Almost a third of advisers struggle to understand the different children’s critical illness (CIC) options between different insurers, according to CIExpert’s Adviser Watch.
Gathering the views of 260 advisers about their awareness of children’s CIC and how important certain features were, the CIExpert Adviser Watch also found only one in two (47%) advisers consider themselves to be “knowledgeable” about the subject.
Additionally, a further 13% claimed to have little to no knowledge.
Alan Lakey, director at CIExpert, said: “Children’s critical illness cover has taken on far greater importance in recent years and is viewed as a major component and differentiator for CIC plan selection.
“This is reflected in the CIExpert system where advisers are including children in around 85% of comparisons.
“However, it’s a minefield for an adviser to navigate alone as there are many features and policy details that differ between insurers, a concern that is evident from the findings of our Adviser Watch.
“Given that only one in two advisers consider themselves to be knowledgeable when it comes to children’s CIC and just over one in three find it easy to understand the differences between insurers’ offerings in this field it is clear that it’s an area where advisers need assistance.”
This can be seen as almost 3 in 10 of advisers who responded claimed that they are not fully aware that some core policies only cover children from 30 days old and do not include congenital conditions.
A further 14% of advisers were not aware that there is often a significant difference in coverage between a core and an enhanced children’s CIC policy.
Most surprisingly perhaps was that almost half of all advisers (42%) were unaware that most congenital conditions in children are diagnosed at birth, and if children are not added to a CIC policy until after birth, they may not be covered for these conditions
Naomi Greatorex, director of Heath Protection Solutions Ltd, added: “As reflected in CIExpert’s research, children’s critical illness cover has become increasingly complicated, and confusing for advisers.
“This is an area of protection that has become too complex, as insurers look at ways to differentiate themselves.
“I have supported a child CI claim recently, so fully understand the true value of this benefit, and the difference the payment can make to a family.
“However, we now have a situation where the vast number of options can lead to both advisers and consumers being overwhelmed.”
In response to this confusion, CIExpert’s Insight Zone, launched in May 2021, was created in order to offer a digital dashboard to streamline an adviser’s protection sales and research processes, expanding the existing comparison service to investigate the broader aspects of critical illness policy propositions in a visually explorative and educational way.
The Insight Zone provides a range of graphical tools extending beyond critical illness to include information on personal and business life policies and covers aspects such as claims stats, product flexibility, age and term limits and added value services, thereby providing advisers access to all the key information they need in a single, interactive resource.
Lakey continued: “Driven by user feedback, we have a specific Children’s Cover area within our Insight Zone to support advisers in navigating this area of the market, where they can quickly comprehend the different levels of children’s cover available.
“We ensure they feel equipped to advise their clients by providing this area to explore the broader aspects of all protection policies in a visual, interactive and educational way.
“With interactive tools, to key data and insurers’ sales materials – it’s designed as a user-friendly hub of information, all in one place, making it quick and simple to use and therefore building advisers’ knowledge and confidence.”
