Contact your financial adviser to discuss innovative protection provision
Wednesday 25 July, 2018
Thomas Oliver’s Hertfordshire Mortgage Broker and protection specialist, Tracy Dove, reviews the new all in one protection policies and recommends clients speak to a financial adviser to purchase an appropriate policy.
Tracy Dove, Mortgage Broker and protection specialist in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire said:
‘I have written about protection in my previous articles especially in relation to critical illness and income protection. Now one problem that our clients face is deciding which protection policy to choose, and the frustration of having multiple protection policies with different providers. Having protection policies with multiple providers lead to an excess of paperwork which can create extra stress when protection policies are meant to alleviate stress and provide peace of mind. Technological advancements haves helped tremendously with this problem and although improvements are still required, providers are slowly adapting. Recently we have seen the introduction of menu plans, which allow you to have numerous different products under one policy (Lucy Brown London & Country). This allows a client to maintain and manage their protection policies more efficiently reducing stress and aggravation when changing details, or making a claim. One of the main benefits of having a menu plan is the cost. Generally menu plans will always be cheaper as there is less administration costs, and discounts are often applied. This will hopefully lead to a fall in the cost of protection prices as clients take out different products under one policy allowing them to protect themselves more appropriately within the same budget.’
Tracy Dove, Mortgage Broker and protection specialist in North London & Cheshunt, Hertfordshire said:
‘Unfortunately there is still a drawback as providers offer different products and still specialise in different areas. As a result if clients choose a menu plan option they may find for example that they purchase a great critical illness policy but a mediocre income protection policy, or vice-versa. Consequently when I see clients and offer protection advice I always make sure we weigh up the options and do some cost-benefit analysis to see if it is better to go with different providers, or go for a menu plan option based on the client’s budget. Therefore I will decide with the client if it is better to have protection policies with the best providers for lower cover or have a menu plan with greater cover where some of the aspects of the policy may be mediocre.’
Tracy Dove, Mortgage Broker in North London & Cheshunt, Hertfordshire continued:
‘Overall the introduction of greater flexibility in the protection market should be viewed positively as it offers more options to clients. The ability to add and remove features such as children’s critical illness cover is just one of the many new innovations that we are seeing in the protection market (Lucy Brown London & Country). If you don’t have children why would you want to pay for children’s critical illness cover, but you may want it in the future if your circumstances change. There is no doubt these new innovations and technological advancements have brought greater flexibility and more choice to the protection market but this does mean increased complexity. For that reason it is more important than ever to seek advice from a financial advisor when considering your protection needs. Call Tracy Oliver on 01707 872000 for a free initial consultation on your protection requirements.’
For more information please read: Tracy Dove, Mortgage Broker in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire:
