Happy new year?

As we ring in the new year, the protection industry faces another year of challenges and opportuniti...

As we ring in the new year, the protection industry faces another year of challenges and opportunities. The topic likely to be on most intermediaries and providers' lips will undoubtedly be pension term assurance (PTA).

While most people will have recovered from a boozy New Year's Eve, the hangover from last year's PTA debacle lingers on.

The proposed changes set out in the Pre-Budget Report, indicating that tax relief on PTA may be scrapped, have caused major havoc in the industry with insurers pulling out of the market and IFAs trying to get their heads around what exactly is going on so that they can correctly advise their clients.

But while the revenue and time wasted on launching PTA are regrettable, it is the mark the Government's U-turn will leave on consumers' minds that will be the heaviest price the industry has to pay.

Because no matter what Gordon Brown and his associates decide to do with PTA, the damage has already been done, and consumer trust in the industry has yet again received a beating, which it will take time to recover from.

This latest blow shows that, more than ever, something needs to be done to re-surrect the industry's reputation. Rather than waiting for future scandals, it is time the protection sector stood up for itself and showed consumers how protection insurance is there to help them, not swindle them.

The COVER campaign, launched this month, aims to do exactly that. Called Promoting Protection, it will ensure consumers know the importance of protection.

Sure, the industry is far from perfect, however, it is about promoting the good sides of the industry to balance out the bad publicity and with your help, COVER is ready to take on the task. See page 5 for more details.

Johanna Gornitzki, editor