Alan Lakey: Income Protection popularity still doesn’t compare to Life & Critical Illness
Last month, Guardian FS debuted its Income Protection (IP) proposition on CIExpert’s Insight Zone as part of a major strategic move. This evolution has provided advisers with easy access to information on all aspects of the IP product. Since the debut, Alan Lakey director and historian at CIExpert, has said that the aim is to eventually include every insurer’s range of plans.
TABITHA LAMBIE
Discussing CIExpert’s expansion, Alan Lakey, said that it has generated great interest across the industry and that a number of insurers have discussed launching their own Income Protection (IP) pages within the Insight Zone.
“We have regularly been asked by subscribers to extend our coverage to encompass IP as this then creates a one-stop-shop,” Lakey revealed. He felt that it was important to enable advisers to obtain knowledge of an insurer’s menu options and provide access to an overview of the plan benefits for quick referencing.
Considering that without sustained income, Life, Critical Illness (CI), Pension and Investments could trigger a financial meltdown, Lakey believes IP has been accepted as the most important protection plan among advisers. However, this sentiment seemingly isn’t shared by consumers with the uptake of IP plans remaining very poor compared to other financial products. Although Lakey noted there has been a “welcomed increase in popularity” since the Covid-19 Pandemic, “these plans still show up poorly, relative to Life and CI.”
