Protection

I'm glad to say I've already been through it with my children but for many parents it's that time of year - the dreaded day is approaching when they will have to wave off their child to embark on their first day of school.

The FSA has fined five motor dealers for serious failings in the sale of payment protection insurance (PPI).

The combined effects of cost, complexity and a perceived lack of need of income protection (IP) are fuelling a growing market gap which currently tops £190bn, a report suggests.

Protection and investment bond new business continues to slump but sales of individual and occupational pensions are soaring, statistics from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) reveal.

Bright Grey, a protection specialist within the Royal London Group, has introduced a telephone interviewing process in a bid to save processing time and reduce non-disclosure.

Suffering a critical illness could treble the amount of money an individual needs to save every month to live comfortably in retirement, research suggests.

Norwich Union has linked up with Barclays to offer a range of its new life insurance products to the bank's mass market customers.

Zurich has made a number of changes to its protection proposition, including a reprice of its term assurance and critical illness cover.

Insurance firm Fortis UK, which launched a life business in July, has announced positive first-half results for 2008.

With an increasing number of supermarkets offering insurance cover such as life and mortgage payment protection, one would expect demand to increase over the coming months.