Opinion

Income protection (IP) is in the news for a number of reasons right now.

It is something of a miracle given their relative (and I stress relative) lack of availability, that structured products are enjoying such strong sales.

It was very interesting to listen the other day to an online seminar about retention where the speaker was talking about the increase in sales of home safes.

It is often said time flies when you are having fun and, while there may have been precious little fun in financial services over the last year or so, I really cannot believe it is almost three years since Nucleus came to be.

Whichever way you dress it up, financial advice in its current form is simply not 'sexy'.

So I'm sitting on a train last week and the BlackBerry goes. It's my very patient PA, Claire, and she's just flagged up a critical illness (CI) claim that really shows TCF in action.

A great editor once said to me "what's the point in insuring anything if you haven't got an income to pay for it?".

With so much doom and gloom in the markets and the dreary financial headlines of late, it is more important than ever professional IFAs work together to ensure they are the trusted choice for consumers seeking advice.

Gordon, 58, wishes to take out a private medical insurance (PMI) policy. He is in generally good health but works in an extremely stressful position as a highly paid civil servant. However, due to the recession, he will probably find himself retiring...

In light of the FSA's proposed regulatory fee increases for IFAs, do you think that advisers should have more input with the regulator on rules affecting their business? Should they be represented on the board?