I adopted this six years ago and it changed the entire protection conversation.
With the right education and information, a client can recognise the importance of their whole income in determining the lifestyle they desire. A lifestyle within which the mortgage may be just one part.
I let them tell me what they wish to protect within their chosen lifestyle for both them and their family. Once in six years has a client asked to protect just the mortgage.
In our industry, protection conversations start with the mortgage and then we try to up-advise (I’m deliberately avoiding the word up-sell) other protection needs.
At a time where the protection gap in the UK is perhaps wider than ever, we need simplified protection planning.
Start the protection conversation with the client and let them dictate their requirements, keeping affordability in mind, of course. Highlight the importance of protection planning to all aspects of life.
Avoid squeezing the protection conversation into the end of the mortgage meeting. Instead, make it a separate conversation and give it the precedence it deserves.
The majority of investment advisers will have an investment proposition. If you truly want to move ahead with the protection planning arena, develop your own protection proposition. We owe it to our clients and their families to discuss true lifestyle protection planning.
Jiten Varsani is a mortgage and protection adviser at London Money
