Advisers urged to follow up on protection conversations following Guardian FS research
As many as 81% of advisers said that the stamp duty holiday has caused a spike in mortgage demand, according to new research from Guardian Financial Services, however less than half have seen this manifest itself as protection growth.
The study of 553 advisers, conducted during the last few months of 2020, found that 72% had seen their mortgage sales grow, while 48% said the same for protection.
Only a quarter of advisers said they'd seen no change to mortgage sales, yet 46% reported no change in protection sales.
This discrepancy between mortgage and protection sales has led Guardian to urge advisers to follow up with mortgage clients about protection, especially those who may have asked to ‘come back to it later' during the mortgage application process - the most common reason given by clients (42%), the research suggested.
According to the study, 91% of advisers said they always discuss protection when advising on a mortgage, suggesting there is a big opportunity to re-open protection discussions with a slew of clients.
Just over a fifth (21%) of advisers said their clients didn't want to discuss it, 17% had clients who couldn't afford it and only 4% said they didn't think they needed it.
The research follows Guardian's previous study which suggested that 75% of all advisers said their clients were more open to discussing protection following the Covid-19 outbreak.
Jacqui Gillies, Guardian marketing and proposition director, said: "The stamp duty holiday provided a welcome boost for mortgage advisers last year and it's great to hear that the overwhelming majority also discussed protection. But this research shows a discrepancy between mortgage and protection sales last year which poses a big opportunity for advisers as they go into 2021.
"We hope all advisers will follow-up if a client says ‘I want to come back to it' to make sure people are getting the protection they need. This follow-up conversation is not only right for the customer, but for advisers too as they look to continue to provide their valuable advice through these times of uncertainty and change."
