It's tough being a mortgage adviser at the moment. There are a number of challenges in the market. But at AEGON Scottish Equitable, we like to think of the glass as being half full. There are still opportunities out there and we can help you make the most of them.
Market challenges
In the current market, there are a number of challenges to overcome, including:
- negative publicity
- falling house prices
- increased cost of living
- high personal debt
- lack of disposable income
With some of these challenges come opportunities. For example, increased living costs and higher debt are likely to make clients more aware of the need to protect their income. Clients may argue they have little disposable income, but they could make savings elsewhere to help protect their home and their family. That’s an opportunity for you to complete a full financial review, suggest where money could be saved and help them identify their protection needs.
Opportunities;
With the Council of Mortgage Lenders estimating that about 1.4 million borrowers will reach the end of their fixed-rate mortgage in 2008, you can see that there’s business potential with remortgages.
lot of your existing clients probably already have a mortgage – but how many of them have adequate protection for it? The ratio of protection product to mortgage is usually small. But ask your clients what they’d most like to protect, and the majority will put their home at the top of the list.
Many clients – existing and potential – won’t know their protection needs, but with the current credit crunch and economic uncertainty, this may be something they’re starting to think about now. With the protection gap estimated at £2.3 trillion (source: Swiss Re’s Term and Health Watch 2008), this is a market full of opportunities.
Why protection?
We offer a flexible menu of protection products that you can tailor to suit your clients’ needs. We can provide both personal and business protection, and single or multiple benefit policies.
With our online services, we can process your client’s application quickly and easily. If you have any underwriting queries, call our helpline on 0845 783 5473.
Other benefits:
- You can reuse the details gathered from a mortgage factfind.
- It’s quick and simple to apply online – and you get an extra 10% commission.
- Protection gives your clients and their families peace of mind and security.
- Your clients’ mortgage payments are covered in the event of death, critical or terminal illness.
How we can help
Our workshops
We want to help build your business in these turbulent times. That’s why we’re running a series of interactive workshops. Our ‘Back to Business’ workshops are designed to help you sell protection and develop your business.
During the workshops, you’ll:
- discuss current issues in the mortgage market and how to overcome them
- discover the key fundamentals of selling protection
- find out how you can generate new protection sales by reviewing your current business practices
- develop new sales ideas and solutions
- leave with tools to help you market and sell protection more effectively
Here are a few quotes from advisers at previous workshops:
‘The seminar re-energised my selling process, very helpful.’
‘Once again a very useful reminder of what we should be doing.’
‘Informative session, jogs memory banks and provides some good ideas for future sales possibilities.’
‘Slick, professional and enlightening. Well done.’
Look out for more details of our workshops in the comingmonths.
Personal liability audit
One of the hardest parts of the selling process is helping your clients identify their protection needs. But open questions, case studies and budget planners can make it easier.
To help you make the most of the opportunities available, we’ve produced a Personal liability audit to use with your clients. It’s a simple tool that helps you identify and highlight their protection needs by looking at their monthly outgoings.
To download your copy, go to www.aegonse.co.uk/mortgageprotection and click on the ‘Literature’ tab on the left-hand side.
You can edit the Personal liability audit online by entering your client’s monthly outgoings, and then print a copy specific to them.
Going through this with your clients gives you the opportunity to talk to them about the most suitable protection cover to meet their individual needs. Once they realise how important protection is, they’re more likely to be open to advice.
This communication is for professional financial advisers only. It isn’t for private customers and shouldn’t be given out to, or relied on by, them.
