The Practical Protection Podcast

Hi everyone, we have Alan Knowles back with us and we are taking a look at how lifestyles can affect options and pricing of life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection. Being a smoker usually doubles your premiums for protection insurance, as the stats show that you are far more likely to make a claim on the insurances. Not only this, but being a smoker can lead to your applications being declined depending upon your medical history.Alcohol can also have quite an influence on options for insurance. If you'd had a few intense drinking sessions in your late teens early twenties and your GP said to calm it down, that might not be too much of a concern to some insurer. But, there's often a question about ever being told to reduce your alcohol consumption, that can lead to quite a different insurance journey if the answer is yes.The key takeaways:Some insurers class you as a non-smoker after 5 years or no nicotine consumption, for others it's up to 5 yearsThe weekly limits for alcohol consumption in the UK have changed, and it's affecting insurance applicationsTwo case studies of arranging life insurance for people who have had excessive alcohol consumption in the pastNext time Alan is going to be back with me and we are going to be talking about underwriting of chronic fatigue/ME. Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors NextGen Planners.

Hi everyone, I have Lee Doran from William Russell with me. As the International Underwriting Manager Lee has an incredible knowledge of how protection insurance works across the UK and the rest of the world. With 20 years experience as an underwriter, he has seen and heard pretty much everything.In this episode we talk about Ukraine, Russia, the US and how getting insurance isn't the easiest thing to do. Lee takes us through how international insurance can make things far simpler for clients who move countries, if they need to make a claim. We also take you through some key points about admitted, non-admitted, group and individual protection.The key takeaways:International protection insurance options change quickly depending upon the health, social, political, financial and environmental situations of a country.There are some countries where you will simply not be able to arrange protection insurance for if you plan to travel or live there. There can be super specialist options, but it is pretty much guaranteed that the policy will exclude claims that happen in the sanctioned/restricted country.A case study looking at quite a straightforward international client requirement, and another case study of a more complex situation.Next time Alan is going to be back with me and we are going to be talking about underwriting updates for cigarettes and alcohol. Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors NextGen Planners.

Hi everyone, we have Jo Miller back with us to talk about all things Income Protection. The last time Jo joined us was in 2023 to talk about the brilliant Income Protection Taskforce and there have been a lot of changes since then. With a new Board and lots of changes in the IP world, Jo is bringing us some great insights from the IPTF profile of an IP customer report.We are going through what's working well in the IP world and what we would like to see change if we had a magic wand. I know that my magic wand wish will not be popular with many people!The key takeaways:Men are still far more likely to take out income protection than women The IPTF are wanting to promote the way that ASU products can work, where income protection is not possibleA case study of arranging income protection for a Barrister, where you must be on top of how the deferred period is going to work with their ongoing income streamNext time Lee Doran from William Russell is joining me to discuss international protection insurance. We've been planning what we will chat about and I'm very excited as I advise in this area, and we're really going to get into why underwriting international cover is not always straightforward.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website.

Hi everyone, we are back with an insurance underwriting consideration that I cannot believe we haven't covered before: high BMI! We've talked about BMI in the past, but not done a specific episode, which is so bizarre as it's something that I think every adviser has come across at some point.High BMI affects life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection applications in different ways. Depending upon the BMI there can be ratings to the premium, the need for medicals, application declines and specialist insurers, popping up at different times. BMI tables are very outdated, however they are one of the simplest ways for insurers to get an overall sense of a person's health quickly, which can speed up insurance applications.The key takeaways:A high BMI is linked to the development of diabetes, heart attack, cancer, stroke and many long term income protection claimsBMI assessments can work brilliant if you're a white european male born in the early 1800s (aka they are very outdated and don't take into account different genders or ethnicities!)Three cases studies of arranging protection insurance for people living with a high BMI, including someone with a BMI of 83I am back next time with Jo Miller from the Income Protection Taskforce to discuss what is going on in the IP world. I'm a huge fan of IP, it's arguably the most useful protection insurance for someone working in the UK, and it can be moulded to meet your client's needs in so many ways.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website.

Hi everyone, we are having a theme of income protection related podcast episodes this season. I'm loving it! I personally feel that income protection is probably the most essential protection insurance product for working people. Income protection is available with many insurers and there are lots of quirks and different options. One of which is simplified income protection. This product type is available with British Friendly and Shepherd's Friendly, and it has the potential to open up income protection to people who can't get income protection through fully medically underwritten routes.The key takeaways:When you arrange simplified income protection you are accessing insurers that don't use occupation classes to price their policies, this can make a massive difference to the priceYou can arrange simplified income protection if you can get past the Killer Health QuestionsTwo case studies of simplified income protection being arrangedI will be back next time with Alan Knowles and we will be discussing high BMI and protection insurance. I can't believe I haven't covered this as a standalone episode in the previous 9 seasons. We will be talking about when BMI ratings start to kick in for life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection, when insurers start to decline and your options if you face this situation.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.

Hi everyone, we have our latest episode with our new regular contributor Alan Knowles giving you his insights from underwriting and advising. We are seeing more and more enquiries from social media influencers wanting to protect their income. It is really interesting with social media influencers as they are tending to reach out for support with their insurances, from the mindset that they need income protection. For a lot of people income protection is often thought of after life insurance and critical illness cover, so it's great to see this difference starting to emerge.The key takeaways:Not all insurers are able to insurer social medical influencers from income protection, for the precise reason that they are a social media influencersSome insurers can consider applications from social media influences for income protection, but the occupation that they are doing might lead to a rating or decline of cover i.e. fashion model, stuntman etcA case study of income protection and a case study of accident and sickness coverI will be back next time discussing simplified income protection options, how they work and where they stand out for you and your clients.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.

