Since Covid-19 first reached the UK, there has been an increase in consumers willing to talk about protection with their advisers, research from Guardian has found.

Three quarters (76 per cent) of the 316 advisers surveyed say clients are more willing to discuss protection than before the pandemic. That’s consistent with the 75 per cent who said the same earlier this summer.

Inbound protection enquiries are up compared to earlier in the year with 56 per cent of advisers seeing an increase in protection enquiries from new clients. This is up from 39 per cent in the summer.

Existing clients are also showing increased appetite to discuss their protection needs as 49 per cent of advisers have taken more inbound queries, up from 40 per cent in the summer. And 53 per cent of advisers report an increase in protection sales.

As well as a shift in client behaviour, advisers are changing too as they are discussing protection more frequently. The latest findings show 85 per cent of advisers who previously ‘didn’t normally talk about protection’ are now doing so. That’s up from 83 per cent in the summer.

More than four out of five advisers (82 per cent) say that Covid-19 now features in all of their client protection discussions.

In terms of the impact Covid-19’s had on overall adviser revenue, there’s a mix between businesses holding up, while some are experiencing a downturn.

But there are encouraging signs the impact has been less devastating than initially expected.

Over half of adviser firms surveyed (57 per cent) say overall revenue has not fallen as a result of Covid-19, while 38 per cent have seen a fall in income. However, this figure compares favourably to the 56 per cent who predicted a loss in income earlier in the year.

Guardian marketing and proposition director Jacqui Gillies says: “Half a year on from the initial shock, 76 per cent of advisers report clients are still showing increased willingness to discuss protection.

“This is the single most important change we’ve seen in client behaviour for years and it’s persisting. The experience of 2020 means protection is what people want to talk about.”

Guardian recently launched a website to support advisers. The site brings to life the protection conversation using human stories and helps explain important considerations when choosing between products.