Advice firm Access Financial Services has agreed an exclusive tie in with Vitality for training brokers who are inexperienced in protection in an arrangement which will reward advisers on file quality rather than high volume advice.
The tie in forms part of Access’s academy which the firm said seeks to train brokers to become quality advisers and high-income earners.
The arrangement with Vitality covers the whole suite of protection products including life assurance, critical illness, income protection and also includes private medical insurance.
Advisers under the tie in will act as exclusive associates – meaning they only recommend Vitality products.
Access FS runs a number of academies throughout the year to help bring new mortgage and protection advisers into the industry.
The firm said its exclusive deal with Vitality aimed to help advisers new to protection understand the subject in-depth and provide clients with the best advice.
It also runs a whole of market proposition for experienced protection advisers which will operate alongside this arrangement and those wishing to switch to the new deal with Vitality will be able to do so.
All new advisers will receive in-depth training for a 12-month period and can then choose to broaden out and choose the whole of market route when they feel confident to do so should they wish.
Advisers on the exclusive tie in route will get slightly higher commission rates, to help them recognise the value of protection products for their clients, the firm added.
A spokesperson for Access FS told Health & Protection that the commission the brokers will receive will be based on file quality and business volumes.
The spokesperson explained that better quality advisers will be rewarded with higher commissions as it was fairer to reward a quality adviser over a high volume writer.
The quality of advice will be scored on file checks, retention rates, follow-up treating customers fairly (TCF) calls to clients and similar measures. The spokesperson added that typically an exclusive associate receives around 30% more annual premium income than one not on the exclusive tie in.
Karl Wilkinson, CEO of Access FS, (pictured) said: “In a country which is woefully under-insured and under-protected, the need for protection has never been greater.
“The case for this increases further when a person is committing themselves to, what is likely to be, the biggest debt they will ever have in taking out a mortgage, although there are many events in a person’s life which increase their need for protection.
“We are working hard both to increase the number of protection advisers and also to intensify the level and depth of training they receive. This exclusive tie with Vitality provides us with the opportunity to ensure our advisers really understand what they are advising on in depth.”
Justin Garbutt, UK distribution director of Vitality, added: “We are delighted to have Access FS as a member of our fast-growing exclusive associate channel.
“Their approach to training new people is really refreshing and shows their dedication to ensuring their clients always get best advice. It will be a real pleasure to work with Karl and the team to help them to develop new and existing mortgage and protection advisers.”