Protection Guru is marking its fifth anniversary and a surge in use of its Protection Guru Pro service following the introduction of the Consumer Duty rules.
The comparison website was established with the mission to enhance advisers’ knowledge of protection products and to grow the number of firms advisers giving protection advice.
Protection Guru supports advisers with detailed, written technical analysis, and protection research through its services like Protection Guru Pro as well as via APIs and microservices into third parties like iPipeline and UnderwriteMe.
Overall, the site says it saw a 20% increase in use in 2023, while following the FCA’s Consumer Duty regulations coming into play from July 2023, requiring advisers to base their recommendations on value, its Protection Guru Pro’s service based on quality, price and value comparison, saw a 738% usage increase.
Protection Guru also implemented an integration with UnderwriteMe’s Protection Platform, enabling advisers and their clients to receive acceptance of cases with medical disclosures in minutes. Protection Guru’s is also two-way, enabling a full exchange of data between both services.
Protection Guru founder and CEO Ian McKenna commented: “I’m delighted to see so many advice firms using one or more of our services to change their protection advice process, in line with the new FCA requirements. One of the core principles of Consumer Duty is the focus on making sure the selection process advisers go through with their clients includes quality as well as price evaluations.
“When looking for insurance to protect the people you care about most and to secure your own financial future, we know clients value this choice. When presented with protection options, our internal data identified that given the choice between the cheapest plan and a better contract, 85% of clients opt for better plans. The year-on-year increase of ‘Product Features Reports’ also demonstrates advisers have embraced and built the new changes into their business processes.
“We are also currently compiling data on how advisers’ recommendations change when they prioritise value over price. Early indications suggest this is a major driver of change in the market and that, where advisers have changed their processes, Consumer Duty in protection is working. We will publish findings on this later in the year.
“What we do know is our proposition has allowed advisers to focus on comparisons based on quality and value first; a real game changer for those using the service.”
