Programme

With Consumer Duty putting greater emphasis on ‘good client outcomes’, delivering ‘fair value’ and ‘avoiding foreseeable harm’, it’s more important than ever that protection and health advisers deliver advice that stands the test of time. With the cost of living crisis putting immense financial pressure on households in the UK, there is greater need for regular client reviews and to highlight the immediate value available within insurance products as they continue to evolve. With Vitality data showing a highly engaged client far less likely to cancel, there has never been a better time to offer a less transactional form of financial advice especially in the present climate.

Often confused but very different – with two purposes and focuses on recovery, how can vocational rehabilitation and occupational health work together to deliver the best outcome for the policyholder.

This session will:

• Discuss the interconnection of vocational rehabilitation and occupational health
• Cover the stages recovery and where both OH and VR fit
• Understand where OH or VR is best skilled in the recovery process, supporting return to work and working as a collective force
  

Frustration with insurer service levels from intermediaries is growing in the industry. Services were scaled back during the pandemic to reduce costs, but they have not been returned to pre-2020 levels as new business increases. Conversations about consumer duty have focused on product and new business, but are post-sale expectations being met? Decisions are based on the service received in the early stages, and there are serious consequences if expectations are not met.

This panel will:

• Assess the impact of low service levels on customer outcomes and market reputation
• Recognise the low term implications, as well as the ethical and moral obligations
• Discuss how best to assist and prepare customers in the post-sale process

Bonnie Earl will take the audience on a journey ‘behind the scenes’ in the development of MetLife’s new ChildShield product and share the moments that helped shape it. Plus some personal reflections.

In this session, Bonnie will share 3 key moments: 

1. Setting our protection philosophy
2. The customer research
3. The adviser perspective
   

The cost of living in the UK continues to increase at a dramatic rate - mortgage rates and rental costs have shot up; while food, energy and council tax bills are also on the rise. So, it’s inevitable that when families look to tighten their belts, protection policies come under the spotlight and you may find yourself coming up against more objections from clients when you discuss the cost of protection.

However, the current economic climate means having a protection plan in place is more important than ever. If your client died prematurely, became ill or suffered an injury, how would they cope with the additional financial and emotional strain of not being able to work on top of the increased cost of living? Could their family cope financially if they were no longer here?

Join Royal London to consider the implications of not having protection in place and a range of tools and ideas to help clients understand the importance of protecting their home, their family and their lifestyle.

When individuals experience critical illness or personal accidents resulting in total permanent disability, one of their primary concerns is ensuring financial security for themselves and any dependents. In 2022, the average claims paid across the board were approximately 92%. However, when specifically considering total permanent disability claims, the payout rate was only 70.3%.

Although most paid claims were based on the "own occupation" definition, focusing on the claimant's ability to perform their current job, challenges still persist.

A significant difficulty facing TPD claims is that the success of the claim is determined on the resulting impact of the condition, as opposed to the condition itself. This approach allows insurers to assess the claimant’s ability to perform their current occupation or any other suitable occupation.

This session will:

• Explore the significance of “own occupation” and “suited occupation” definitions
• Evaluate the effectiveness of activity-based definitions and functional assessment tests, determining if they’re fit for purpose 
• Discuss potential methods to improve the claiming process for TPD benefitting claimants
  

The CII conducts ongoing consumer research across the insurance sector based on what consumers believe is important. From this, we can start to tie together the ethical foundations around insurance, protection, and consumer outcomes.

Consumer Duty outcomes are seen as self-evidently a good thing. But, is this the case when it comes to the ethics? Do these set consumer outcomes fit into different ethical approaches?

This session will:

• Discuss the ethical obligations and implications of Consumer Duty in the protection market
• Recognise the issues around protection and the ethical underpinning from CII practice
• Understand the ideas of professionalism and its relationship with the Consumer Duty

Check back for more on this session.

The protection and health industry are pushing forward and embracing technology as an opportunity to modernise the customer process to be more efficient and accessible. With customer-centricity at the core of the insurance process, how can intermediaries, tech providers and insurers work together to ensure compliance and drive overall process improvements?

This session will:

• Identify opportunities for collaborative innovation in protection and health
• Explore how collaborative technology innovation can move the industry forward
• Analyse how technology integration can lead to improved service quality
• Discuss the impact of streamlined processes on customer experience and satisfaction 
• Showcase successful examples of technology-drive problem solving in protection and health

Are you looking to improve your call handling? Not sure how to respond to a customers objection? In this session, meet a self-declared master of customer objections, understand how to journey the conversation, keep your customers onboard and resolve any objection without breaking a sweat.