Research from general insurance (GI) provider Paymentshield found that advisers attitudes towards GI have remained practically unchanged from 2020, when 61% of advisers admitted to missing GI opportunities in Paymentshield’s annual Adviser Survey.
Similarly, over the last two years, a high proportion of advisers also declared that they “sometimes” or “often” struggle to engage clients in GI conversations (51% in 2020 vs 50% in 2021).
One noticeable difference year-on-year was in the number of advisers agreeing or strongly agreeing that their clients want advice on GI – up nearly 10% from 2020 (56% to 65%).
This concurs with a YouGov poll commissioned by Paymentshield at the beginning of 2021, in which 34% of 2,139 consumers said they would be “happy” for advisers to review their Home Insurance during a remortgage or product transfer, even though they may not “expect” them to.
James Watson, sales director at Paymentshield, said: “It’s incredibly encouraging that virtually 100% of the advisers we surveyed recognise the value that GI conversations can add to both their clients’ lives and their own businesses.
“Unfortunately, the fact remains that this understanding too often doesn’t translate into action and advisers continue to pass up GI’s benefits – particularly as a resilient revenue stream.
“With the stamp duty holiday giving rise to high volumes of mortgage transactions, advisers have understandably been under sustained, acute pressure to deliver.
“This is perhaps why many advisers in this year’s Adviser Survey attributed inaction around selling GI to “not enough time” compared to 2020, when the top reason was the belief that “clients prefer to arrange it themselves”.
“As the stamp duty holiday and likely with it the surge in origination activity come to a close, there’s arguably no better time for advisers to turn to GI to supercharge and stabilise their income. And, by forming positive and healthy habits around GI now, advisers will be well positioned to weather similar market volatility in the future.
“We all appreciate from our daily lives how challenging it can be to act upon what we know is right. This is where having the proper support and resources can make a real difference. By combining industry-wide knowledge-sharing and technological support like our Adviser Hub, we’re striving to bridge this so-called guilty gap and ultimately empower advisers to feel confident about advising on GI.”