Hi everyone, we have Sue Kissane (Underwriting Manager) and Caroline Hume (Key Account Manager) from Cirencester Friendly are joining me to discuss income protection and type 1 diabetes. We are talking about underwriting and claims, so that you can get a good idea how type 1 diabetes can be considered by insurers.There are approximately 350k people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in the UK. It is a condition that results in the body not producing any insulin, leading to a build up of sugar in the blood, that can cause long-term complications in the eyes, heart, kidneys, liver and limbs.The key takeaways:You are more likely to get income protection if you are type 1 diabetic, than you are to get critical illness coverNot all insurers are able to consider type 1 diabetics for income protection coverA case study of arranging income protection for someone living with type 1 diabetesI will be back next time with Alan Knowles and we will be talking about arranging income protection for social media influencers, an area that we are starting to see popping up a lot more.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.

Hi everyone, we are back with Season 10 and a new regular guest, the one and only Alan Knowles. Many of you will know Alan from different industry initiatives and he is joining us to give insights into underwriting for your clients. We are kicking things off with a look at inflammatory bowel disease, specifically Crohns and Ulcerative Colitis, which are believed to affect well over 1m in the UK. Depending upon your clients specific circumstances you can see a range of outcomes including standard terms, premium loadings, exclusions, postpones and declines.The key takeaways:The time since the most recent flare up of Crohns or Ulcerative Colitis symptoms is key to the options you will see for insuranceImmunosuppressants can work wonders for managing Crohns and Ulcerative Colitis, but it can make it harder to get protection insurance in placeTwo case studies of arranging life insurance for people living with inflammatory bowel diseaseI will be back next time with Cirencester Friendly to discuss income protection and type 1 diabetes, plus their brilliant 125 Fund..Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.

Hi everyone, I am back with the final episode of season 9 and we have some changes coming up with the podcast. We are saying a very big thank you and farewell to Matt Rann who has brought our underwriting insights for the last 6 seasons. Don't worry, we will still be continuing with underwriting insights to help you better understand your client's circumstances and the protection insurance options that they might have.The last episode of season 9 is all about group critical illness cover. We have recently covered group life insurance and group income protection, and whilst they are all quite similar, group critical illness cover has a couple of big differences.The key takeaways:Group critical illness cover is paid for by a company but the premiums are treated as a benefit-in-kind for the people coveredPeople who cannot personally get critical illness cover can be covered by group critical illness cover, but there will be exclusions for pre-existing conditionsA case study of group critical illness coverI will be back in 2025 with season 10 as we enter our 5th year of providing the protection insurance training for you.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.

Hi everyone, we have Matt Rann back with us and we are talking about hepatitis and protection insurance. Hepatitis affects the liver and this can lead to some difficulty in arranging protection insurance, especially critical illness cover and income protection.The key takeaways:There are a lot of types of hepatitis: A, B, C, D, E, alcoholic and autoimmuneHepatitis is inflammation of the liver and affects hundreds of thousands of people in the UK each yearTwo case studies of arranging protection insurance for people that have experienced hepatitisI will be back next time with a short episode going through key parts of group critical illness cover and the do's and don'ts of advising on this type of cover.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.

Hi everyone, I am back with an episode on group income protection to talk through this brilliant product and how it can help companies and employees alike. Group income protection can cover income, national insurance contributions, pensions and provide access to medical professionals really early on if you are ill. In fact there are times where these service work so well that people completely recover and are back to work before the deferred period is over.The key takeaways:How free cover level limits work for group income protection The definition of a group income protection claim can potentially change over timeA case study of group income protection for a firm with 15 employeesI will be back next time with Matt Rann and we will be talking about hepatits and protection insurance.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, we have Matt Rann back with us and we are talking about fibromyalgia and how this is considered in protection insurance. We are going through how fibromyalgia affects the body and mind of a person, there are a lot of symptoms and everyone is affected by the condition in a different way. The key takeaways:Approximately 1 in 20 people are affected by fibromyalgiaKey details about fibromyalgia that you need to know to complete your presales researchTwo case studies of arranging protection insurance for people living with fibromyalgiaI will be back next time with a short episode going through key parts of group income protection and the do's and don'ts of advising on this type of cover.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, I am back with an episode on group life insurance to talk through the key things to know when you are advising on this product. Group life insurance is very technical and it's not possible to cover everything in this episode, but you will get a better understanding of what to watch out for as an adviser.The key takeaways:You can insure everyone or specific groups with group life insurance, you do not need to insure all employees but you must be mindful of anti-selectionThe differences of registered and excepted group life insuranceA case study of group life insurance for a firm with 79 employeesI will be back next time with Matt Rann and we will be talking about fibromyalgia and protection insurance.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, we have Matt Rann back with us and we are talking about thyroid disorders and protection insurance. I had postpartum thyroiditis after having my third child, which was not a fun thing to experience, and I can say quite confidently that you can feel pretty shocking if your thyroid is misbehaving.The key takeaways:1 in 20 people have a thyroid condition and we're talking through the more common ones Key details about thyroid conditions that you need to know to complete your presales researchTwo case studies of arranging protection insurance for people living with thyroid conditionsI will be back next time with a short episode going through key parts of group life insurance and the do's and don'ts of advising on this type of cover.