The importance of client needs when arranging protection – Clifford

While it hurts to think about the loss, I take comfort in remembering how they both chose to spend their final months – on their own terms, living life to the fullest. 

After receiving the news we all dread, both of these wonderful people booked several blowout trips around the world, staying in the best hotels and living it up for as long as they could. A private jet was even in the mix for one of them, while terminally ill – and why not? 

I remember speaking to the friend who was fighting cancer at that time; he sounded happier than ever, despite knowing his time was surely running out. 

By most standards, these two individuals were both relatively wealthy. But the reality is they wouldn’t have been able to throw caution to the wind and enjoy their once-in-a-lifetime holidays had they not had the foresight to take out protection policies years earlier. 

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The truths of life 

This isn’t a sob story to encourage sales – it’s a fact.

Without life, private medical, and critical illness insurance, my friend wouldn’t have had the freedom to write his final chapter the way he wanted. 

Things could have been very different. Because he was relatively well-off, his adviser might have so easily overlooked his ‘need’ for protection. 

However, the financial benefits he received from protection products made a huge psychological difference, allowing his family to create lasting memories with him in the time they had left. In that respect, it was priceless. 

The point is that most clients probably think about life insurance and paying off their mortgage when they hear the terms ‘protection’ or ‘insurance’ – and little else.

But it’s so much more than that, as all good advisers know. It’s about securing their family’s financial future or, like my friend, giving themselves the means to live their remaining days as they choose. 

Educating clients on protection 

Clients won’t come to this realisation on their own – so we have to help them. 

As an adviser, you need to understand not just what your client needs, but what they truly want to live their life on their terms. ‘Want’ is the keyword here. 

A client may need enough cover to pay off their loan when they’re gone, but they may want greater levels of protection as a matter of choice. 

What would they truly want to be able to do if they were given the worst news? Do they want to pay off their debts? Ensure their children have the best start in life? Go on that round-the-world cruise they’ve always dreamed of but never booked? Feel like they could spend money at pace but without denting the size of their estate or depleting their kids’ inheritance? 

These are the questions we need to ask to help clients make the best of a truly awful situation, should it sadly arise in their life. 

Rich or poor, we all have needs and demands – but those requirements and preferences will remain unclear unless you, the adviser, bring them to the surface. 

If you do, it will make all the difference in the world.

My friend and my family member were both proof of that. And if they were here today, they’d probably tell you that taking out the right levels of protection was one of the best decisions they ever made.