Battle the meerkats with your expertise

2 August 2010

While the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ figures for gross lending in June seem positive at first the reality is that the first half of this year is heading for a 30% fall in lending compared with 2009. And there are few signs the second half will be much better.

So ancillary income is critical, and general insurance continues to offer opportunities. Many brokers have still not harnessed the potential of GI while others have picked the low hanging fruit but now need to drive new business.

You can’t have missed the advertisements for firms such as Tesco, Moneysupermarket.com and Comparethemarket.com. They seem to be on television constantly and the IT that supports these propositions is sophisticated. So the ability of advisers to simply tick a box and sell GI to uninformed clients is falling.

Your clients’ home is likely to be their most important financial asset and contain their most treasured possessions, yet one in five households are underinsured. Advisers need to educate them that not all cover is the same.

Ask them to question what they are buying. Are they sure their sum insured is correct? Do they need cover away from the home? Are they covered for accidental damage? Is their insurer financially stable? What claims handling resources does their insurer have?

Remember, if you seek to win on price you’ll lose on price. Instead, show your expertise as an adviser.

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