Navigating The Changing Mortgage Market
The lending market continues to evolve as lenders respond to changing customer needs, competitive pricing and an ever-changing regulatory landscape. Whether it’s updates to Buy to Let, product innovation or new technology designed to help advisers work more efficiently, staying informed can help you identify more opportunities for your clients. In this section, you’ll find the latest lender updates, market insight and practical resources to support your mortgage conversations.
Victoria recently sat down with Robyn James, our Mortgage Development Manager, to learn about her position in the network and how she can help you make the most out of your business. Learn about how Robyn got her start in the industry and what exciting things she has in store in the future for the lending section of our network in our newest episode of the Opportunity Insights (video) podcast.
Finally, don’t forget to catch up on our latest Lending Insight podcast. Victoria recently sat down with James Burwood from Kensington Mortgages to explore the buy-to-let market and how Kensington is supporting brokers with solutions for today’s lending landscape.
We hope you find this month’s updates useful and informative as you continue to support your clients in an ever-changing market.
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Victoria Clark
Head of Lending
Later Life Lending Comes of Age
As more homeowners look to make the most of their property wealth in retirement, later life lending continues to become an increasingly important part of the advice landscape. With growing awareness, greater product choice and changing customer needs, advisers are well placed to help clients explore all of the options available. In this section, we share the latest provider insights, market developments and guidance to support those conversations.
It is great to see that we now have a new lender, Riverton, onboard offering Lifetime Mortgages. This means we are whole of market, with 10 lenders available to support your customers’ later life lending needs. Lifetime Mortgages can provide an additional borrowing option for customers in later life. Some products offer low or no Early Repayment Charges (ERCs), giving customers greater flexibility, including the potential to downsize or port their mortgage without incurring additional charges.
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Victoria Clark
Head of Lending
Closing the Income Protection Gap for the Self-Employed
For millions of self-employed people across the UK, taking time off work due to illness or injury doesn’t just mean losing personal income—it can also mean struggling to meet the ongoing costs of running a business. From premises rent and vehicle finance to equipment leases and insurance, many business expenses continue even when work stops.
Despite this financial vulnerability, income protection remains significantly underutilised among self-employed workers. While demand for income protection has grown in recent years, only a small proportion of self-employed individuals currently have cover in place, leaving many exposed to financial hardship if they’re unable to work.
Addressing More Than Lost Income
Traditional income protection focuses on replacing a proportion of an individual’s earnings while they recover from illness or injury. However, self-employed people often face an additional challenge: fixed business costs that don’t disappear simply because they’re unable to work.
Royal London’s Fixed Cost Flexibility feature has been designed specifically to help bridge this gap. It allows eligible self-employed clients to include certain ongoing business overheads alongside their earnings when calculating the level of income protection they require.
How It Works in Practice
Consider the example of Gary, a self-employed builder.
Gary earns an annual pre-tax profit of £21,000 and has annual fixed business overheads of just over £16,000, including costs such as van hire, business premises and other ongoing expenses. By combining his business profits with these eligible fixed costs, he is able to insure a higher level of income than would be possible based on profits alone.
If Gary becomes unable to work due to illness or injury, he can claim not only to replace lost earnings but also to help meet the business expenses that continue during his recovery. As long as these costs can be evidenced through his business accounts and continue despite his incapacity, they can be taken into account when assessing his claim.
Flexibility Throughout the Claim
The feature is designed to reflect changing circumstances.
If Gary’s business expenses reduce during his claim—for example, because a vehicle loan is fully repaid—his benefit is adjusted to reflect his lower ongoing commitments. Similarly, if he employs staff and the business begins generating profits while he’s absent, any claim payments may be reduced if the combined income exceeds the maximum benefit available under the policy.
This approach helps ensure clients receive appropriate financial support without becoming over-insured.
What Isn’t Covered?
While Fixed Cost Flexibility provides valuable additional protection, there are some important exclusions. It does not cover:
- Employee wages.
- Fixed cost agreements entered into after incapacity begins.
