Having read recent calls from the protection insurance market in the media about the formation of a specialist protection insurance group, Protect and its members are willing to support such an entity.
However, I do not believe we need yet another trade association. It would be better if representatives from existing trade associations and other key stakeholders, including consumer groups would get involved to form a protection insurance group.
For many years, I was a member of the Sustainable Home Ownership group. Originally hosted by the CML and chaired by Peter Williams, who did a fantastic job keeping sustainable home-ownership in the spotlight.
Steering such a large group was hard going at times and long-winded, having all the different stakeholders around the table, each with their own agendas. But I do believe that working together to come up with solutions is the only way to raise awareness of the benefits of protection insurance and encourage the trust and confidence of consumers that will encourage them to use them to protect themselves and their families.
The ABI are currently hosting a similar group on the HM Treasury's Carol Sergeant simple products initiative, looking at a simple protection product. Many of the key stakeholders are already there in place.
We need those organisations and the other the existing trade associations that are connected to protection insurance would agree to work together. And I could get the support of Protect members for us to play a role too.
I would add that such a steering group might look to utilise separate working groups of practitioners and marketeers dedicated to specific tasks. They could do the investigation and research that will help push the range of protection products currently offered and routes to market so more consumers actually want to buy.
This should not prevent individual companies doing their own innovation, indeed it should be encouraging it.
The regulators should look at this too. There is a great danger that innovation is currently being stifled because providers are scared to be different from others. Having all the stakeholders together in a group could help unlock some of the barriers that are preventing more effective wider-scale protection products becoming an integral part of the UK's support network for its working population and families.
Steve Devine is chairman of the Protect Association
