The Intermediary – April 2025 - Flipbook - Page 62
P RO T E C T I O N
Opinion
Prioritising changing
protection
s with most financial
products, home
insurance should
not be a ‘secure once,
forget about it’ type
of purchase. While
advisers know this well, customers
sometimes need reminding to reflect
at regular intervals throughout their
mortgage lifecycle to make sure their
home insurance is still tailored to
their needs.
It’s all too easy at renewal stage for
customers to creep into auto-pilot,
simply renewing their policy without
considering any changes to their
circumstances.
While the policy a customer
purchases as a first-time buyer may
still offer adequate cover five or even
10 years later – particularly given
that many policies offer blanket
cover limits which allow for growth
in possessions over time – their risk
profile is likely to be impacted by life
events, such as moving house, having
kids, or home renovation.
Advisers are in the best position to
support customers in understanding
how their general insurance (GI)
requirements could have changed.
This changing risk profile serves as
an opportunity for advisers to contact
the customer throughout their life,
A
introducing additional touchpoints
that go beyond the mortgage cycle.
By using revisiting their GI needs
as a legitimate reason to get in
touch, it creates opportunities for a
conversation about customers’ wider
financial needs – opening doors to add
value to the relationship and providing
holistic support to help ensure good
financial outcomes for the customer
over the long term.
Stepping up
A changing risk profile starts with
a customer’s initial step onto the
property ladder. While buildings
insurance will be new to first-time
buyers, some will have had contents
insurance if they were renting – and
we’ve been working hard over the
years with our leings distribution
partners to increase awareness of the
benefits of such insurance.
Nonetheless, the world of GI might
be new to many, so there’s a real
opportunity for advisers to step in,
make sure they have insurance that
meets their needs as a homeowner,
and fill any knowledge gaps.
LOUISE PENGELLY
is proposition director
at Paymentshield
Many first-time buyers and home
movers may also be planning to
undertake renovations. With this in
mind, it’s worth advisers pointing
out from the get-go – and checking
in periodically – that there might be
implications for home insurance as
