Tom Baigrie, managing director at protection specialists, Lifesearch, has unveiled its Protection Sellers Code of Conduct.
Listing the code at today's Lifesearch Awards he noted that it is "imperative" that those who buy protection are correctly served by those selling the products, regardless of the sales medium - internet, phone or face to face..
He stressed the code was not exhaustive but attacked the most obvious and common failings within the distribution community.
The code in full:
•Those selling Critical Illness Cover must explain its limitations in line with the FSA's requirements.
•Those who choose to highlight Terminal Illness Benefit as a product feature must explicitly state its limitations and ensure that it is not confused with Critical Illness Cover.
•Those choosing to discuss Total and Permanent Disability Cover and Income Protection must clearly explain the definition of disability on which the policy will pay out. e.g. Own Occupation or Activities of Daily Living.
•Those selling must make the standard exclusions clear to customers and must mention longer term income protection as a viable alternative at some point in the sales process whether they offer it or not.
•Sellers must clearly state to customers at outset whether they provide regulated advice or not.
•All sellers must demonstrate to their insurers that they have properly provided for the repayment of indemnity commissions on lapsing policies.
