Cover Forum: Reasons for advisers to be cheerful

Mike Farrell, head of protection sales at LV=, speaking to delegates, said consumers were not aware of existing protection prices so gender-neutral hikes would not be an issue.

He said: "How we approach the change and the frustrations are different for different people. It takes about 30s to think of all the negatives at the moment.

"But with gender, if you asked 100 people in the street about the price on insurance they would not have any idea. This is really not going to be an issue for customers."

He added it was a great opportunity for advisers to act on this because as with the Isa influx around March and April time, clients would respond well to the deadline.

"Advisers need to be revisiting clients who may have not completed the process of taking out protection," Farrell urged.

"And another reason for advisers to be cheerful is that I think the prices of leads have already risen so we will see a levelling out."

They key tips LV= advised intermediaries with leads included; preparation and understanding of what return would be got from the investment; and contacting the client within an hour to catch the business.

Duncan Macmillan, head of sales, training and coaching at Lifesearch, said in a video feed as part of the presentation: "As advisers it is our responsibility to go through a natural holistic process. Clients know their lives so it is up to us to reflect on that and what they might need.

He added advisers should be talking to the right clients about the many great products on the market.

In another video feed Bob Spence, head of training at New Leaf, said: "The reasons to be cheerful is sheer arithmetic.

"There are about 2.5m people currently employed. Advisers need to communicate that they are working for the client and are not like the banks."

Farrell said there was demand for advice in the protection market and the long-term fundamentals were positive.