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, I'm back with a short episode on how you can use life insurance to protect against the tax made on gifts. A lot of people think of gift planning as something that millionaires do and whilst that can be the case, many people are making gifts all the time without realising it.Giving a financial gift is a lovely thing to do, but without the right protection in place the person who receives the gift could face a rather unexpected surprise of a tax charge. The tax on gifts is for 7 years from the date of the gift if the person making the gift dies during this time, and there are some quick and effective ways of setting up life insurance to help with any tax that might be due. The key takeaways:The potential tax on a gift is 40% of the full gift amount and this tapers over the next 7 years Your choice of Trust will be a key part in protecting the gift beneficiaryA case study of building a gift planning solution with 5 separate term policiesI will be back after the summer with Matt Rann who will be joining me to talk about all things protection insurance and thyroid disorders.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, I have Cillian Tierney with me on the podcast to talk about the way that insurers in the EU are responding to the Right to be Forgotten. This legislation require insurers to give consumers the right to not disclose that they have had cancer when they apply for some protection insurances. The rules are different across countries and some might choose to say that you don't need to tell the insurer that you've had cancer after 2 years, 5 years or more. It might be applied to all protection products or just certain ones.Cillian is the Global Head of Medical Underwriting Propositions and Products at PartnerRe and is sharing his knowledge of how RTBF has developed in the Irish insurance market. This is potentially quite an emotional topic and we are clear from the start that we are talking about this situation from a technical basis, that might not be easy for some people to hear. The key takeaways:The Right to be Forgotten is not currently legislated in the UK.How insurers determine the ways to assess insurance applications for people that have been diagnosed with cancer.Three case studies that show where the RTBF would and wouldn't improve terms for someone that has experienced cancer.Opinions expressed are solely those of the author. This podcast is for general information, education and discussion purposes only. It does not constitute legal or professional advice and does not necessarily reflect, in whole or in part, any corporate position, opinion or view of PartnerRe or its affiliates.Next time I will be back and focusing upon protection insurance planning when you have made a gift within the UK. There are very specific do's and don'ts and the Trusts are really key!Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, I am back with a short episode focused upon how you can protect against IHT with life insurance. Huge disclaimer from the start I am not a full financial adviser and there are lots of ways to do estate planning, I am just giving insight into how life insurance can work.The key takeaways:With a joint life second death policy one of your clients might be declinable, BUT, they can still be covered by the insurance.Two case studies to show the price difference for joint life second death whole of life, depending upon age.Cautionary tale about HMRC and terminal illness benefits.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, I am talking about a very emotive topic today after being approached on social media as to how insurers view assisted dying. With recent debates on passing assisted dying laws in the Scottish and Isle of Man governments, it is something that is likely to be discussed by UK insurers at some stage.I have been very clear not to provide an opinion about whether assisted dying should and shouldn't be allowed, instead focusing on the facts of how the majority of life insurance policies in the UK would behave if a claim was made following someone choosing to die due to their health. At the end of the episode I include some details of support services that you can reach out to, if you have found the discussion difficult to listen to.The key takeaways:The majority of insurers in the UK offer life insurance with an initial 12 month suicide exclusion In Canada where assisted dying is possible, the insurers do not consider death through these means to be suicideIn countries where assisted dying is allowed physical and mental health conditions ca be viewed differentlyNext time I will be back and focusing upon protection insurance planning when you have an IHT liability. There's some specific do's and dont's that can make huge differences to how life insurance claims pay out.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, I am back with another look at an insurance product that can be incredibly useful, especially for small business owners. Protecting your income is one of the key things that any of us can do, to try and give ourselves financial security for the future. As with any protection insurance it's something that we hope to never have to claim on, but we will forever be grateful for if we have taken it out.In this episode I am explaining some of the main ways that executive income protection is different to personal income protection, how to explain the benefits of the policy if you get some client objections and a case study to show the potential pricing of the cover.The key takeaways:Executive income protection is available with an employer and employee relationshipCompany Directors taking dividends need to be clearly advised on how the claims process works if they continue to take dividends after becoming too ill to work A case study of executive income protectionNext time I am going to be discussing a topic that could be quite difficult for people to listen to. I was approached on social media about how the rules of life insurance work in regards to assisted dying, given the recent debates in Scotland and Isle of Man. It might not be an easy episode to listen to but I hope that people will find it useful.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, I have Matt back with me and we are focusing upon protection insurance options for people living with atrial fibrillation. It can be quite interesting when speaking with clients who have this condition as the medical world and the insurance world can view atrial fibrillation quite differently.The key takeaways:You are 5x more likely to have a stroke if you have atrial fibrillationThe types of information you need to know to get a clear underwriting indication for life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection.Two case studies of arranging life insurance and income protection for people living with atrial fibrillationNext time I will be back and focusing upon executive income protection. It will be a quick-ish overview of this insurance product and the do's and dont's when advising on this type of business insurance policy. Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, I am back with another focus on a business protection product, rather than the usual underwriting deep dive. This time I am going through the key points of relevant life insurance.In the podcast I discuss how relevant life insurance is an employer and employee relationship. It's a thank you for your service to the company. I forgot to mention that one of the key ways to check if someone is eligible for this is if they are on the payroll (taking PAYE). Relevant life insurance is probably the simplest business insurance product that we can arrange for our clients.The key takeaways:If you are planning to do relevant life insurance to specifically cover a mortgage, chat with your compliance people first.Make sure you are clear with your clients about the periodic charges that come with relevant life trusts.A quick summary of relevant life insurance versus group life insurance.Next time we will have Matt Rann back and we will be focusing on another underwriting risk and discussing the options you might see for life insurance, critical illness and income protection options. Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, I have Matt back with me for the first time of Season 9 and we are focusing on hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. HCM is a heart condition that affects approximately 1 in 500 people in the UK and it can potentially be a higher risk for a life insurance claim.We talk about the different types of cardiomyopathy, how they affect the body and the usual causes of cardiomyopathy. Matt takes us through the two types of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and how they can affect the outcomes for protection insurance applications.The key takeaways:There is a genetic link to HCM and it can come up in family medical history questionsThe thickness of the heart wall and the part of the heart wall that is affected are essential for your researchA case study of a person living with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that needed life insuranceNext time I will be back and focusing upon relevant life insurance. It will be a quick-ish overview of this insurance product and the do's and dont's when advising on this type of business insurance policy. Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, I am back with Season 9 of the Practical Protection Podcast and we are taking a look at keyperson cover. Hopefully one of the simpler business protection policies that we can arrange, but I have certainly had some interesting conversations with people that don't understand what this kind of insurance does. I remember quite a specific debate with a tax adviser who was saying their client needed keyperson cover because they wanted the tax advantages of the premiums, but what they needed the insurance to do was shareholder protection. I stood my ground!The key takeaways:Keyperson cover can be life insurance, critical illness or income protection.It is designed to protect the Company, not the individual or their loved ones.An explanation of the Anderson principles.Next time we will have Matt Rann back with us talking about hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and the options you might see for life insurance, critical illness and income protection options. Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, I have Matt back with me and this time we are focusing on Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). This is an autoimmune condition that increases the chance of someone developing blood clots. More women than men are diagnosed with APS and at the moment there is no specific reason why APS develops. It is thought that a mix of environmental factors can lead to APS developing, but there are still people that are diagnosed with APS where no known cause is found.When applying for protection insurance most insurers will want to know if a person has been diagnosed with APS. It is very likely that the insurer will want to see a report from the applicants GP, to confirm details about their health. If they have letters from their consultant that detail their diagnosis and any recent check ups, you never know the insurer might be able to underwrite using that rather than waiting for a GP report. It's always worth asking!The key takeaways:APS increases the risk of a person developing deep vein thrombosis and experiencing a heart attack or strokeThe questions you need to ask someone to do your underwriting research wellTwo case studies of people living with APS and other medical conditions, that were able to get life insuranceNext time we will be starting season 9 of the PPP and I am going to be kicking it off with a look into keyperson cover, what it is, how you can advise on it and things not to do! Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, I am doing another product feature today with a look into shareholder protection. I can't remove all the jargon but I'm going to do my best to make it as simple as possible!In this episode I am giving an overview of cross-option and company buy-back shareholder protection options. There are other ways of doing shareholder protection arrangements, but these tend to be the main ones so I'm focusing here. I'm giving you a quick run through key elements of shareholder protection for you to make note of, to give you a bit of a checklist of insurance do's and dont's.The key takeaways:Don't forget premium equalisation!Company buy back is great but make sure client's know about the Gazette. You can do company buy back shareholder agreement for a person with less than 3 years as a shareholder, but watch out for potential tax.Next time Matt Rann will be back with me and we will be talking about antiphospholipid syndrome and what this means for your life insurance, critical illness and income protection options. Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, we are talking about arthritis in our latest episode and taking a closer look at rheumatoid arthritis. When it comes to protection insurance rheumatoid arthritis is going to come up in the application questions at some point. Rheumatoid arthritis and the treatment for it can affect a lot of areas in the body and it's a condition that tends to get worse over time, so insurers usually want to know about it.You are far more likely to be diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis if you are a woman and if you are over 40. But that doesn't mean that you can't get it when you are young or if you are a man. When it comes to protection insurance it's quite likely that the insurer will ask to see a report from the applicants GP, to make sure that they fully understand how the condition is affecting them.The key takeaways:Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease which means the body is attacking itself.The way different medication types can quickly change underwriting indications. Two case studies of arranging protection insurance for people with rheumatoid arthritis.Next time I will be back with a spotlight on Shareholder Protection, what it is, how to advise on it and some of the times when things can go very wrong. Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, I am taking a bit of a different approach with some of the upcoming podcast episodes and I hope that you find it useful. I am going to take specific protection insurance products and do a summary of how they work and what to look out for as an adviserThe first one is focusing upon insurance for Business Property Relief. In this episode I am explaining what BPR is and why it's so important that we look out for it, as some people might have wandered into an arrangement that could potentially have this tax benefit without even realising it.The life insurance side of things is quite simple, but that can be where the biggest danger comes from. Life insurance at 40% of the share value over 2 years, pretty easy right? Yes and no, and I am taking you through what you need to know.The key takeaways:Purchasing business shares that can qualify for business property relief can be a good option for a person's full financial plan.A case study showing how to arrange life insurance to protect against the loss of business property relief.Make sure that you get the life insurance Trust right or you can lose the tax benefits linked to business property relief.Next time Matt Rann will be back with me and we will be talking about arthritis and what this means for your life insurance, critical illness and income protection options. Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, I have Matt Rann back with me for the first time in 2024 and we are talking about heart valve disease and how that mixes with protection insurance. There are a lot of heart conditions that we need to be aware of when applying for protection insurance and many often focus upon the heart muscle and what they are doing. With heart valve disease the focus is specifically upon the valves and how they control the blood flow in the heart.The key takeaways:Understanding what heart valve disease is and what it can meant for a person's overall healthThe medical information that you need to know to be able to get as accurate an underwriting indication as possible A case study of arranging life insurance for someone living with heart valve disease.Next time I am doing a slightly different episode to usual. I am going to be talking about business property relief insurance as a product, what it is and how you should advise on it.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, I am joined today by Paul Beven and Rachel Edwards from Verisk. They are a leader in travel insurance underwriting, so we are taking a step into general insurance for this episode. Travel insurance is focused upon emergency assistance that you might require when you are on holiday. This could be do with your health, or are number of different situations that you might face. When it comes to health we are talking about the questions that are asked for travel insurance underwriting, the ways that medical risk scores are calculated and how changes to your health before you travel can be really important for annual policies.The key takeaways:Travel insurance underwriting takes into account your medical conditions as well as the healthcare support at your destination, when determining your options.Travel insurance premiums are generally very low but the cost of a claim to an insurer can be well over £1m depending upon your needs and the country you are in.Mental health is one of the most disclosed conditions for travel insurance and we look at what this means for customers.Next time Matt Rann will be back with me and we will be talking about heart valve disease and what this means for your life insurance, critical illness and income protection options. Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, I have Debbie Smith who is the Chief Medical Officer at Swiss Re with me to talk about the trends that she is spotting when it comes to income protection claims. I first met Debbie at the LUCID conference earlier this year and I found her presentation fascinating. So naturally I asked if she could come and share some of her findings with my listeners!Debbie is sharing with us the trend that they are seeing that a higher BMI is often linked to long-term income protection claims. We are talking through what the data is showing, how this can be tricky to fully assess due to differences in medical record keeping and ways that the insurance industry can help people in a preventative and reactive way. The key takeaways:Claims data is showing that there is a link between long term IP claims and higher BMIs.Metabolic syndrome is quickly becoming a key area of focus for a person's long term health.It's important that we try to get the importance of income protection out to younger generations, who can often arrange this before health conditions start to develop.Next time I will be joined by Paul Bevan and Rachel Edwards from Verisk to kick off 2024 with a deep dive into travel insurance underwriting. Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, we are talking about Total Permanent Disability, a potential claimable condition on most UK Critical Illness Contracts. We are talking about how TPD claims work and also the difficulties that can be experienced in placing a claim for this condition.This episode is taking a different approach to usual. As you know we love protection insurance and getting as many people as possible to take it out. But, you will hear this time that both of us are very on the fence as to whether we would recommend someone includes TPD in their critical illness cover, or even take it out ourselves.The key takeaways:In 2022 only 70% of TPD claims were successful.Watch out for TPD definitions and exclusions when you are reviewing a client's critical illness cover.It's worthwhile taking that bit of extra time to explain the limitation of TPD to your clients, so that there is less confusion over whether they can make a claim.Next time I will be joined by Debbie Smith from Swiss Re and we will be talking about long term income protection claims and what the statistics are showing us. Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, we have Lisa Balboa back with us giving her insights into insure tech and how this could change the way that insurers underwriter insurance applications and give ongoing health support to their policyholders.We are talking about wearables and things that your smartphone can do that is absolutely brilliant, though I do find it scary in some ways! I share how one of the apps that Lisa suggested to me, told me that my skin health is 10 years younger than I am. Firstly, amazing. Secondly, there was far more important information that it gave me but this is the one that made me do a girlie squeal.The key takeaways:Wearable technology can create a baseline of your health and alert you if there is a change that could mean you are becoming ill.There are now apps on your phone that can detect your blood pressure, oxygen saturation and more, simply through the camera.Insurers have the potential to support people to get an early intervention to prevent a serious health condition from developing.Next time Matt Rann will be joining me and we are going to be talking about total permanent disability, what it is and how claims work. Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, we are back with Matt Rann and taking a look at prostate cancer, in perfect time for Movember. Usually when someone has cancer insurers don't like to offer life insurance, critical illness or income protection, until the person is completely recovered. Prostate cancer is the exception (sometimes!).We are going to talk about when you might be able to still get protection insurance when you have prostate cancer. We are also having a chat about why the same isn't the case for ‘female' cancers and why women also tend to see exclusions on critical illness cover for family history of breast cancer, but the same isn't the case for men with a family history of prostate cancer.The key takeaways:There are times that life insurance can be arranged when someone has prostate cancer.To do underwriting research well you will need to know the initial and current PSA readings and Gleason scores.A case study of arranging life insurance for someone living with prostate cancer.Next time Lisa Balboa from HannoverRe is joining us to discuss the latest in Insuretech and health data. We are going to be talking about how health technology can help with underwriting and long term support for policyholders. Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, we have Steve Baldry and Katie Dennehy with us from UnderwriteMe, talking about the changes that they have seen in the protection insurance market. There's a lot of stats!We are looking at the types of advice that we are seeing advisers giving, the differences in consumer behaviour across genders and different age groups, plus the most common disclosures that we see in protection insurance applications.The key takeaways:Critical illness purchases are increasing, life insurance is reducing a bit and income protection is roughly the same.Data shows that it is still more men buying protection insurance than women, but we are seeing an uptake in women wanting income protection.Stress, anxiety, family history, back pain, high blood pressure and asthma, are some of the most disclosed conditions in protection insurance applications.Next time Matt Rann will be joining me and we are going to be talking about life insurance, critical illness and income protection for people that have had or currently have prostate cancer. There's some really specific pieces of information that you need to know, to be able to research the best insurer for someone with this condition.. Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, we have Matt Rann back with us for the first time this season and we are taking a look outside of the UK. I speak to quite a lot of people who live or work abroad for extended periods of time and this can really reduce the options for arranging insurance with a UK insurer.It's important to make sure that you know your permissions before advising anyone that is not resident in the UK. This will be a mix of your compliance and your professional indemnity insurance. As an example, at Cura I know that my permissions are that I can provide advice to someone that is a UK citizen and/or someone that has a financial liability within the UK. If someone doesn't fall into these categories, there needs to be further questions about why they are wanting to use a UK advice firm, rather than someone in their country of residence.There's a lot to consider!The key takeaways:Financial liabilities in the UK can range from mortgages, to dependent children, to parents that are dependent on care home fees, and more.Make sure that you have a clear procedure to check clients against UK sanctions.Two case studies of expat cover using an international insurer and a UK insurer.Next time Stephen Baldry from UnderwriteMe is set to join me to talk about the way that the advice market has been changing over recent years.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, we are fresh from the IPTF Income Protection Awareness week and I hope that it has given you some insights into having more IP conversations. I have Rich Horner from MetLife joining me in our latest episode where we reflect on IPAW 2023 and discuss ways that you can protect your clients that don't sit within life insurance, critical illness cover and IP products.During our chat we talk about the importance of building your recommendations for a client and being clear about what you suggest. But equally it's just as important to be documenting what you are not doing. Why haven't you recommended income protection? Write it down and if you don't have an answer, then think about if you are really doing the best for your client.The key takeaways:There are so many options for income protection that the market is quite complex, but it means that you have a much better ability to tailor products to your client.SSP is just over £3,000 to live on for 6 and a half months.Consumer research shows that the key things that 92% of parents are worried about are their children having broken bones or being diagnosed with cancer.Next time Matt Rann will be joining me for the first time in Season 8 and we will be talking about life insurance, critical illness and income protection for UK expats. There's a lot to know in terms of compliance and also what you can and cannot place with UK insurers.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, we are back with Season 8 of the Practical Protection Podcast and today it is all about income protection. We have Jo Miller, Katie Crook-Davies and Andrew Wibberley joining us from the Income Protection Task Force. Their job is to promote income protection to consumers, encourage advisers to engage in income protection conversations more and work with insurers to improve our industry.Last year the IPTF held their Income Protection Awareness Week that was a resounding success. Each day had a different focus on income protection to better help advisers working in the mortgage, protection and wealth space. They are back with this year's IPAW starting on the 18 September at 12 noon. To get us all ready for it we have been chatting all things income protection in the most recent episode.The key takeaways:Income protection sales are growing whilst life and critical illness cover policies are starting to slow down.Key areas for change are educating people at a younger age, the need for collaboration and the need for new perspectives in underwriting to reflect current social behaviour.Through adviser demand there are now more options for income protection than ever before.You can sign up for this year's IPAW at the IPTF website and you will be able to claim up to 5 hours CPD for the week.Next time I will have Justin Harper with me from MetLife and we will be talking more about income protection. Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, we are going through how kidney disease can influence a person's options for life insurance, critical illness and income protection. We are talking about the things that underwriters need to know about your client's kidney disease to give you an accurate indication of terms.Matt is taking us through the connections between kidney function and blood pressure, how family history of polycystic kidney disease can affect applications and how a GP's perspective of chronic kidney disease can be quite different to an underwriters.The key takeaways:Chronic kidney disease is measured upon ‘normal range' of kidney function for people in their 20s up to their 40s.Insurers tend to use the standard readings for kidney functions of white european men, which can mean that the normal ranges for other ethnicities are not taken into account during underwriting.Two case studies of protection insurance arranged for people living with kidney disease.This is our last episode of Season 7 and we are now taking a break for summer 2023. We already have everything lined up for the rest of the year. If you ever think of something that you want us to cover please do get in touch and I will put it in the schedule.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, we are going through claims stats in our latest episode. Don't worry we are not just going to be throwing a load of numbers at you, I also won't be naming insurers either. We are talking through how much was been paid out in protection in 2022, the successful stats rate of different products, the biggest cause of claims and our thoughts on terminal illness cover too as the stats on these can be confusing.We will also be talking about the awful times when insurance claims don't pay out in the protection space. This situation is never nice for anyone. There are times when things don't go right, but a lot of the time when a claim isn't paid there is a valid reason.The key takeaways:In 2022 £6.85bn was paid out in protection insurance claims.Terminal illness cover claims are a little tricky to monitor as the claims are not usually declined, they are postponed.Only 2% of claims were declined in 2022 across the market and more than of these were due to relevant disclosures not being included in the original application.Next time Matt Rann will be back with me and we will be talking about kidney disease and what this means for your life insurance, critical illness and income protection options. Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, we are getting towards the end of Season 7, do you have any thoughts of what you would like us to cover in Season 8?We are talking about a rare condition in this episode, one that can affect multiple organs in the body. Sarcoidosis affects 1-2 people in every 10,000 so it isn't a condition that every adviser will come across during their work, but it's important to know about it as terms could be anywhere from standard to a decline.The key takeaways:Sarcoidosis is an autoimmune condition where inflamed swollen tissue develops in the body, often in the lungs.In mild cases no treatment is needed, but more severe cases could need lung or heart transplants.A case study of arranging life insurance for someone that has experienced sarcoidosis.Next time Matt will be joining me again and we will be talking about claims statistics for life insurance and critical illness, what insurers have been paying out and why they sometimes don't pay out.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, we are back with a bit of a different podcast episode this week. I'm joined by Roy McLoughlin and Lee Robertson and we are sharing our thoughts on how protection insurance is working right now. Regulators, government, financial advisers, protection education, we are not holding back on what we think.It's incredibly interesting to hear from Lee that when he joined the finance sector over 30 years ago, the starting point of advice was protection insurance. That was what all the training focused on with the mindset that the very least you would do for someone is protection cover. Yet, here we are today with many of us trying to encourage people to write more protection. Why is that? What has changed to make protection seem like an add on rather than the core basis of financial planning?The key takeaways:Collaboration between advisers from all specialisms is developing the best consumer outcomes.There are clear barriers to improving the perception of protection insurance even within the advice world, that must be addressed.We talk about places where you can go to get support to improve your protection advice, through informal networks and training.Our focus this episode was to give you all an idea of something that is happening in the finance space that is exciting us, something that we would like to see changed and why, and then also something that we wish more people knew about the insurance world.Next time Matt will be back with me and we will be talking about arranging life insurance, critical illness and income protection for people that have sarcoidosis. Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, we are back with Matt Rann and we are talking about lung cancer and protection insurance. There are 43k cases of lung cancer diagnosed in the UK each year. When it comes to life insurance, critical illness and income protection there are a lot of considerations given to the survival rate of people diagnosed with lung cancer, as unfortunately only 16% of cases are caught in the early stages.As well as lung cancer we go into a bit of a side tangent into debating terminal illness cover, which is a potential claim area for life insurance. We are fans of the intention of terminal illness cover, but we are both calling for a complete shake up of the way that it currently works.The key takeaways:72% of lung cancer cases are linked to smoking and the other 28% linked to environmental factorsIf a person has had lung cancer and is a smoker their cover will need to be place with specialist insurersMatt takes us through what the staging and grading of lung cancer means, as this is an essential part of the underwriting decision processNext time we have Roy back with us and Lee Robertson from Octomembers. We will be sharing some of our musings from the finance world. Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

*** Trigger Warning ***Hi everyone, we are back with quite a change of episode today to the usual content. I am talking with Lauren Garrett from the SEA Charity, an organisation that is dedicated to helping people that have experienced economic abuse.Listening to what Lauren has to share is really eye opening as to the awful situations people can find themselves in and remember this isn't something that just happens, it often happens gradually. There is no specific person that can be affected by this, anyone can be.The key takeaways:Financial abuse falls within economic abuse, it is just one aspect of what a person can experience.As advisers there is a duty upon us to try and prevent economic abuse and there's some tips on how to do thisThere is a huge call for the insurance worlds to modernise to the need for separation clauses as standard and flexibility of Trusts, to ensure that victims of economic abuse are not disadvantagedNext time Matt Rann will be back with me and we will be talking about lung cancer and what this means for your life insurance, critical illness and income protection options. Take a look at these extra pieces from SEA:Consumer Duty BriefingInsurance and Economic AbuseRemember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, we are back with a health related podcast after our little peak at pilots insurance last time. In the latest episode we are looking at sickle cell and how having this condition can potentially affect the options a person has for things like life insurance.Sickle cell is an inherited condition that can lead to some health complications and potentially a lower life expectancy. When we are supporting our clients that are living with this condition it is essential that we know the right questions to ask, to find the right insurer for them as soon as possible.The key takeaways:Insurers will want to know what type of sickle cell disease the person has and if there have been any complications such as symptoms in the eyes and any crises.Options for critical illness cover and income protection can be quite limited for people that have been diagnosed with sickle cell disease.Someone that carries the sickle cell gene but does not have the condition, should not have difficulty in arranging life insurance, critical illness cover or income protection.Next time I will be speaking with the SEA Charity about financial abuse and what we can do as advisers to potentially spot it and prevent it. Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, we have been seeing more enquiries from pilots about the types of insurances that they can have. It's a real mix of options especially when you look at commercial, test, helicopter and military pilots.Pilots have usually looked at loss of license insurance before and this is a good policy, but more and more are starting to see the benefits of income protection as an alternative. As with anything like this there are pros and cons to both and I'm talking about all these options in this episode.The key takeaways:You can see significant differences for terms on life insurance and critical illness cover if the flying is part of a person's occupation or their hobby.Options for income protection massively differ between the types of pilot.A case study of arranging income protection for a commercial pilot.Next time Matt Rann is going to be back with me and we are going to be talking about how to access insurance when you have sickle cell disease. Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, I am back with Matt Rann and we are talking about ovarian cancer. We are talking about what underwriters need to assess a protection insurance application, the treatments that can sometimes help you to understand how strong the cancer was and how family medical history can play a part in terms offered.Ovarian cancer is usually diagnosed in women that are aged 50 or over, but it can be diagnosed at any age. It's often not found quickly as the symptoms can be quite general and Matt gives a really clear example of symptoms that can indicate it's best to go speak with a GP for a check up.The key takeaways:You must know the staging and grading of the cancer, to get a clear indication of terms from the insurer.Ovarian cancer can potentially be linked to other conditions such as a high BMI, the BRCA gene, endometriosis, diabetes, breast and bowel cancer.A case study of a woman in her 40s that was arranged life insurance after ovarian cancer.We have a number of exciting episodes coming up including deep dives into sickle cell anaemia, sarcoidosis, claims and the incredibly important topic of economic abuse.