One of the most commonly cited reasons for poor protection sales is that most of the country is unaware of the availability of these products and what support they can provide.
But is that really the case?
According to the Scottish Widows Consumer Protection Report awareness rates for the main three protection products are extremely high - 97% life, 86% critical illness, 83% income protection.
This is probably far higher than most in the industry would expect and comes from a large sample size (over 5,000 members of the public quizzed by YouGov).
Which leaves a very important question hanging in the wind - Is this as good as it gets for protection?
People know it is out there, what it does and what its benefits are but yet show no real sign of getting more interested in the product.
If these statistics are to be believed then perhaps protection sales will never lift from their slumber until something more drastic is done.
For all the hard work and dedication that exists within the industry it is hard to say a sustained advertising campaign, whether by one provider or as a combined effort, would be effective.
It may require something far more significant such as the government introducing a protection element to NEST (a la the Australian model) or even compelling people to hold a certain minimum of personal insurance.
This could potentially be introduced alongside the expected long-term care solution from the Dilnot Commission, which is anticipated to include some form of a public-private partnership.
The ABI has made its strong anti-compulsion stance clear and its reasons are perfectly valid, but unlike other insurance such as buildings, contents and travel which have reasonably high take-up rates, the evidence appears otherwise here.
With government demanding reduced spending on both the welfare state and NHS, income protection should be perfectly situated to grow rapidly.
Unfortunately sales appear to be largely flat with no immediate sign of improving.
Perhaps this is the time where behind the scenes lobbying, which I hear in some quarters is ongoing, really needs to come into its own or else there may not be another opportunity like this.
