Speaking at the Sesame Symposium in London, Aviva protection director Richard Verdin said the main protection drive would come after the end of the London Olympics, with insurers waiting as long as they could before increasing prices at the end of 2012.
He said: “If advisers have customers thinking about protection and putting it off till 2013, they would do well to buy, because prices are rising.
“There is no first move advantage for providers; we will all move to gender neutral pricing as late as we can. Re-insurers will move at the same time and that will impact the price that we can offer.”
Andy Briggs, CEO of Friends Life, called the forced price rise and RDR the “perfect storm” for cover and added: “There is a massive protection gap and there is a real opportunity for brokers to focus on that and get in a better price position in preparation for RDR.”
He added: “Historically, protection has been driven by mortgages and we need to make it more standalone.”
On the same panel, Iain Clark, managing director of protection at LV=, said: “It is a fantastic opportunity for all our brands to think differently and educate people, because consumers are not fully aware of the changes.
“We don’t want a fire sale, but there will be a lot of voices saying that it is never a better time to buy.”
Aviva’s Verdin added: “2013 will be a very different place. Brokers have to think about how they will fill the gap in the protection market and we have to see more holistic planning.”
