A new comparison tool launched by Protection Guru is putting the quality of a protection product over the price the client will pay, aimed at identifying better customer outcomes as well as better engaging the client with their protection needs.
Protection Guru Pro, provides analysis for income protection, critical illness and mortgage protection among other types of term contract.
Advisers and paraplanners can generate detailed comparisons and recommendations to identify what represents best value for each individual client beyond price.
The system has been designed to enable the adviser/paraplanner to filter the product selection process and identify the most comprehensive cover within the client’s budget, while also identifying the cheapest and the best quality plans. Up to three products can be compared side-by-side to help the adviser explain to the client the recommendation being made.
In addition, the tool includes both express and bespoke options, to deliver the right product analysis for the adviser and the client. The value ratings are drawn from Protection Guru’s detailed analysis of the products in the market developed over the past eight years, enhanced by referral through a panel of medical experts.
To meet Financial Ombudsman requirements, advisers recommending anything but the lowest cost protection products are required to document the reason for their recommendation. Protection Guru Pro is designed to allow advisers to show they have met these obligations.
Adam Higgs, head of research at Protection Guru, said: “Insurers now provide a wide range of products aimed at different types of clients and offer far more tailored solutions than ever before.
“Whilst this is a positive market development, it does present a big issue for many advisers as there are so many product options to make sense of. Understanding the differences from product to product is very difficult. Protection Guru Pro has been built specifically with this in mind and will help advisers not only focus on the products that are relevant for their client but also quickly and easily compare them based on the unique requirements of their client.”
Protection Guru founder Ian McKenna, added: “Invariably advisers want to find the best value product for clients but historically that has meant advisers have had to do a lot of manual research. While for many years insurers have been seeking to innovate and differentiate their products by quality, the overwhelming majority of comparison services focus on price, and even those that look wider tend to just cover individual products or have limited data.
“By bringing together our research, combined with price comparison data, we can enable all advisers to generate a comprehensive protection advice quickly and easily. We believe this is a key step in achieving Protection Guru’s overall aim of helping grow the number of families protected in the UK.”
ProtectionGuruPro.co.uk will formally launch later in May 2022 and will be free of charge to advisers until 31 August 2022, after which point the service will cost £40+VAT per month, per use.
