A lack of consumer understanding of the protection industry remains a major challenge for advisers, believes Rhys Schofield, protection adviser for Peak Mortgages and Protection.
“We talk in so much jargon,” he said. “Decreasing term, level term – they don’t know what it means.
“Ask them if they have a crucial illness; many of them believe that the terminal illness benefit on their life cover is critical illness.”
The need for greater education is not limited to what they are buying. Schofield believes that many do not understand the benefits of speaking to a broker.
“They think we are a price comparison tool,” he added.
To change this, he believes advisers need to bring clients along for the journey when giving them advice.
This means not hosting appointments over the phone. Instead, Schofield (pictured with Health & Protection editor Owain Thomas) shares his screen with the client to show them what everything means when he is “clicking buttons”.
The aim is for clients to understand exactly what they are buying and why they are buying it.
Talking them through a list of providers and explaining who is the cheapest, who offers the better quality and who specialises in a particular service is how Schofield is adding value.
“Knowledge is an issue,” he added. “It is bringing people along for the journey. It is a better way to do this than asking a meerkat.”
And the winner is…
This approach led Schofield to be named as the Best Protection Adviser at The UK Health & Protection Awards 2025, which were held at the Westminster Park Plaza in October.
Schofield has been nominated for various awards over the years but has never won one where it was “industry recognition that maybe you are doing the right stuff”.
“It was vindication that I am on the right track,” he added. “It is nice to be recognised for trying to do the right thing by my clients.”
Schofield did not take a conventional route to winning this award. He owned Peak Mortgages and Protection before selling the firm almost three years ago.
No longer wanting to oversee a team of people or be responsible for compliance, he stood down from running the firm within a year of the sale to return to advising people on their protection cover.
“It is much easier worrying about what I have to do than about what everyone else is doing,” he said.
Schofield believes that the award has had a positive impact on his profile and business. “Look at how busy my diary is now compared to before I picked up the award,” he said.
Most of this work comes from protection referrals, typically from mortgage brokers.
“I have an industry trophy that I wouldn’t have won if I wasn’t looking after clients,” Schofield said.
“It has made my life so much easier when it comes to approaching new people to work with.”
Shining a light
For Schofield, his nomination for the award was not just about pounds and pence.
“There are a couple of things where I would like to think I have tried to improve the industry for the better,” he said.
This is around influencing change at some providers, such as when it comes to how they underwrite attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) cases.
“We still have a bit of work to do there seeing as I have just had an income protection policy declined because someone has ADHD and no other co-morbidities,” he said.
Schofield appealed the decision and won standard terms for the client: “We have to underwrite with more common sense,” he said.
“It is a work in progress. I am not shy in shining a light on things, albeit in a more positive, ‘hey, let’s change this way,’ than I might have been in the past where I was angrier.”
Surpassed 2025 business already
Schofield said he has already written more business this year than in the entirety of 2025.
This is partly due to working on higher value cases. “I have been busy anyway but have started to get roped into some bigger cases, which I have been trying to crack for a while.
“Coming back with the award, this has probably helped open doors a little bit there.”
A lack of consumer knowledge is not the only challenge Schofield is facing. Problems around service levels persist when it comes to underwriting and insurers taking too long to make decisions.
“It is frustrating if we are being paid a lot of money by an insurer to say they are good and then the client’s first interaction with them is slow.
“I don’t necessarily see that changing anytime soon,” he said.
“For every provider that has got better, a couple have got worse.”
Artificial intelligence (AI) could help here. AI is doing the heavy lifting on simple underwriting in more straightforward situations, which is freeing up capacity for more complex work.
“AI might be quite interesting in that regard but will never entirely replace us,” Schofield said. “As you know, clients never really tell you the whole truth. They always forget something.
“AI is great, but you need the data to be accurate at the start. You also need someone to sue when things go wrong.
“You can’t sue a computer.”