In days of old, life cover was sold because dying prematurely was a high risk. Today we die more slowly. This might be harsh but it’s absolutely true. Five-year survival rates for most cancers have improved substantially, strokes can be stopped if caught quickly enough and heart disease management has improved. And that’s before we consider the medical and technological advances that help people pull though the worst of accidents. It’s all good news. But the reality of living through survival without adequate financial support could be a nightmare.
Long-term illness or injury can mean an extended period of absence from work and not everyone has a generous employer. For some, breaking a leg could be enough to break the bank. And research supports this. On average, homeowners with a mortgage would be on the breadline in just 22 days1 if income was interrupted. So without enough of the right cover, some families could be facing financial disaster very quickly. How would your clients be placed?
It’s always struck me as odd that people insure their things but not themselves – especially when they have a family to take care of. It points to a lack of awareness of the risks they face or a sense of ‘it won’t happen to me’. This could help explain the upside down world we live in when the boiler is often insured against breakdown but the breadwinner isn’t. As an industry we’re definitely working towards changing that.
The 7 Families campaign, which Royal London is proud to support, has done a fantastic job of bringing to life the benefits of having protection in place when things go wrong.
We’ve seen strong support for income protection in the industry and we believe this change starts with advisers. Perhaps because they’re often the only people who will ever speak to clients about their protection needs. We know it’s not easy to do and that reluctant clients are just one of the barriers to protection. The good news is that providers deliver the products as well as a range of tools and sales aids to help you recommend them. It’s worth spending time to find the tools that suit you. It could help you put more of the right cover in place for your clients.
No matter what age you are or how healthy you think you are, life has a way of proving you wrong. And that’s why more clients need more of the right protection. Your advice really can make a difference.
Sources:
- Legal and General Deadline to the Breadline report, November 2014.
Author: Denise Wond, Marketing Manager
