life Cover plans


mortgage introducer AUGUST 2010 11


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44