Life Offices versus the Media

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Following my recent comments in this very column about how intermediaries could benefit their businesses by working closer with the media I'm on a bit of a rant this month I'm afraid, about a few life office representatives who comment to the press on protection matters.

Most are good, one or two are great, but some seem to view the media and its pages of copy like a compliance rule book, chucking their toys out of the pram whenever something is written that isn’t quite, in their view, perfection. I’ve been involved in several situations in recent weeks where a life office representative has jumped down someone’s throat, usually the journalist, for writing what generally was a balanced, accurate and positive story, where one small detail or quote perhaps wasn’t expressed perfectly according to the compliance rule book. But the media doesn’t work that way,...

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