Protection Watch...with Kevin Carr

Our protection detective, Kevin Carr, gives his verdict on five developments in the market this month...

It’s been another busy month in the world of protection, with a host of new products and developments set to shape the market as we head into 2012. Here are my pick of this month’s key changes...

We all need to do more!

The savings and protection insurance industries need to do more to put their products higher on the consumer agenda, according to Swiss Re’s 2011 Insurance Report, launched in November. The 80-page report is based on research among 1,000 UK consumers and more than 500 employers, along with interviews with leading industry figures. While the overall message is perhaps nothing new, it will be interesting to see who raises their game in 2012. Verdict: Back to the lab

Cancer survival rates up sixfold

People diagnosed with cancer are now living, on average, six times longer than was the case 40 years ago, according to a new study by Macmillan Cancer Support. The biggest improvements have been in colon cancer, with a 17-fold increase in median survival from around seven months to over ten years. The relevance of such statistics for protection advice is matched by the growing number of providers now offering partial payouts for early stage cancers.

On average we are all living longer but, generally speaking, people will live longer in ill-health, which further highlights the need for covers such as critical illness insurance to continue beyond the first claim. Verdict: Promising lead

Planet of the Apps

Lately it feels like every week a new financial services ‘app’ is being launched, and the protection market is no exception. The new Bright Touch application offers a range of information about Bright Grey’s products along with generic calculators to give a rough indication of costs for consumers, as well as answering a range of consumer objections such as ‘I can’t afford it’, ‘The state will look after me’ and so on. While Bright Grey has taken a different approach to Legal & General, for example, who focused more on specific and accurate quotations, the overall trend is a positive one. Verdict: Promising lead

CII launches protection qualification

The CII has unveiled a new qualification for advisers in the health and protection insurance sector. Launched at the AMII (Association of Medical Insurance Intermediaries) autumn conference in early November it is expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2012. The new qualification is below the Level 4 qualifications that IFAs will have to pass from 2013, but fills an important gap.

Until now, health and protection insurance has often fallen awkwardly between the CII’s general insurance and financial services exams and qualifications. However, disappointment has been expressed that there was not more consultation with the industry before the qualification was launched and some have questioned whether a full Level 4 protection qualification would be even better. Verdict: Promising lead

Price rise warning

Protection providers have warned that new regulation such as Solvency II and gender-neutral pricing will significantly raise the cost of protection policies from 2013, which could impact on the protection market in many ways. While persistency of existing business should improve, those models which rely on re-broking older policies could struggle. Likewise, if prices are set to rise, that’s usually a good time to start buying. Verdict: Promising lead

Kevin Carr is chief executive of the Protection Review and managing director of Kevin Carr Consulting.