77% of advisers say clients are cancelling or reducing protection cover
Three-quarters (75%) of advisers say their clients are more worried about protecting their mortgage than they were last year, yet 77% are seeing clients actively cancelling or reducing their cover to cope with everyday bills, according to MetLife UK data.
It also found that 43% of advisers say clients intend to take out cover but fail to do so.
The study found that 22% of advisers described clients as “much more concerned” about mortgage protection than last year and 53% as “slightly more concerned”. Less than one in five (18%) of advisers reported no change in attitudes among their clients.
Of the 77% of advisers who had seen clients cancelling or reducing protection levels, one in four (25%) reported a significant increase and more than half (52%) a slight increase. Only 16% reported no change.
Of the advisers for whom clients fail to see through their plans to take out mortgage protection, 24% said this always happens following such conversations.
Difficult financial decisions
Phil Jeynes, head of individual protection at MetLife UK, said: “Households across the UK continue to face difficult financial decisions, and our research highlights a worrying contradiction: people are increasingly aware of the need for protection, but some are having to make difficult choices as budgets remain under pressure.
“We get it. We understand that families are making difficult choices about where their money goes, and that protection has to compete with many other household priorities. That is why advisers play such an important role in helping customers understand the value of cover and make decisions that are right for their circumstances.”