The Practical Protection Podcast

Hi, everybody, I changed my mind and I’ve not done a medical deep dive and instead focused upon who is the ultimate insurer. Sadly, there isn’t one. Our lives would be so much easier if there was… In this episode I have discussed the things that different insurers offer, that stand out to me. So this is my opinion, based upon my experience of when a client has explained their circumstances and I h...

Hi, everybody, instead of doing a health deep dive, Alan had the great idea of doing an episode on being imaginative with client recommendations. There are lots of ways to build protection recommendations, a lot of the time it’s straightforward, but sometimes getting creative is necessary. I would like to make sure I’m clear that being creative must still be compliance approved! In this episode I...

Hi, everybody, it’s the start of Season 12 and I’m focusing on underdisclosure in protection insurance. Also known as misrepresentation or non-disclosure, this is a situation that everyone wants to avoid. Underdisclosure might not change the terms of insurance, but, it can lead to prices or sum assureds changing, and in the worst case a policy being cancelled from inception. The key takeaways: Non...

Hi, everybody, we are on the last episode of Season 11 and I’m focusing on overdisclosure. There is a lot of discussion in our industry about underdisclosure or non-disclosure, but not a lot of focus is put on the times when people tell insurers too much. It is essential that you answer insurance applications truthfully and to the best of your knowledge, but you don’t need to volunteer information...

Hi, everybody, we have Alan back for the first time in a while and he is chatting to us about fatty liver disease . The options for life insurance , critical illness cover and income protection can vary quite a bit, depending upon the cause of the fatty liver and the stage that it is at. The good news is that the liver has a brilliant capacity to heal itself, so there can often be options for insu...

Hi, everybody, it's been a while. I’ve been away from the podcast for a bit as my mum died in February. It has not been an easy time and I have tried to carry on as usual, as much as possible, but I think we can call agree that the podcast was an area that could take a pause. I’m starting to get back into the swing of things and it feels right that the first episode of the podcast is focused upon...

Hi, everyone! I have ended up out of sequence! Last time I said we would be back with an episode on fatty liver disease, but the FCA has published its Protection Market Interim Report, and I absolutely had to cover this. The good news is that the FCA thinks that the protection industry is working really well, it just needs a couple of tweaks. Overall, I am really happy with what the report says, b...

Hi, everyone! As I am sure you can imagine I am always looking for ideas about what to cover in the podcast. We’ve done lots on health conditions, I’ve done deep dives into insurance products, commented on market developments, but I was absolutely shocked to realise I have not done a specific episode of vulnerable clients. Most of you probably recognise my name as a specialist protection insurance...

Hi everyone, we are back and talking about the use of weight loss drugs and getting protection insurance. Millions of people in the UK are now taking drugs like mounjaro and ozempic, to help them reach a healthy weight. Health professionals and insurers have said for many years that having a higher BMI isn’t healthy and can lead to long-term health complications. Weight loss drugs are proving to b...

Hi everyone, we are talking about neurofibromatosis , a rare condition that causes tumours to develop in the body. The tumours are not usually cancerous, but it is still a condition that can lead insurers to take an extra look at the insurance application. There are three types of neurofibromatosis and each of them are reviewed by the insurers on a case by case basis, as the symptoms and affect on...

Hi everyone, I have been taking at look at the recent paper from the FCA, that has been written to give an initial view of how the industry works, the players in it, potential consumers and outcomes from accessing insurance. Overall I think the paper was really well written and gave an accurate portrayal of the industry. It was clearly written and not too long, so I would recommend giving it a rea...

Hi everyone, Alan is joining me again to give us all insights into arranging protection insurance for someone living with cystic fibrosis . Cystic fibrosis is a condition that can be difficult to insure for life insurance . Historically, the life expectancy of a person living with cystic fibrosis has been much lower than average, which means that insurers see it as quite a high risk for a claim. T...

