More conversations about income protection are taking place, but they’re not necessarily better quality, according to Martin O’Connell, founder of The Protection Revolution.
Speaking to Income Protection Task Force MD Jo Miller on the first day of Income Protection Action Week, O’Connell (pictured) said conversations about income protection were definitely taking place since the launch of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Consumer Duty two years ago.
“If you remember the AMI Viewpoint last November said 41% of advisers said they were having more conversations,” O’Connell explained.
“That hasn’t yet led to increased results by 41%. If you look at the Gen Re report in Q1 2025 versus Q1 2024, it’s better, but 2024 was a poor year.
“Actually, the results in Q1 2025 bring us fairly close to where we were in 2023.”
Quality not there
O’Connell said that his suspicion was that conversations were happening because Consumer Duty tells advisers that they have to happen.
“I’m not convinced that the quality is quite there,” he continued.
“I think there is a bit of a skills gap across the profession and I don’t blame anyone for that. That’s just the way it is,” he added.
“I think Consumer Duty encourages advisers to sell for want of a better word, but Consumer Duty says you’ve got to avoid causing foreseeable harm. How do you do that without selling? And so I think it encourages people to do that.”
Delivering a good outcome
O’Connell added that in the end, Consumer Duty says you have got to deliver a good outcome.
“Every adviser has got to start from the point of view of understanding that only when those protection needs have been covered is that a good outcome for the client,” he continued.
“When that happens and that belief happens, then I think Consumer Duty will have done its job,” he concluded.