Paradigm Protect has signed a referral agreement with Howden Group intermediary Assured Futures.
The partnership will see Paradigm member firms able to refer clients to Assured Futures for a range of protection and insurance product options.
Paradigm member firms referring clients to Assured Futures will receive a no cross-selling guarantee, and access to a panel of providers across all product areas. They will also earn competitive commission terms as a result of the new partnership, the distributor said.
Assured Futures is a directly authorised intermediary. It covers life insurance, private medical insurance (PMI), income protection, and accident, sickness and unemployment cover and offers online insurance quotations for a range of insurance products supported by a team of advisers.
Mike Allison, head of protection at Paradigm, (pictured) said the partnership meant member firms had access to a protection specialist who would handle the client journey with no cross-selling as they meet the regulatory evolution.
“The Consumer Duty rules have drawn into a sharper light the need for advisory firms to provide a clear solution when it comes to their client’s protection needs,” he said.
“Many firms will already have this in hand however it is clear a significant number do not cover this in-house, neither do they have a trusted partner they can work with to ensure this particular base is covered.
“We want advisers to be confident their client is able to keep up payments on their mortgage, for example, should they lose their job or suffer an illness that stops them from working.
“In Consumer Duty terms, this is a potential outcome of the mortgage advice and recommendation process and therefore the adviser does need to recognise this and put in place the protection groundwork to mitigate against it.“
Ian Sawyer, director at Assured Futures, added: “We are delighted and very proud to have Paradigm’s recommendation to its members and we look forward to making protection and PMI so much easier for them by simply referring to us when they do not want to write the business themselves.
“This sort of sign-posting is becoming critical in the market, as a result of the Consumer Duty rules. We’ve been working with IFAs, mortgage advisers and insurance websites for many years now and thus regarded as a very safe pair of hands.“
