Richard Kateley, head of intermediary development at L&G, has warned that advisers with permissions have no excuse not to talk about protection with clients.
Speaking about the challenges advisers face when selling protection, Kateley acknowledged that clients rarely ask for these sorts of policies, so it is the responsibility of the broker to ‘sell’ by clearly communicating the risks associated of not having it.
In his comments, which can be heard on the latest Accord Growth Series podcast, Kateley states that the most successful brokers don’t separate the mortgage and protection, they package them together, ensuring both are affordable within the client’s monthly budget.
He added: “If a client says they can’t afford the protection, can they actually afford the mortgage? It has to be part of your process to talk about protection. If you’re too busy, is that fair on the client?”
Kateley recommended getting the client to consider any scenarios where they may no longer be able to keep up their repayments as a way of engaging them into the real risks of not having any insurance policies in place.
He also said that some advisers actively avoided talking about protection as they felt referencing potentially negative scenarios could lose them the mortgage business. To help address this potential skills gap, L&G runs a unique half day, CII accredited, masterclass workshop to provide sales advice and how best to have these conversations with clients.
Jeremy Duncombe, director of intermediary distribution at Accord Mortgages said: “Richard has a clear passion for this subject with a wealth of hints and tips which he shared with us during the interview.
“This podcast is the latest in a whole series of guides and resources we’ve created within our Growth Series on how to sell protection. We know it’s often seen as an extra, but as Richard highlights, by incorporating it into your advice process and using some simple sales techniques, it can easily become a much easier and profitable conversation, whilst ensuring the best customer outcome.
“Knowing your client has a mortgage they can afford and the security of assistance if their circumstances change has to be an indicator of a job well done for any adviser.”