Hi everyone, I am taking another focus on Trusts this week. This time I am looking specifically at critical illness cover , as there are some potential issues that could be faced for vulnerable clients, including people who are experiencing economic abuse. There is a huge drive in our industry to place policies into Trust. It’s the kind of thing where I might potentially do a compliance fail with...

Hi everyone, Alan is back with me and this time we are focusing on coeliac disease . A lot of people think of gluten when they hear coeliac disease and have a feeling that all it means is don’t eat bread, pasta, etc. But, it can be much more than that when it comes to underwriting. A lot of the time coeliac disease is not a concern to insurers looking at life insurance , critical illness cover and...

Hi everyone, we are back after the lovely summer of 2025. One thing I love about the insurance world is how you can never know everything, there is always so much more to understand and consider. I have a few episodes coming up that have been in the background of my mind for a while. I like to make sure that I have seen things from all angles before I bring it to you. For the first episode of Seas...

Hi everyone, we are closing off season 10 with a very personal episode, with Phil Jeynes joining me to talk about his experience of being diagnosed with bowel cancer . Last time Kate Baldry gave us brilliant insights into bowel cancer data and how out of all the claims she had looked at, no-one had anything in their own health or family medical history, that placed them at a higher risk of develop...

Hi everyone, I have Kate Baldry joining me today to share her insights into early onset colo-rectal cancer, a diagnosis that is happening more and more. As a Research and Development Underwriter at Hannover Re, Kate has incredible access and insight to claims and health data. Kate has been spending time analysing the increasing rate of bowel cancer diagnoses and any trends that could be causing th...

Hi everyone, Lisa Balboa is back and she is sharing her insights into how AI is helping insurance across the world. I am quite a reluctant AI enthusiast as I’m always nervous it means less people involved in decisions, but Lisa brilliantly explains how AI is working alongside people to improve access to insurance and better claims experiences.  With insights from Australia, China, South Afric...

Hi everyone, I have five case studies for you this time. I’m going through life insurance options for gift planning and IHT planning . Arranging life insurance to protect against these taxes is often quite straightforward, but there are a number of technicalities that can mean that the ‘normal’ approach to life insurance doesn’t give your client the best outcome. Things like your client’s residenc...

Hi everyone, we have Alan Knowles back with us and we are taking a look at how living with chronic fatigue syndrome can influence your options for life insurance , critical illness cover and income protection .  Chronic fatigue syndrome or ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) is a long term condition that can cause significant tiredness, pain, brain fog, sensitivity to light and many other things....

Hi everyone, we have Alan Knowles back with us and we are taking a look at how lifestyles can affect options and pricing of life insurance , critical illness cover and income protection . Being a smoker usually doubles your premiums for protection insurance, as the stats show that you are far more likely to make a claim on the insurances. Not only this, but being a smoker can lead to your applicat...

Hi everyone, I have Lee Doran from William Russell with me. As the International Underwriting Manager Lee has an incredible knowledge of how protection insurance works across the UK and the rest of the world. With 20 years experience as an underwriter, he has seen and heard pretty much everything. In this episode we talk about Ukraine, Russia, the US and how getting insurance isn’t the easiest thi...

Hi everyone, we have Jo Miller back with us to talk about all things Income Protection . The last time Jo joined us was in 2023 to talk about the brilliant Income Protection Taskforce and there have been a lot of changes since then. With a new Board and lots of changes in the IP world, Jo is bringing us some great insights from the IPTF profile of an IP customer report. We are going through what’s...

Hi everyone, we are back with an insurance underwriting consideration that I cannot believe we haven’t covered before: high BMI ! We’ve talked about BMI in the past, but not done a specific episode, which is so bizarre as it’s something that I think every adviser has come across at some point. High BMI affects life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection applications in different w...

Hi everyone, we are having a theme of income protection related podcast episodes this season. I’m loving it! I personally feel that income protection is probably the most essential protection insurance product for working people.  Income protection is available with many insurers and there are lots of quirks and different options. One of which is simplified income protection. This product typ...