- Income Tax or National Insurance liabilities.
Understanding these limitations is essential when advising clients on the most appropriate level of protection.
Additional Value Beyond Income Protection
Alongside the core income protection benefit, Royal London’s policy also includes several additional features designed to support clients and their families. These include:
- Fracture Cover, providing a payment for eligible fractures without waiting for the deferred period.
- Helping Hand wellbeing services, including access to 24/7 GP consultations, physiotherapy and mental health support.
- Hospitalisation Cover for adults and children.
- Child Illness & Loss benefits, offering financial support during particularly challenging family circumstances.
Why It Matters
Self-employed clients often face unique financial pressures that standard protection solutions may not fully address. By recognising both personal income and eligible business overheads, Fixed Cost Flexibility offers a more tailored approach to income protection, helping clients maintain financial stability while recovering from illness or injury.
For financial advisers, it provides an opportunity to have more meaningful conversations with self-employed clients about the risks they face and how appropriate protection can help safeguard both their livelihood and their business.
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Amy Wilson
Head of Insurance
Spotlight on Menopause
With menopause continuing to be a key topic and Medicash recently announcing Adora Digital Health to provide support, we’ve pulled together some information to help support your client conversations.
Around 13 million people in the UK are currently peri-menopausal or menopausal. Common symptoms include hot flushes, sleep disturbance, anxiety, brain fog and low mood, with many symptoms lasting for several years. Around 1 in 10 people leave work because of menopause symptoms and around 1 in 4 consider reducing their working hours because of menopause symptoms.
PMI can provide valuable support as many insurers now offer access to GP services, mental health support, health coaching and educational resources that don’t just support the member but offer support for their partner and family members too.
Around 1 in 3 partners say they feel unsure how to support someone going through menopause, but couples who are informed about menopause are generally better equipped to manage its impact together.
Whilst we are not yet seeing treatment covered as standard in the PMI space, we are certainly seeing pressure building on the insurers to do something, particularly ahead of the mandatory requirement for larger SMEs to have a Menopause Action Plan in 2027.
Watch this space!
Don’t forget to catch up on our latest PMI Insights podcast: Gemma sat down with Mark Frost, Vitality Health Specialist, to talk about the work Vitality do to prevent health issues occurring or escalating, and how the healthcare landscape is changing to focus on prevention over cure.
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Gemma Penkethman
PMI Supervision & Development Manager
Leaving Your Home Empty? Check Your Home Insurance First
Summer holidays, extended business travel and temporary relocations can all result in customers leaving their properties unoccupied for longer than they realise. It’s worth taking a moment to discuss how this could affect their home insurance cover.
Most insurers define a property as unoccupied if nobody is living there continuously for a specified period, commonly 30 days, although this varies by provider. Many insurers on our panel allow up to 60 days before restrictions apply.
Once a property is classed as unoccupied, the level of cover may change. Depending on the insurer, escape of water claims may be excluded, theft, vandalism or malicious damage cover may be restricted, additional security requirements may apply, or the customer may need to notify the insurer before leaving. As always, it’s important to check the individual insurer’s policy wording.
Insurers apply these conditions because empty properties present a greater risk. Issues such as water leaks, storm damage or break-ins can remain undiscovered for longer, increasing the severity and cost of claims.
When reviewing a customer’s home insurance needs, it’s worth asking whether they expect to leave the property unoccupied for more than 30 days. If so, encourage them to:
- Notify their insurer before they travel.
- Check whether any policy restrictions will apply.
- Arrange for someone to inspect the property if required.
- Ensure the property is secure and any policy conditions are met.
- Consider insurers that allow up to 60 days of unoccupancy where appropriate.
If a customer expects their property to be vacant for several months, perhaps due to extended travel, renovations or a house move, specialist unoccupied property insurance may be more suitable.
A simple conversation about planned absences can help customers avoid unexpected restrictions to their cover and ensure they have the right protection in place before they leave.
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Amy Wilson
Head of Insurance
