When I first started, this question left me reeling. But I’ve come to realise that not only is it a fair question but answering it honestly offers a huge opportunity to illustrate your experience, knowledge and empathy.

It’s important to be sincere and authentic. In a previous role I worked with a guy who was single, had no kids (or pets) and rented a room in a flat share. Over the course of the day I’d hear him talking about his beautiful children, rambunctious puppy, new house or expensive wife, mimicking his clients like a cockatoo. But insincerity is obvious, as well as dis-honest, and clients will pick up on it sooner or later.

Existing benefits

Don’t be afraid to consider and complement any existing benefits the customer may have, either privately or through their work. It shows clients you’re listening to them and not just trying to make a new sale.

Existing benefits are often worth keeping, especially if the clients are older or their health has changed — with the caveat that they may not be in the same job so not to rely on those benefits completely, and of course to review and compare regularly via a good adviser. Reviewing cover regularly is essential, if not every year then certainly every few years.

So, have I got insurance cover myself?

When I began advising on protection, I set up life and critical-illness cover (CIC) plans for my family. We’re now looking to purchase our first home in London, and our cover needs to reflect that.

Revisiting our policies has made me realise a few things. First, when you buy a bigger house with a bigger mortgage, protection starts to get expensive. Second, when we bought our CIC policy four years ago it was the best on the market, but that’s no longer the case. Insurers evolve and, while the policy we bought remains very good, it’s not quite the best for our situation now.

It’s unrealistic to think that protection recommendations will be fit for purpose for the entire duration of the policy; there have been significant innovations in all areas of protection in the past few years, so just think what may be available in five or 10 years’ time.

As our clients’ needs change, we must be on hand to make sure their policies change too, to ensure they’re adequately protected for their entire lives.

Ben Burgess is a senior adviser at LifeSearch