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, we have Charlotte Rogers joining us in our latest episode to talk about the value of Trusts. Charlotte has an incredibly moving story to share about how her life was turned upside down by a life insurance policy that wasn't written into Trust.A Trust is designed to get the insurance payout to intended beneficiary of the policy. A key question for any adviser who doesn't put a life insurance policy into Trust is, if you don't know the beneficiary then is there any need for life insurance?The key takeaways:Only 20% of life insurance policies are written into Trust in the UKTrusts aren't just for people that are single or co-habiting, married people can need them too.The ability to write life insurance into Trust easily differs significantly between insurersNext time we will have an episode focused upon value added benefits and how important and life changing these can be. These are non-contractual extras that UK insurers offer to their protection insurance customers and it can range from mental health support, to GP appointments right through to second medical opinions from experts in your condition.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, in our latest episode I have Conor D'Arcy Head of Research and Policy at the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute joining me. They have recently published a report about their findings into how insurance and mental health are mixing together.Titled the ‘Written Off? report the institute have highlighted where things are not necessarily working well for consumers that are wanting to get insurance, when they have a mental health condition.The key takeaways:They found that someone with mental health can potentially pay up to 27x the base premium for travel insurance3 in 10 respondents did not disclose their mental health condition to insurersThe inability to get insurance at an affordable price can further exacerbate mental health symptoms and lead to a lack of financial securityThe protection insurance industry has made significant improvements in terms of mental health underwriting over the years. I have personally experienced this from when I first took out my insurances in 2010, compared to my applications in the last few years and even recently. But, the research shows that there is still a lot of distrust in the insurance world over how decisions are made and the fairness of decisions. I know many underwriters that make incredibly fair decisions of protection insurance applications detailing mental health. It's our job to make sure that we are getting the message out to the public and organisations like the MMHPI about the good work that is being done. There may not always be solutions that all parties are happy with, but open and transparent discussions are key to us changing the way that the insurance sector is viewed.Next time I will we will have Charlotte Rogers joining us, she is an adviser that is incredibly passionate about Trusts and making sure people know what can go wrong if they're not in place. Tune in to hear her personal story and how it's made her determined to have Trusts as a key part part of her advice.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, we have Matt Rann back with us for the first time in Season 7 and we are focusing upon family medical history and how this can impact insurance applications. There are lots of things to know in terms of what you need to tell insurers about your family medical history and what you don't need to tell them too.We are taking a look at the most common medical conditions that can lead to a rating or exclusion if someone has a relative that has a condition that the insurer asks about. When we say family medical history this is just the blood related parents and siblings, to the best of the applicants knowledge.The key takeaways:A person with 1 parent that has type 2 diabetes has a 40% chance of developing the condition, if 2 parents have type 2 diabetes the risk increases to 70%Someone with a family medical history of colon cancer diagnosed under the age of 50, will generally see a minimum +50% rating for critical illness coverThe BRCA gene is linked to increased breast cancer, prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer and ovarian cancer, as well as othersNext time I will be hosting an episode with Conor D'Arcy who is Head of Research and Policy at the Money and Mental Health Organisation. We will be talking about the findings in their recent report about how mental health and insurance are working (or not working) together..Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, we have a brilliant inbetweenysode for you with some updates to insurance options for people living with HIV. It has been a long time coming but the past 3 years have seen big steps being made to improve options for protection insurance for people that have a diagnosis of HIV.The key takeaways:There are sometimes options for standard rates for life insurance, for people living with HIV.Personal critical illness cover and income protection for people living with HIV is here!Group insurance can often offer valuable protection insurance without the need for medical underwriting at application or point of claim for life insurance and income protection, up to specific free medical underwriting limits.Next time I will be be back with Matt Rann and we will be talking about family medical history, why it's so important in protection insurance applications and why it's different for men and women.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.

Hi everyone, we are back a little later than usual with the second episode of Season 7. Don't worry I'm going to make up for it with an inbetweenysode soon. We have Paul Roberts from CIEXpert joining us on this episode to talk about critical illness cover and how it has changed since it became available in the UK 40 years ago.We are talking about the numbers race with insurers competing to have the highest number of conditions offered, partial payments, children's cover and the big risks that can come from replacing an existing critical illness policy with a new one.The key takeaways:The number of conditions covered in a critical illness contract isn't a clear indicator of quality, take a close look at claim definitions.Standalone critical illness cover comes with a survivability clause, if the person dies from the condition within a certain period of time, the policy will not pay out.When you replace a critical illness policy with a new one, you need to make sure that you know the risks of doing so.Next time I will be hosting a mini episode where I talk about updates to HIV underwriting within the UK. The last time I did a HIV focused episode was in June 2020 and you will be surprised by how much has changed.Remember, if you are listening to this as part of your work, you can claim a CPD certificate on our website, thanks to our sponsors Octo Members.If you want to know more about how to arrange protection insurance, take a look at my 13 hour CPD Protection Insurance in Practice course here and 1 hour CPD Protection Competency Exam here.