"The IPTF is always pleased to see innovation that supports advisers and improves customer understanding of Income Protection (IP)."
- Vicky Churcher, executive director of the IPTF
Zurich UK has launched its ‘Risk Reality’ calculator, designed to help customers understand the value of protection products and support advisers with discussing the risks of not having protection in place.
“Advisers are always looking for smart ways to highlight the importance of protection products to their customers. That’s why we’ve developed our Risk Reality calculator – designed to make conversations more personal, relevant, and impactful,” explained Louise Colley, director of retail protection at Zurich UK.
Advisers can utilise this calculator during the initial sales process to illustrate the benefits of protection products, as well as policy reviews to identify any unmet or partially met needs.
Uniquely, the calculator allows advisers and/or customers to tailor the deferred period to match sick pay or savings, from 4 to 52 weeks. It also includes information regarding the risk of children suffering serious health conditions.
“Our calculator enables advisers to tailor results for each customer, providing a clear picture of their risk of being unable to work due to illness or injury, serious illness, and death. Uniquely, by factoring in the required deferred period, our calculator delivers a truly personalised report that helps customers see the value of protection in their own lives.
“We also understand how much parents and guardians care about their children’s wellbeing. That’s why the Risk Reality calculator includes information about the risk of children facing serious health conditions, which makes it easier to discuss the importance of children’s cover and to support families in making confident, informed choices,” Louise added.
Results are delivered on screen and in a personalised, downloadable report.
Reacting to the launch, Vicky Churcher, executive director of the Income Protection Task Force (IPTF), said: “The IPTF is always pleased to see innovation that supports advisers and improves customer understanding of Income Protection (IP).
“We’re particularly encouraged by the inclusion of children’s cover risk data to support holistic family protection and a unique option to customise deferred periods so advisers can offer solutions that are more relevant to individual customers. We’re delighted to host this calculator within the ‘Adviser Tools’ section of our website.”
Paul Roberts, proposition & distribution director at CIExpert, agreed that the value of this calculator as a core component of the financial planning process “cannot be understated when helping to educate customers on the risks they face from major life events such as death, critical or serious illness, or being unable to work as a result of ill-health or injury.”
He noted that several insurers and distributors provide advisers with access to risk calculators, and while these tools offer a “good level of detail on the risks of death and becoming critical or seriously ill,” only one fixed assessment is provided on a customer’s ability to work.
“Zurich UK’s new Risk Reality calculator takes the idea of personalisation to a new level, allowing the adviser & customer relationship to assess the individual risks directly linked to their personal circumstances over five deferred periods. It also offers flexibility for a ‘couple’ to be able to assess the overall impact, both as individuals and as a couple.
“The insurer is also able to show the relationship between IP and Critical Illness (CI) plans in a way that hasn’t previously been possible, as well as including some significantly detailed information about childhood illnesses and incidence rates.
“Zurich UK has set a new benchmark for protection risk calculators and should be congratulated for doing so,” Paul concluded.
