Ian Sawyer, director at Assured Futures, said: “We are delighted and very proud to have Paradigm’s recommendation to its members and we look forward to making protection and PMI [private mortgage insurance] so much easier for them by simply referring to us when they do not want to write the business themselves. This sort of signposting is becoming critical in the market, as a result of the Consumer Duty rules. We’ve been working with IFAs, mortgage advisers and insurance websites for many years now and thus regarded as a very safe pair of hands.”
Paradigm member firms will be able to refer clients to Assured Futures, which is part of Howden Group Holdings and a directly authorised intermediary, specialising in producing bespoke solutions for partner companies and websites.
It covers life insurance, private medical insurance, income protection, and accident, sickness and unemployment cover, plus it provides online insurance quotations for a range of insurance products backed up by a team of advisers.
Paradigm member firms will receive a no cross-selling guarantee, and access to a wide panel of providers across all product areas. They will also earn competitive commission terms as a result of the new partnership, said Paradigm.
Mike Allison (pictured), head of protection at Paradigm, said: “The Consumer Duty rules have drawn into a sharper light the need for advisory firms to provide a clear solution when it comes to their client’s protection needs. Many firms will already have this in hand however it is clear a significant number do not cover this in-house, neither do they have a trusted partner they can work with to ensure this particular base is covered.
“We want advisers to be confident their client is able to keep up payments on their mortgage, for example, should they lose their job or suffer an illness that stops them from working. In Consumer Duty terms, this is a potential outcome of the mortgage advice and recommendation process and therefore the adviser does need to recognise this and put in place the protection groundwork to mitigate against it.
“Overall, we want advisers to either be confident in delivering this advice themselves or to be able to turn to a trusted source of advice who can take this on. This new partnership, and new referral service, with Assured Futures does just this and it will give the right outcomes for both the referring adviser and their clients.”
