Interview - Roger Edwards

Edwards is still concerned about the incoming Equal Treatment Directive which is currently in draft phase.

He said: “I am very concerned that age and disability may go the same way. My father is 87 and has just had to go into hospital to have a hip replacement. And I just think it would be unfair for a 90-year-old to pay the same as a young person.
“There was a time when everyone said they would never do it to gender but they did. And now they are saying it will never happen for age.”

Huge risk

Edwards added there was a huge risk with the Equal Treatment Directive draft, but some comfort could be had in the government ensuring the legislation would allow for age and disability pricing. The Association of British Insurers has also been involved in the drafting.

“I remember with gender the ABI saying we should keep schtum and not start shouting against it, rather to keep our heads down otherwise it would definitely come in – so we kept quiet,” Edwards recalled.

He said the ABI communicated well with its insurer members, but perhaps it was not so good at updating the industry of its actions and liaising with the media.
Another to-do on the agenda for Edwards is improving underwriting speed to offer.

He said customers had told him the providers were not as quick as competitors.
He said: “If this is what people have been telling me, we are not as fast as competitors then changes need to be made. One of the things about the business, especially Scottish Provident, is that we do tend to write a high percentage of older clients in the 40+ bracket.

“It means we are going to obtain more medical evidence. But we still need to find a way of making sure we get it through quicker.”

Edwards added that the providers’ project on improving its own occupation income proposition was “coming along really well” and should be ready to announce by the end of the year.

With so much to tackle in his new role, Edwards said he assumed an alter ego at outside of work to unwind from any pressures.

He said committing to being a kick boxing and yoga instructor meant there was no choice but to get up of a morning and engage in exercise which was important. And he devotes a lot of his personal time to relaxing with his family.

He said: “With the retail distribution review, the gender directive and I-E tax changes all coming in on top of other projects we want to develop it is all going on. There is so much to tackle but we just need to find a way to address
it all.”