Programme
COVER Magazine is delighted to welcome you to its second regional event, COVER Summit North.
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 Summit North is "Navigating historic change".
After an extensive engagement with the industry on the proposed terms of reference over the last six months, the FCA are formally launching a market study into the distribution of pure protection insurance.
In this session, Manager for the Pure Protection Market Study, Matthew Ward, will speak about the scope of the market study and what providers can expect.
The session will cover:
- An overview of feedback received on the proposed terms of reference
- How that feedback has fed into the final scope and the main issues that the FCA intends to explore
- What to expect from the market study and the ways for advisers to engage with the FCA.
Session overview:
- The impact of cancer on the working-age population
- What the data tells us about prevention and treatment
- Evolving beyond traditional thinking about support
- A roadmap for change
This panel discussion will highlight the importance of prevention and specifically early intervention in the protection market, drawing lessons from group protection. While Group Protection providers typically offer early intervention through their Group Income Protection products, its presence in individual Income Protection varies, often limited to wellbeing add-ons like Employee Assistance Programmes or Virtual GPs. True early intervention involves specialised vocational rehabilitation services from multidisciplinary clinical teams, crucial for return-to-work support and addressing the UK's growing absence problem. The challenge lies in effectively communicating these services as essential to protection, not mere add-ons, and aligning with Consumer Duty to enhance customer outcomes and engagement.
Time to grab a coffee and meet our exhibitors.
Putting a spotlight on business protection, this session will simplify Relevant Life and Executive Income Protection (IP) and provide insight on how to seamlessly apply these products to sole traders and limited company directors. Often seen as complicated, we’ll break down how they work just like standard life insurance and IP policies. By removing the stigma around these products and demonstrating how to advise and apply, this session will provide the tools to support advisers in confidently integrating them into their protection offerings.
When an adviser comes across a client who has serious mental health conditions, it is important they understand how to support them and ask the right questions, showing empathy whilst also maintaining trust and professionalism. Even when the conversation is centred around breaking bad news to a client, such as claim denial, postponements or exclusions, it is crucial an adviser factors in their clients’ needs and treats the conversation with care.
This session will:
- Explore how to approach sensitive conversations with care.
- Discuss how to ask the right questions to clients with mental health.
- Identify techniques to deliver difficult messages.
Join Meg Kirby MBE as she highlights real-life examples of the challenges faced by vulnerable clients and details how thoughtful, holistic advice can help better support them during the claims process. Our editor will join Meg on stage to explore actionable strategies that advisers can implement to look beyond the tick box regulatory frameworks and enhance client trust and foster long term relationships.
Time for lunch - grab a bite to eat in the exhibition hall and grow your network!
There is an industry debate on whether a lack of qualifications undermines the credibility of protection advice and the need for higher professional standards in the industry.
This session will examine the potential impact of mandatory qualifications, exploring the benefits for advisers and clients, as well as the financial and logistical challenges smaller firms may encounter in implementing them.
With the FCA’s market study into Pure Protection highlighting loaded premiums as an example of a commission arrangement that could be contrary to providing customer value, this session delves into the ethical considerations and transparency issues surrounding these practices. As the industry landscape evolves, loaded premiums continue to spark discussions on how fair the practice is and the impact it has on the relationship between advisers and providers.
This session will:
- Examine the implications of loaded premiums on adviser-consumer relationships.
- Gain insights of the key issues raised by the FCA’s market study.
- Explore strategies for promoting greater transparency and fairness.
Thank you for joining COVER Summit North.
Please note that this programme is subject to change