The March 2026 Protection Forum bought together two experienced voices from the protection training space to examine one of the industry’s most debated questions: is affordability a genuine barrier to cover, or a symptom of something else entirely? The session featured:
- Ian McKenna, Founder of FTRC & Protection Guru in the chair
- Matthew Chapman, Founder of The Protection Coach
- Terry Blackburn, Founder of The Wealthy Advisers Club
Part One of the session focused on the root causes of price-based objections. Both panellists converged on a shared diagnosis: when a client raises affordability as a concern, the problem typically lies earlier in the advice process, not at the point of recommendation. Matt Chapman argued that a price objection is symptomatic of an advice conversation that has failed to establish value, while Terry Blackburn framed it as an accountability issue; the questions asked in the fact find are what determine whether price becomes the focus. The discussion also touched on the risk of treating protection as a bolt-on to mortgage advice, with both panellists emphasising that the two should be presented as a single, integrated conversation from the outset.
Listen to the full session recording and explore the highlights below to hear how advisers and industry leaders are calling for a more responsive, transparent and human approach to underwriting.
“An affordability-based objection is symptomatic of an advice process or a presentation that needs a bit of refinement.”
“Affordability is typically because there’s a disconnect… between what the customer sees as the value… versus what you’re actually asking them to spend.”
“If the customer is talking about price being the issue, there’s been a lot of failing to manage expectations early on.”
“Language has probably all been around premium cost, budget… budget conceptually is a negative concept.”
“If you make it a price-based conversation, the customer will meet you there and it will become a price-based discussion.”
“Naturally they’re viewing it as an expense rather than an investment.”
Click the audio playback below to listen to the full session.
Full session audio
“If you’re getting a price objection, take accountability. It’s not the client… what matters is the questions that you ask in the fact find.”
“You’ve got to make the client see, agree and understand what they need and why. Then it’s a value-based decision.”
“Then it’s ‘which one am I going to go for’, not ‘am I going to go ahead or not’.”
“Don’t give quotes… because when you just give quotes, what do people do? They compare it against something else.”
“When you get in the habit of doing that… the first thing they look at is the price.”
