The Intermediary – September 2025 - Flipbook - Page 79
P RO T E C T I O N
Opinion
Making protection
a priority for
younger clients
I
ntermediaries are in a
unique position to address
their clients’ most pressing
concerns. By building
relationships grounded in
insights about their clients’
financial circumstances, personal
priorities and financial goals,
they earn trust and pick up vital
information. This enables them to
support their client to achieve those
goals, and when required, protect
them from foreseeable risks.
One crucial conversation,
particularly with younger clients, is
the need to make protection a priority.
Generational trends
According to the Association of
Mortgage Intermediaries’ (AMI) 2024
report, there is a growing appetite
among younger consumers for
protection products. For example,
more young people (65% of Gen Z
and 70% of Millennials) think it’s
important to have income protection
than older generations (48% of Gen X
and 39% of Boomers).
However, just 13% of Gen Z and
15% of Millennials have income
protection. Although higher than
their Gen X counterparts (5%), this
demonstrates that a significant
amount of work must still be done to
illustrate the value of these products.
This does vary depending on the
product. The Millennial take-up for
life insurance, for example, rises to a
third (34%) compared with just 27%
of Boomers.
However, L&G’s latest claims
data highlights just how important
protection policies are for younger
clients. According to the data, the
average age of people claiming on their
critical illness and income protection
policies is 49 and 41 years old,
respectively.
In their 40s, people might think
of themselves making meaningful
strides in their career, growing
their families, and moving up the
property ladder.
While intermediaries are uniquely
placed to support their younger clients
to achieve those financial goals, they
are also in a strong position to help
protect their clients from the financial
impact of a decline in health or injury.
The data suggests that protection
products such as income protection
and critical illness should be a priority
for younger clients.
The increasing risk to those in
midlife is also highlighted elsewhere.
For example, according to research in
the British Medical Journal, cancer
among people in midlife has risen
by 57% in men and 48% in women
over the past 25 years, in part due to
changing lifestyle factors.
According to L&G’s latest claims
data, cancer made up the vast majority
(63%) of critical illness claims, while
it was the second most common
reason people claimed on their income
protection policies. While recovery
rates have massively improved, many
people will still find their lives turned
upside down by their diagnosis and
treatment.
True value
If advisers demonstrate the value of
protection, it could prompt more
younger people to consider it. Reports
highlight that there’s a gap here, with
AMI finding that one in three (34%)
adviser firms have no online presence
when it comes to protection.
At L&G, we’ve leaned into
developing animated videos that
explain the role of an adviser and the
process typically followed when it
comes to the customer’s mortgage and
protection needs. These short videos
JULIE GODLEY
is director of intermediary, retail
protection at L&G
can be shared on social media, added
to an adviser firm’s website, or even
used within client communications to
help explain what intermediaries do
and plant the seed of protection advice
from the onset.
We also have a TikTok channel,
targeted at Gen Z and Millennials, to
help empower them with financial
knowledge in an engaging and
entertaining way.
The bottom line
It’s true that your health is your
wealth. If that health declines,
it’s important that the necessary
measures are put in place to cushion
the financial impact of not being able
to work – or work at the same capacity
as you once could.
There will be many priorities
tugging at a client’s finances during
this stage of life, which makes it
harder for them to appreciate costs
that are not immediately in front of
them. However, illness and injury do
not discriminate, and their impact can
be devastating physically, emotionally
and financially.
It’s therefore essential that
intermediaries lean on their
relationships and client insights to
identify those that would benefit
from a protection policy, and where
required, demonstrate the value of
such a policy.
For some clients, this may be
through one-to-one conversations,
while communicating through other
channels – particularly digital – will
help firms inform younger clients that
protection should be a priority. ●
September 2025 | The Intermediary
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