Call yourself a mortgage and protection broker?
Well, if you use the combined disclosure document then that’s exactly what you are doing. Setting out your stall to offer a holistic service to your customers.
You will recall that we re-introduced traditional style disclosure documents to the network in September (compliance update 25th August 2015) so you should by now be used proposing your service with customers in line with the new documents.
You offer products “from a range of insurers for life insurance, mortgage protection and income protection contracts” alongside your mortgage service. Furthermore you promise that you will “advise and make a recommendation … after we have assessed your needs for life insurance, mortgage protection, income protection, property, contents, personal possessions and accident, sickness & unemployment cover”.
It is so very important, therefore, that you do just this.
There is possibly no greater single risk than to promise in writing (through the disclosure document) to talk to your customers about their protection needs and then fail to do just that. And the risk has potentially huge financial implications.
What if you were too busy sorting the mortgage and just never got round to getting those quotes you promised? Imagine that nightmare scenario of taking the call from the (now) widowed customer asking what they need to do to pay off their mortgage…the quick shuffle through the paperwork, the check on the Key and, oh no, there is no policy. How do you say ‘sorry, I just didn’t get around to it’?
Worse still, two weeks later the solicitor’s letter lands on the door mat. Inside is a copy of that disclosure document. What did it say? You ‘offer products from a range of insurers…
I’m confident that most of you, most of the time, do deliver on your service promise. But (please) just make sure you do it 100% of the time – don’t let the nightmare scenario happen to you.
What’s more tricky is dealing with those customers who just don’t want to know. You’ve heard all the excuses: Can’t afford it. Can we discuss it later? Don’t believe in insurance. We’ll tighten our belts.
Will they remember their excuses when the worst happens? Probably not.
You are a mortgage and protection adviser and you really need to make sure that you demonstrate this throughout your record keeping. Fact find, demands and needs, research, quotes. 100% of the time. No matter what. Despite the excuses.
And for those situations when the customer just won’t entertain the discussion, then we have produced a Protection Disclaimer document, which you may find useful. The document is set out to explain some of the key features of the different protection options, with an area to sign to say that they have made the conscious decision to decline your service. You can also find this declaration in the document library (Disclosure documents section) of our adviser site.
So let’s, please, see full and complete files, with the research and a positive set of recommendations for protection products, or a Protection Disclaimer document. It’s for your own protection.
