According to research from The Exeter, around 37% said pre-existing medical conditions would be the biggest challenge for private health insurance.
Nearly a third – 29% – of advisers said they face this challenge when discussing income protection and a quarter said they struggle when trying to place life insurance.
Regarding health insurance, around 31% of advisers said they expected challenges when it comes to explaining the benefits of different policies offered by different firms, and another 31% said helping clients overcome the concept of cost was a problem they faced.
Approximately 36% of advisers said that when talking about income protection, the cost perception was a key concern, while a third said clarifying policy exclusions and conditions was another barrier. Explaining the benefits of individual policies was cited by 28% as an issue.
On life insurance, 38% of advisers pointed to overcoming the perception of costs, 33% cited clarifying policy exclusions and conditions, and explaining benefits was singled out by 28% of advisers.
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Around 30% said the ability to cover such customers is the most important aspect of working with an insurer.
Jack Southcott, head of protection propositions at The Exeter, said: “Living with pre-existing or multiple medical conditions can pose many challenges for individuals, and unfortunately, this can also prevent them from buying insurance products. In recent years, health and protection providers have taken positive steps to further grow the market by making products more accessible to more people, including those with pre-existing medical conditions.
“As we continue to develop our propositions, there is the potential to further improve accessibility to the products we offer, so that more people can benefit from the peace of mind that insurance provides.”
