Learning Material Sample

Financial protection

1. Market factors and trends in financial protection planning

Learning outcome 1 Understand the consumer and retail market factors and trends relevant to financial protection

Course content

The course material consists of:

11 chapters of study text

Several test your knowledge questions in each chapter

Audiovisual presentations and audio for chapters 1, 2 and 4 to help get your studies off to a flying start

Revision assessments for each chapter to help confirm ...

Shortened demo course. See details at foot of page.

...e with the course.

CPD credit

You will be credited with the CPD times listed within the revision test sections. This will be added to your CPD certificate when you complete each assessment. Your CPD certificate can be viewed and printed from the CPD certificate link on the left hand menu at any time.

As well as acting as a training module to help you pass the exam this online course can also be used for CPD.

By studying each chapter and then taking the end of chapter assessment this will create an entry on your CPD certificate containing:

Your personal details

Course name

Chapter name

Assessment results for each chapter

Estimated CPD time for each chapter.

After taking a chapter assessment if you go to the CPD certificate link you can produce a CPD certificate. By selecting the date filter you can choose which items to include on your certificate. You can also download this to excel which will allow you to edit the certificate as required.

The estimated CPD times allocated the first time you take the end of chapter assessments are:

R05                     

Hours

Chapter 1

1.1

Chapter 2

2.3

Chapter 3

4.2

Chapter 4

9.6

Chapter 5

6

Chapter 6

5.7

Chapter 7

4.7

Chapter 8

3.2

Chapter 9

5.5

Chapter 10

4.5

Chapter 11

3.2

Tot...

Shortened demo course. See details at foot of page.

... is an example of the type of possible issue we will seek to monitor as part of our ongoing oversight of the accredited bodies."

Statement of Professional Standing (SPS)

All advisers giving independent or restricted advice must hold a Statement of Professional Standing (SPS). This details evidence they subscribe to a code of ethics, are qualified and have kept their knowledge up to date.

Bodies accredited by the FCA will be responsible for issuing individuals with an SPS and for ensuring that advisers hold an appropriate QCF Level 4 qualification.

If an SPS is removed from an adviser, the FCA could levy a fine on them, suspend them or even decide to remove their approved person status, although it could also agree to an action plan to be undertaken before reinstatement.

FCA monitoring

Firms are obliged to inform the FCA if any of their advisers fall below its competence or ethical standards.

The FCA collects information about individual advisers, such as the qualifications they hold and which accredited body they use. The FCA uses this database to help identify the highest risk individuals.

Audiovisual presentations

Where we have created an audiovisual presentation you can view it in a new window by clicking on the image that appears at the top of the section. As detailed in the contents and information page before purchasing  this module there are a selection of animated audiovi...

Shortened demo course. See details at foot of page.

...services industry as a whole - coupled with an evolving social and economic environment and advances in medical science - have provided challenges for the financial protection market. This chapter considers these changes and how the financial protection market has adapted to meet the challenges presented.

All risks can be categorised by assessing the severity of the impact and the probability of occurrence. Once assessed, decisions can be taken as to whether the risks can be managed (e.g. by taking preventative action or where the impact can be met using available resources) or insured (e.g. where the likelihood of the event is low but the financial impact could be high).

Insurance has the most effective role to play where there is a low frequency of occurrence but a high potential impact on individuals and their families such as death and disability.

Example

Fred and Freda are married with fo...

Shortened demo course. See details at foot of page.

...nsurance would also be a factor. In some circumstances it may not be cost effective to insure a risk, for the product provider or for the client.

Financial protection is the term for a range of insurance products that would provide sums of money on the event of long-term illness, disability or death.

Lucy is a make-up artist working in the film industry. Her working pattern is irregular, usually three to four months of work at a time followed by periods of unemployment. Comment on the feasibility of insuring Lucy against the impact of unemployment.

