The life insurance market has always come in for criticism - manly due to the old 'insurance salesman' knocking door to door for insurance business.
The two companies in the United Kingdom responsible for the 'insurance man' are arguably Prudential and the Co-op Insurance. Both are large insurance businesses who grew with the aid of large sales teams - you may remember the Prudential marketing campaign, the 'Man from the Pru' hardly suitable in todays' ere of political correctness.
The buying process has moved on and with the development of the internet and the world wide web, you can now buy direct from the insurance providers such as Prudential, Aviva (formerly Norwich Union) Axa Sun Life, Friends Provident and Standard Life.
We have also seen the growth of large supermarket chains offering life products to their large customer bases. The net affect of these changes has brought the cost of insurance down.
The commission costs have been reduced as the large supermarkets go for volume sales and work on very small margins - Buying direct from the insurance provider has the same affect as they do not need to pay commission to the broker.
The advantage to the consumer is more choice, the life insurance premium is less than the traditional 'sales person' channel and in some ways the process can be simple (no home visits filling out reams of paperwork).
In my opinion the lack of advice in these transactions is incredible - life insurance is a simple product but relating it to your own personal circumstances is far from simple.
I would always seek the advice from a life insurance specialist - paying a little more in commission is well worth it to ensure you buy the correct polices.
No comments:
Post a Comment