The insurer said it was prompted by its data showing that one in five protection applications never go on risk and one in 10 protection plans are cancelled within their first year.
The launch comes shortly after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) gave the protection sector 12-18 months to make “meaningful progress” in improving protection take-up and consumer outcomes.
The FCA said it would work with the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) to improve how advisers discuss protection with clients and encourage more frequent and consistent conversations throughout the advice journey.
Practical support for brokers
The guide, Building Better Business Quality, Together, encourages advisers to engage clients early, set expectations from the outset, ensure applications are completed accurately, and maintain regular contact after cover begins.
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Jon Fuller, protection distribution director at Royal London, said: “Our new guide is designed to help advisers focus on the points in the journey where they can make the biggest impact.”
He added: “Whether that’s setting realistic expectations, helping clients disclose information accurately, encouraging regular reviews or using business insights to identify opportunities, small improvements can add up to deliver better outcomes for clients and stronger business quality over time.”
For advisers that have submitted at least 25 protection applications, Royal London offers personalised reports covering persistency, business mix, straight-through processing rates, claims experience and non-take-up rates. The insurer said these insights can help advisers identify trends and target areas for improvement.
Maria Bishop, protection proposition manager at The Openwork Partnership, said business quality was “fundamental to delivering good customer outcomes and maintaining trust in protection advice”.
She said Royal London had shown “a strong commitment to understanding adviser behaviours, sharing meaningful insight and working collaboratively to identify areas for improvement”.
Bishop added that the insurer’s focus on data-driven support for disclosure practices, application quality and customer outcomes provides advisers with “practical guidance that can help strengthen standards and enhance long-term business performance”.
The guide also emphasises the importance of regular client reviews to ensure protection arrangements remain suitable as circumstances change.
Fuller said: “By combining practical tools, data-led insight and tailored support, we want to help advisers build more resilient protection businesses while keeping more clients appropriately protected for the long term.”
