Whether the buyer is upscaling, downsizing or wrapping a toe around the property ladder, buying a house is no mean feat for Brits in 2020.

Closing on the mortgage is, for buyers, a relief. They’ve gone through the stress and strain, the saving and the braving, and now the dials turn to new beginnings. To landscaping, floors, furniture and fixtures. They’ve earned a little levity.

Then someone pops the dream bubble. “Errr, what if you died?”

The catastrophe bomb. It’s a vital part of the process, but one many mortgage brokers are often reluctant to initiate. Who wants to drop a big pile of pessimism at the final hurdle? No-one in the room wants to think about what if, especially the overjoyed buyer.

But here’s a better ‘what if’. What if the protection talk wasn’t a sudden explosion but a conversation all parties were equally invested in?

Having this conversation really is key. Applications shouldn’t be a sterile back-and-forth but long-hand and flowing conversations, peer to peer, that often play out in three or more chapters.

Advisers should take time to get to know customers and what’s going on at home. Protection products aren’t snake oil, they’re logical and rational. And by putting them in the context of someone’s life, fears and milestones people see that. Sure, there’s discomfort – but the outcome is worth it.

This approach can yield great results.  In the past 12 months, LifeSearch has made significant gains in income protection, from 13 per cent – 20 per cent. This isn’t because we’ve doubled down on incentives or implemented a new bonus structure. It’s because, in income protection, we’ve refocussed on the value and importance in having meaningful conversations.

We hear a lot about the lost art of conversation in the digital age, but at crucial junctions of life – home buying, family tragedy, newborns – people are given the gift of perspective. They are open.

We may perceive that the new house buyer is experiencing pure elation. But deeper conversation – we need to earn the right to go deeper – may reveal that fear is a bigger part of the mix. The first timer has just sunk their life savings – possibly the parents’ too – into a deposit. Sure, there’s joy, but understandably they want safeguards.

In this industry we have the skills and the know-how to appropriately protect people. But we need to initiate and invest in those uncomfortable conversations.

Emma Walker, Chief Marketing Officer, LifeSearch