Insurance advice is a huge benefit to a customer at claim time, but one adviser says customers of all ages should be encouraged to seek input throughout the entire insurance process, and says no target audience is ‘too young’ or ‘too old’ for advice.
Share insurance adviser Peter Leitch says that even for a younger generation with a simple risk profile, advice around insurance and future planning could be a significant help with premium costs further down the line. Likewise, he says many older customers with long-running life insurance policies would benefit significantly from seeking insurance advice, and that it is never ‘too late’ to take another look at an older policy.
“It’s very easy to go online, buy an insurance policy and have it in place in 20 minutes,” Leitch said.
“If you’re healthy and you’re a low risk customer, then it’s all very simple. But at the same time, getting advice is important - if you’re young, you could lock in a level premium that stays the same all the way through, and that’s actually a really good thing to do.”
“An adviser is going to sit down with you and talk about your circumstances, your financial position, what you’re intending to do over the next few years,” he explained.
“You’ve then got a roadmap ahead of you, and you’re often putting an ecosystem of advice around you - and the younger you do it, the better off you’ll be in the long run.”
Leitch says that the same applies to older customers who are thinking of adjusting their policy, and who often end up doing so while potentially losing out on benefits.
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“You’re never too old to get advice either,” he commented. “Some people aged 65 and above will often have life insurance policies, and they don’t know if they should still keep them - and sometimes they’ll significantly reduce the amount of cover that they have.
“Everybody is different, and you should deal with a person who you’re comfortable sharing information with. It’s a very privileged position, and if we can use our collective knowledge to help others, then that’s really what our role is.”
