FTA: If you had power in government, which area of protection would you tackle and what would you do?
CJ: Life cover associated with a mortgage used to be the ‘entry level’ product that got people aware of the need for protection when they took on a liability and was often the trigger to see an adviser for the first time.
With it no longer being compulsory, that sometimes happens, but not always.
And as the average age for buying first houses is increasing, with more renting for longer, thinking about protecting income is often missed for younger people.
We have seen how successful auto-enrolment has been for pensions – it could be time to consider similar approaches for protection, particularly income protection.
Any action we can take to ensure people have the right cover in place early on in their working lives, before any adverse life events happen, has to help build good habits in improving their financial awareness and resilience.
FTA: Finally, can you describe what the protection market might look like in five years' time in an ideal scenario?
CJ: Utopia is an efficient, far-reaching market, covering the vast majority of the population, where people really appreciate and value the advice they’ve been given and can be confident they (and their families) can financially cope with whatever shocks life throws at them.
The challenge is achieving that in a commercially sustainable way while still offering great value to customers.
One area I’d love to see us all making more of is encouraging younger people into the market.
We know they will often seek counsel from their parents, and we should use that to help garner their engagement.
The ability to personalise communications will help, but most will need a nudge from a trusted source to take action.
We also need to make sure the concept of protection – from awareness through to purchase and beyond – works for all of society.
We know there are groups within the population who are less likely to have the right protection in place, often because they don’t feel the products are for them.
We have a very diverse population and need to reach all of it, which needs us as an industry to think differently.
carmen.reichman@ft.com
