Protection Review unveils critical illness white paper

The white paper recommends grouping critical illness conditions together into categories and developing more niche products like cancer stroke and heart attack plans.

Protection Review has released a white paper with five proposals the insurance industry should adopt to grow the critical illness market.

The white paper recommends grouping critical illness conditions together into categories and developing more niche products like cancer stroke and heart attack plans.

It also tells the industry to reconsider hybrid critical illness/income protection products and to generate more positive stories to overcome the public perception that insurers don’t pay claims.

Lastly it says focus needs to be taken away from the headline of cheap prices on portals and the industry should instead be more inclusive for people considered to be impaired lives, who 20 years ago would have been standard risks.

Roger Edwards, marketing director of Protection Review, said: “The first Protection Review Summit delivered two hours of positive straight talking about the future of critical illness cover.

“It wasn’t a talking shop as events like this can be. It was an action oriented event where everyone was constructive, added value and focused on customer outcomes.

“The five steps we’ve included in the white paper could lead critical illness cover back into growth.

“We look forward to working with providers, advisers and reinsurers to put these recommendations in place.”