 

Answer : Purchase course for answer

The social and economic landscape of the UK has changed drastically over the last 50 years and continues to evolve. The traditional lifestages that most people would have expected - i.e. childhood, education, marriage, children and retirement - are no longer typical. Attitudes to marriage, divorce, sexuality, equality and bringing up children have all changed.

Changing demographics have meant that attitudes to insurance have also changed. Some of the factors that have influenced the changes are as follows:

Unlike many other countries, the UK has a well-developed welfare state, l...

Shortened demo course. See details at foot of page.

...did have some protection the greatest percentage had life assurance (31%), critical illness cover was held by 14% and income protection by 6%.

Many people have not taken out protection insurance because they do not understand what each type will do for them, they believe it is too expensive or they do not trust the insurer to pay out on a claim. Many people now also go to the internet to make a purchase, relying on their own judgements rather than getting professional advice.

What impact have changing family dynamics had on financial planning?

Answer : Purchase course for answer

The UK is the fourth  largest market for life insurance in the world after the USA, China, and Japan; however, the ‘protection gap’ (shortfall in the amount required to maintain the current standard of living for dependents) is estimated at £2.4 trillion. The deficit is due to many factors, including limited budgets, personal views and no interaction with qualified practitioners who can make individua...

Shortened demo course. See details at foot of page.

...ion

Economic Factors - the level of income and inflation will affect the level of disposable income available – a one percentage point increase in inflation will reduce the amount of life insurance in force by 1.4%

Dependants – whether they exist and how old they are / how long they are likely to remain dependent

What is the “Protection Gap”?

Answer : Purchase course for answer

Our general standards of living have improved dramatically over the last 50 years, with better hyg...

Shortened demo course. See details at foot of page.

... plan terms are extended to match longer term liabilities, this will also present underwriting issues.

Our working patterns are changing due to:

Fewer long-term contracts

Many more individuals becoming self-employed

Many others working on short-term renewable contracts

It is becoming common to have more than one job or career over a lifetime

The consequences of illness or disability are increasing as there is not a long-term relationship with one employer who may have looked after their staff well if they became ill.

The main factors which have recently affected product design and pricing are the use of health and lifestyle factors and the use of technology to set pricing policy:

Smoker/non-smoker rates - there is strong evidence to show that no...

Shortened demo course. See details at foot of page.

...riting as the premiums generally give little margin for error.

Lives and lifestyles are now rated, creating different groups within the overall portfolio of insured lives. Some are treated advantageously and will pay very low premiums, but others - often with moderate health concerns - will not benefit from the rate reductions that should be available. A higher number of cases are also likely to be declined.

Since 21 December 2012, insurers cannot charge different premium rates for males and females, due to an EU Gender Directive.

What impact have improved mortality rates and cheaper premiums had on underwriting practices?

Answer : Purchase course for answer

The industry believes that ‘life assurance is sold and not bought’ and over the last 60 years interest in buying it has declined. The system in the 1950s of salesmen going door-to-door, selling policies and collecting premiums has long since disappeared as companies realised there were more effective ways of doing business.

After the changes to the provision of investment advice stemming from the Retail Distribution Review (RDR...

Shortened demo course. See details at foot of page.

...ll.

Although the UK protection industry is substantial, there is still huge potential for growth, but it is constantly faced with challenges that impact on an ever-increasing protection gap.

State three disadvantages of purchasing protection from an online channel.

The online channel cannot:

Give advice on how to set a policy up

Explain the differences between different types of policy

Give advice on placing policies in trust

The protection market in t...

Shortened demo course. See details at foot of page.

...s and other unforeseen events.

NOTE - These questions are designed for revision purposes only and are therefore n...

Shortened demo course. See details at foot of page.

...etake the test then additional CPD time for the test will be added to your CPD certificate.

About Demo Courses

This is a shortened version of our online course, built so that you can get a good idea of what is provided. The full version shows all the current text and is fully formatted. Use the top right drop down menu to view the chapters. If you have already purchased this course, please log in to access the full version

Our online courses page lists details of all our courses. For more details on the above course see;

Chapter Links