The positive side to G-Day was definitely that we saw the need to carry out full reviews of all our clients, making them aware of the implications of G-Day and getting their policies on risk before premiums went up. This meant that we had a lot of business starting at the end of 2012. This was very good for us, and of course the clients, which was win-win.
Has it changed the way we - a mortgage and protection advice firm - does business now? Well, while there seems to have been a price increase in premiums, our clients aren't aware that they are paying more than they would have been last year. They still have exactly the same needs to be met as they did pre G-Day.
But we decided to turn things on their head. Rather than the usual "your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage" being a compulsory tag line to client paperwork we truly asked ourselves if we were treating customers fairly if we weren't offering every product to them.
Our job as good advisers is to protect our clients. And really protect them by making them see the need for protection and by fully covering them. It can be tricky to ensure that clients are fully protected within their budget.
By working to what they can afford we can arrange plans that offer them some cover in all areas rather than just the basics and importantly making the client fully aware of what they have in the event of a need to claim.
Finally we arranged specific protection sales training for all of our staff in January. We fine-tuned our skills and made sure the focus of protection remained in the best interests of clients, and utilised the TCF directive to the full.
In the past, some advisers have probably only really focussed on protecting clients' mortgages with some life assurance and perhaps some affordable level of critical illness cover.
But the G-Day focus last year to review clients made everyone much more aware of all the other areas of protection. This has precipitated in far greater sales of family income benefit, as this often inexpensive product sits well alongside a mortgage, as well as income protection and private medical cover.
The push to get policies on risk prior to G-Day and review our clients fully was the most significant focus for us as a company. It has made us much more aware about making sure we look at fully protecting our clients and, more importantly, making them see those needs for themselves.
Ellen Roome is financial adviser at advice firm The Finance Roome
