Dealing with claims, the rise of value-added benefits, balancing work with caring for an ill child and a look into hospitalisation benefit.  

In reading this article you will understand: 

• How to effectively assist your clients with the claims process, highlight additional benefits to assist a grieving family and why you should be thinking about wills and trusts. 

• Understand the transformative power of value-added benefits and how to introduce them into your conversations with clients. 

• Realise the impact having a seriously ill child has on a parent’s life and understanding the value of protecting yourself against the unthinkable situation. 

• Understand which insurers offer hospitalisation benefit with their Income Protection plans and how this can be invaluable to clients. 

 The role of an adviser is diverse and often leads to you discussing many different topics with clients, with every conversation being relatively unique. Last week we covered four different topics which will certainly crop up in your conversations and will assist you in discussing them confidently with your clients. 

Dealing with life insurance claims as an adviser 

We started the week off with an article from Amanda Newman Smith on dealing with claims as an adviser. 

The extent to which protection advisers get involved with life insurance claims – if at all – depends on the adviser and the firm. Some will only get involved occasionally, if the client asks them to, while others might have a designated claims team. 

But if advisers want to help clients through the claims process themselves, what should they be doing and why? 

How value-added benefits are revolutionising advice 

Richard Waters, Head of Protection Distribution at HSBC Life (UK) Ltd wrote an article on the transformative power of value-added benefits (VABs), when and how to introduce them and their real-world impact on clients. 

Consumer Duty celebrated its first birthday at the end of July and the impact of the regulation on the protection industry appears to be overwhelmingly positive. 
  
Value has become much more central to advice and cover selection. Conversations have gone beyond a focus on premiums, with an additional lens on added value services and ancillary benefits. 
  
But, how do you harness the transformative power of value-added benefits (VABs), introduce them effectively and achieve their real-world impact on clients? 

The challenge of balancing work and caring for a seriously ill child 

We covered the topic of the challenge parents face when balancing work and caring for a seriously ill child. 

For parents, juggling the demands of a job while caring for a seriously ill child is an immense challenge. The emotional toll of hospital visits, providing medical care at home, and navigating a complex healthcare system adds layers of stress, especially when trying to maintain employment. The logistical and emotional demands can be overwhelming, requiring parents to make tough decisions about their work-life balance. 
 
But, are there any options available to assist parents with coping with the financial burden in an unthinkable situation? 

Which income protection plans include hospitalisation benefit?  

Income protection plans are designed to pay a replacement income if the client is incapable of working due to ill health, however insurers increasingly are offering a lot more in the way of additional support. This could take the form of numerous benefits and services to help the client maintain their health and wellbeing or seek professional advice for more minor, everyday ailments. In some cases that support can also come in the form of additional payments during the deferred period to provide financial assistance in certain circumstances. One such feature offered by a few income protection providers is hospitalisation benefit.   

Can this benefit really make a difference to a client should they find themselves unexpectedly in hospital?  

What are you waiting for? Click on the link below and start adding more strings to your bow for your next client interaction. 

Things to reflect on for CPD: 

• How can you better prepare yourself to assist a client with making a claim on their insurance policy? 

• How can you adapt your approach with clients to include the important conversations about value-added benefits? 

• How would you get the message across to clients of the importance of having children’s critical/serious illness cover? – Additional learning can be found here 

• If a client asked you to clearly explain the advantages of having hospitalisation benefit to them, how are you now going to go about doing this, with what you’ve learnt from this article?