"We hope together we can increase consumers’ access to suitable income protection and improve their financial resilience."
- Phil Nash - Shepherds Friendly
Shepherds Friendly and Primis Mortgage Network have announced a new partnership centred on the agreement that Primis will distribute the mutual society’s income protection (IP) products, including via its protection sourcing platform Novium.
Both companies are part of LSL Financial Services, a provider of services to mortgage and protection intermediaries through brands including Primis, Novium and TMA Club. Novium, which was launched in late 2024, was designed to help financial advisers compare and recommend products.
One of the key aims of both Primis and Novium is to make sure that anyone who takes out a mortgage has sufficient protection in place.
Primis has expressed its aim of ensuring that anyone who takes out a mortgage also has sufficient protection in place, as a survey of 2,000 people carried out for Shepherds Friendly last October revealed that just 14% of full-time employees in the UK have income protection, while 48% of those who didn’t have a policy in place had a mortgage.
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"For many households, a mortgage is the biggest single monthly expense, yet many have no protection in place to ensure they will be able to continue to cover that expense if they are unable to work due to illness or accident," Phil Nash, chief sales officer at Shepherds Friendly, said.
Phil continued: "We believe one of the best ways to change this is by raising it with people at the point they take out a mortgage, and partnering with Primis and Novium seemed a clear way to make this happen. We hope together we can increase consumers’ access to suitable income protection and improve their financial resilience."
Craig Hall, director of strategic partnerships at Primis, added: "We’re excited to have Shepherds Friendly join our platform. Its income protection product offers some unique features that make it particularly suitable for younger people. In fact, it’s young people who are often the most exposed to financial shocks when taking out their first mortgage.
"At Primis, we are determined to increase the number of people in the UK who have the right protection in place to cover their mortgage debt. Shepherds Friendly shares our goal, and working together will take us one step closer to achieving that."
