Income Protection (IP) protects your client’s homes, holidays, hobbies, rainy day and retirement funds - essentially it protects their lifestyle. So, there’s a positive conversation to be had around protecting income.
Your clients' budding needs
We know that clients have multiple needs, varying depending where they’re at in their life. Many of us will go through multiple life milestones – buying homes, getting married, having children and changing jobs.
With that being said LV= Income Roulette research found that one in six people aged 30-35 are putting off major life milestones, such as having children and buying homes due to low financial confidence.
We also know that the working world is evolving with the most prevalent change being that more people are now self-employed than ever. From 2001-2017 the numbers grew by 45%, flourishing with the rise of technology, meaning people can work from anywhere, at any time.
Resilience of the self-employed is tested when facing unforeseen events. Research from Aldermore states that 50%+ said they have periods where they’ve been unable to earn money due to illness. Of those who’d experienced this, almost 50% remained off work for over 1 month, with 20% losing over 4 months of the working year. We can also see that monthly self-employed earnings vary significantly.
In these hectic times we know too well that mental health issues could emerge, with 1 in 4 people in the UK experiencing a mental health problem every year.
One in six people aged 30-35 are putting off major life milestones, such as having children and buying homes due to low financial confidence.
2019 research
If you’re looking to protect your clients who all have multiple demands and changing needs then IP is your go to product. Most providers offer a range of IP solutions catered towards varying budgets. There’s full blown IP, 1, 2 and 5 year options and age-costed versions.
On that note, IP is rife with added features and benefits. There’s fracture cover, death benefits, hospital cover, back to work payments, sick pay guarantees (covering the fluctuating income we discussed) and payment holidays. Plus cover that protects not just the policyholder, but their child too, giving your clients peace of mind for if they decide to hit one of those life milestones and have children.
Additional support without full claim
IP is evolving beyond just financial pay-outs, offering your clients support whether they’re working, not working, or just getting back on their feet. Additional support can come in the form of remote GP appointments, prescription services, second opinions and many other valuable offerings.
These services are often available without claiming, but customers say they value them more highly than financial benefits they may receive from a policy. This shows the industry can provide wider emotional, family, health and practical support for life’s biggest challenges and little bumps in the road.
With all these great options, it’s important that people can have open conversations with advisers that will help them understand their protection needs and the solutions available to help offer peace of mind should the unexpected happen.
If you had a cash machine that gave you £500 weekly, would you insure it? A resounding yes would be the answer! Well, that’s what IP does.
I sat with one of our account managers who told me how they introduce IP. They said I look at it like this - who doesn’t have home insurance? I bet if I said to you, if you had a cash machine that gave you £500 weekly, would you insure it? A resounding yes would be the answer! Well, that’s what IP does; protect your client’s biggest asset, their income. Working for you client when they can’t and now even when they can.
Learn more about Budget IP.
This article has been written by Justin Harper, Head of Protection Marketing at LV= as part of our Industry Voice publication. Read the latest edition.
