Mortgage advisors encouraged to forget protection gap

November 22, 2019 by Brendan O'Neill

Mortgage Advisors

Mortgage advisors attending a conference have been urged to focus less on the protection gap and concentrate on doing all that they can to boost protection coverage using their skills.

The term ‘protection gap’ refers to the sum that people in the UK are currently underinsured by, thus failing to protect themselves and their families in the wake of financial difficulties. This currently stands at over £2 trillion, but those advisors who are in attendance at The Mortgage and Protection Event 2019 (TMPE) organised by Mortgage Solutions have been urged to prioritise boosting the rate of penetration into this gap that they can achieve with their companies.

This suggestion came from the chief executive of Simply Biz Mortgages, Martin Reynolds, who was one of the industry insiders giving a speech at the event. Reynolds argued that it is more productive for mortgage brokers to concentrate their efforts on what they are able to control, namely the amount of protection they can persuade people to take out, rather than worrying about the overall figure.

His argument was backed up by Mortgage Advice Bureau sales director Gareth Herbert, who added that if brokers figure out how much the lack of protection taken out by the public is costing their businesses that will give them the motivation they need to work on encouraging people to seek protection against the absolute worst happening.

Conferences such as TMPE 2019 are essential for those who have taken a CeMAP course to become qualified mortgage advisors and want to gain industry contacts.