Research from Royal London has revealed the toll of the pandemic on the nation, with the vast majority of people reporting they experienced events affecting their mental health and feeling they were ill equipped to deal with these challenges alone.
However it also found just 16% of people with protection policies from any provider were familiar with the additional support services they could benefit from.
As a result, the insurer said the message for this year needed to be that protection policies offered more than just financial benefit.
The research conducted in November quizzed 250 Royal London customers, including 129 that held a protection policy with any provider in the market.
It found 88% of had to deal with issues such as poor mental health, affecting either themselves or a loved one (57%), physical illness or injury (49%), or the death of a loved one (32%).
More than three quarters (77%) felt ill-equipped to deal with challenges alone and were in dire need of additional practical and emotional support which led to many muddling through as best they could themselves or leaning extensively on friends and family.
Of those who found help, only 9% of secured help from a professional, either from doctors or through counselling.
The insurer highlighted that support was often not just restricted to the policyholder, with some providers extening the services out to the partner and children of the person covered or allowing clients to access these services without needing to make a claim.
Awareness gap
Jennifer Gilchrist, protection specialist at Royal London, (pictured) noted the pandemic had a profound impact on people’s health, wellbeing and finances and the vast majority of them had to deal with the issues alone.
“It’s also concerning that many, who have added value support that comes with their financial protection policy, were unaware of the support options that are available to them,” she said.
“The awareness gap should be on providers’ and advisers’ radars already, but the advent of Consumer Duty will require even more promotion to heighten awareness among consumers and customers.
“More than ever this year affordability will be an issue. Pressure on people’s finances will have many questioning the value of protection policies as they look to cut costs.
“Providers and advisers need to be more vocal in promoting protection policies and the additional benefits, which many are clearly in need of, but oblivious to. The message for 2023 needs to be, protection policies offer help when it’s needed most, but that help comes in the form of more than just financial support.”
Real life savers
Emma Astley, founder of Lancashire-based Cover My Bubble, expressed enthusiasm about the benefits added services provide clients having seen first-hand the value they bring.
“The value of a protection policy is often seen as just financial support through difficult times, and while it does exactly that, I’ve seen countless examples where accessing added value support services has been a real life saver for the client or their children,” Astley said.
“In the current climate, we’ve all either heard of cases or experienced first-hand having to wait for help from the NHS, which can be agonising when your family are unwell. Receiving help from your protection policy can deliver a more immediate solution, and also helps to ease the pressure on our NHS.
“In one example, a client who was waiting on a 111 call back, arranged a GP video appointment through her protection provider and was able to be seen, prescribed medicine and pick it up from her pharmacy, before she even received the 111 call back.
“This type of example shows how invaluable added value services are, reducing anxiety and worry and providing reassurance in difficult times.”