Programme
COVER Magazine is delighted to welcome you back to the COVER Protection and Health Summit.
Arrive early and start the day right by enjoying our welcome breakfast!
We start off the day with a welcome from our editor, Cameron Roberts.
The theme for this year’s COVER Protection and Health Summit is “Elevating Adviser Insight”.
As our nation ages, the realities of dementia, long-term illness and the strain on existing care systems are becoming impossible to ignore. What was once seen as a future challenge is now very much a present-day concern. Join Rose St Louis, Board member of the Insurance United Against Dementia campaign for her keynote speech that aims to shine a light on the state of the nation, the growing impact of dementia, and why long-term care must become central to the way we think about health and protection. Crucially, it will explore how insurers and advisers can come together to create powerful ecosystems of expertise — ensuring clients and their families receive the very best all-round support, today and for the years ahead.
Inheritance Tax (IHT) might not be a regular part of your mortgage advice conversations but with the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ funding more deposits, it’s time to ask: is it a gift or a loan? And what’s the IHT impact?
Join Robert Betts, Senior Protection Specialist at Royal London, as he unpacks what’s changing in the IHT landscape and why it matters to advisers. He’ll tackle the deposit ‘gift vs loan’ dilemma, highlight other IHT risks hidden in everyday client chats and share simple strategies to turn these moments into real business opportunities.
You’ll leave with practical tips to add value, build trust, and grow your protection conversations.
Join Phil as he reveals the everyday risks we face and shines a light on important areas of protection that are being overlooked with traditional insurance products. He will share how MetLife innovative products serve to meet this need and how they fit into the protection puzzle.
Time to grab a coffee and meet our exhibitors.
In this session, Arun Thiyagarajan, CEO of VitalityHealth, explores the transformation of private medical insurance in response to a rapidly shifting healthcare landscape and the implications for advisers and our industry more broadly. With rising consumer expectations, mounting pressures on public health services, and a growing emphasis on prevention and digital care pathways, PMI is no longer just about covering illness—it’s about enabling better health outcomes.
As an industry, we place great emphasis on supporting the wellbeing of our customers, yet we often overlook the emotional toll on those working within financial services. Every day, colleagues across roles engage in conversations about death, illness, and injury. Subjects that are not only sensitive but can be especially difficult when we may be managing our own personal challenges in these areas.
In this session, the IPTF examines the human side of our work. We’ll hear first-hand from Claims professionals about the realities of their day-to-day roles, their motivations, their challenges, and the impact of being on the frontline. We’ll also share insights from new research conducted and supported jointly by the IPTF, Right Steps, and MIMHC, which explores the emotional and psychological impact of customer-facing roles in our industry. Together, we’ll consider how supported employees feel today, and where improvements can be made to ensure financial services continues to be a positive and fulfilling place to work.
Evolving customer expectations, a complex housing market, and ongoing economic uncertainty are reshaping the protection and health industry. Advisers and providers alike face growing pressure to adapt with speed and confidence. This session examines whether the industry is truly equipped to keep pace with change.
Time for lunch - grab a bite to eat in the exhibition hall and grow your network!
Product Updates
Cancer remains the leading driver of health and protection claims, yet the UK is still missing its target to diagnose 75% of cancers early. Screening participation is falling, health literacy among younger generations is in decline, and misinformation is compounding the problem. At the same time, cancer incidence in under-50s is rising sharply.
In this session, Kelly McCabe, Co-Founder & CEO, Perci Health and GP Dr Anisha Patel will explore:
- Why the UK is struggling to meet early detection goals.
- What the last NHS Long-Term Plan achieved - and what’s changing in the next.
- The impact of declining health literacy and digital misinformation on participation and outcomes.
- Practical strategies for employers, insurers, and brokers to improve health literacy, screening uptake, and navigation of NHS and private pathways.
With real-world data and forward-looking insights, this session will make the case that improving knowledge, confidence and access is the foundation on which all early detection strategies must be built—helping insurers manage claims costs, employers protect workforce wellbeing, and individuals secure better outcomes.
The scale of the long-term sickness absence is costing employers 103bn in lost work and productivity. And employees are reeling. As we await the government's Keep Britain Working review, and following MetLife’s Early Intervention white paper, this panel discussion will unveil a second report - identifying appropriate and affordable solutions so businesses of all sizes can improve things for themselves and their people now.
Join St. James’s Place’s David Mead, KareHero Founder & CEO Stephanie Leung, and Sara Weller CBE, Advisory Group Member of Sir Charlie Mayfield's "Keep Britain Working" report team, as they discuss how to keep people in work, and turn rising care costs & needs into actionable insights. With 8 million people on NHS waiting lists and adult care draining an estimated £9bn from personal savings and £32bn nationally each year, this session discusses how employers, insurers and financial advisers can deliver earlier intervention, smarter prevention and real support—cutting claims friction, improving outcomes and strengthening retention in the age of longevity.
Core Skills
With a need to create positive client outcomes, protection can play a vital role in safeguarding and securing your clients against future life and health uncertainties. Over last few years it has become increasingly important for advisers to understand their clients and demonstrate the value of protection. In this session our expert speaker will explore the latest insights from LV’s Reaching Resilience research which will help you position protection and enable you to have more effective protection conversations.
If the goal of Consumer Duty is to deliver good customer outcomes and prevent foreseeable harm, do we need to rethink traditional mortgage protection advice. In this session, Vitality’s Andy Philo will consider why our industry must prioritise a more holistic approach to mortgage protection – to safeguard a client’s home and the people in it, not just the lender’s interests.
Join our Deputy Editor, Jaskeet Briah, alongside a panel of industry experts as they unpack exclusive findings from our latest COVER audience survey. This session explores how the industry is defining, recognising and responding to customer vulnerability, and what that means for your business.
Time to grab a coffee and meet our exhibitors.
As the FCA prepares to release its interim report on the Pure Protection Market Study, our expert panel will examine whether the regulator truly understands the protection market. The discussion will unpack the FCA’s emerging priorities, from loaded premiums and product design to customer understanding and fair value, and consider how these developments are set to influence advisers’ day-to-day work and the broader industry.
Thank you for joining COVER Protection and Health Summit.
Please note that this programme is subject to change