Poisonings, accidental or otherwise, rank highly among everyday risks.
This is according to Phil Jeynes, head of individual protection, UK, at MetLife UK (pictured), and he should know – he once poisoned himself through not handling raw chicken properly.
Jeynes was speaking to Health & Protection at a launch event for the insurer’s Everyday Risk Report at the Century Club in London’s West End earlier this week. The report revealed at 82,820, poisonings rank second among the top five everyday causes behind hospital admissions in England.
Handling raw chicken
“I was cooking chicken and I didn’t wash my hands properly having handled raw chicken and ended up with food poisoning which I was off work with for two weeks. I don’t recommend it,” Jeynes said.
“So my message to everybody is when handling fresh poultry, please wash your hands.”
Talking about accident cover
In terms of his message to advisers however, Jeynes maintained that the real point of the report is to give advisers the tools to talk more about accident cover.
“And rather than leading with a product push and talking about features and benefits, actually talking about the need itself and getting customers to understand that need and then get customers to talk about the product more,” he continued.
“So I think the big thing is definitely advisers talking to their customers more comfortably just to raise that awareness.”
Adviser feedback
Jeynes added that the provider really wants to hear advisers’ feedback about what they like about the report and what they want to see more of in future editions.
“It’s only the second edition,” he continued.
“We’re very proud of that, but we’re going to do it every year, so tell us what you’d like to see.
“We really hope that it gives advisers lots and lots of really different statistics that they haven’t been bored with over the years and will give them a fresh perspective.”
