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Business protection can sometimes feel like a daunting and perhaps technical conversation for some.
In reality, many business owners are already talking about the same risks, just in a different language: borrowing, continuity and succession planning. This article shares a simple way to start the conversation and how a new editable Factfind tool can keep these discussions on track.
A business owner rarely walks into a review asking for key person cover.
They talk about borrowing, succession, staff retention, or the reality that one person still holds too much knowledge in their head. The need is there, it just does not arrive labelled.
That is why business protection often ends up in the ‘to do later’ pile. Advisers want to do it properly, the client is short on time, and the conversation can feel technically heavy.
The risk is that ‘later’ slips and the client’s exposure remains.
Why now
Consumer Duty keeps pulling the industry towards outcomes and evidence of understanding. Business owners aren’t short of information – they are short of clarity, structure, and a plan they can act on.
Health & Protection has also introduced a Best Business Protection Provider award category. That is a sign that business protection is moving up the agenda.
There is also a clear need.
The opportunity for advisers isn’t to add complexity. It’s to make business protection feel easier to start.
Start smaller with the one-risk approach.
Business owners don’t buy ‘business protection’ as a category. They buy solutions to specific risks.
Rather than trying to cover everything in one sitting, it can help to begin with one risk and one next step.
Starting questions that open the conversation:
- Ownership and succession: What happens if an owner dies or becomes seriously ill?
- Debt and guarantees: What happens if the lender asks for repayment tomorrow?
- Key person dependency: What happens if the person who drives revenue cannot work for six months?
Ask one question, then follow the thread.
“If something happened to you, what would need to be true for the business to keep going without panic?”
“If your highest earner couldn’t work for six months, what would that do to profits, clients, and cashflow?”
These aren’t scare tactics. They are continuity questions. Most engage because protecting what they have built feels practical and responsible and it feels more comfortable than talking about their own mortality.
This is the point where many advisers lose momentum. They uncover a risk, but capturing the detail and keeping the conversation structured can be difficult.
Where a Business Protection Factfind helps
Here’s where a simple structure helps.
The Scottish Widows Business Protection Factfind (a new editable PDF toolkit) can be used in client meetings to capture the key details and keep the conversation moving.
It includes prompts and risk flags to guide the discussion, plus links to supporting tools such as business protection calculators.
It keeps you focused on the discussion, not the paperwork, helps you move from data capture to deeper insight, and it keeps the client focused on decisions rather than distractions.
How to use it without it feeling like a form
Step 1:
A simple way to find opportunities this week. If you want a quick start, these three triggers often surface business protection needs:
- Directors or shareholders
• Active borrowing or personal guarantees.
• A business that relies heavily on one revenue-driving individual.
Step 2:
In the next review, use the Factfind to work through the one-risk rule. Keep it to one risk. Finish with one agreed next step (which can also be evidence of meeting their needs under Consumer Duty).
Step 3:
Use the Factfind record to support your advice file and reinforce consumer understanding.
Underwriting and service: confidence is part of the advice.
Advisers are right to care about turnaround times and service.
The answer isn’t promising that every case will be quick. The answer is setting expectations and improving what you can control.
Clients don’t just buy cover. They buy confidence that the process is fair and that the outcome is appropriate to them.
That is why clear questions and clean records matter. They help prevent clients feeling concerned when follow-up questions arise, and they help advisers evidence decisions.
Business protection doesn’t need to be a specialist-only conversation. It needs to be a normal part of resilience planning.
If personal protection keeps households afloat, business protection helps keep livelihoods alive.
Download the Scottish Widows Business Protection Factfind.
You can reach out to Alan Jenkinson after completing the Factfind to discuss solutions and how to present recommendations back to your clients. Alan.Jenkinson@scottishwidows.co.uk
