In the first six months of 2016 the number of policies sold by advisers in the UK increased by 3.3% on the previous year, while First Complete said it increased the number of its protection completions by over 30% year-on-year.

However, with most protection providers attracting new clients by offering incentives and add-ons which exclude longstanding customers, Pink and First Complete said existing policy holders are being penalised for staying loyal to their current providers.

“Brokers have a duty to find the right deal for their clients and review policies on a regular basis,” says Toni Smith, sales operations director at First Complete. “Not only to ensure the policy continues to match their client’s needs, but also to ensure they are receiving true value for money.

“In order to maintain best customer outcomes, brokers therefore often have to cancel protection policies and take out new ones so that their clients can access new incentive and add-ons that as an existing customer they wouldn’t be eligible for.”

The problem is that such a practice of cancelling client’s policies just to reinstate them is often viewed negatively by providers. To solve this, Pink and First Complete say providers should give existing customers the option to sign up to new add-ons which give them an improved protection product.

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They say that by committing to offer existing customers the same incentives as new joiners, providers will save on broker commission fees and offer a better protection service for those customers already on their books.