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Month: August 2021

Guest Blog: Don’t forget the tenant

Guest Blog: Don’t forget the tenant

With Makayla Everett, SimplyBiz

As a continuation of Uinsure’s ‘How the pro’s do it’ campaign, Makayla Everitt, Head of SimplyBiz Mortgages discusses the insurance opportunity that lies within the Buy-to-Let market with her top 10 tips… Don’t forget the tenant!

Tenants could hold the key

With many struggling to get a foot on the property ladder, the demand for rental properties has soared over recent years.

The stigma around owning your own home has changed as more people see long-term rental solutions more financially viable than getting a place of their own. Bearing this in mind, tenants are no different to homeowners in the respect that should something happen to their home, their most cherished possessions are covered. Not only that, but should the property become uninhabitable to any reasons, tenant insurance would find them a place to stay whilst the repairs are made.

Commonly, many tenants believe it is the landlord’s responsibility to arrange contents insurance, where of course, it isn’t. There is also a real risk that many tenants maybe unaware and in breach of tenancy agreements of their contract stipulates contents insurance is required.

Raising awareness in their area is essential. By partnering with local letting agents, you would be able to promote this issue whilst also opening to a new, under-serviced area of the market, with potential to re-engage with these clients further down the line if they do require potential mortgage and protection advice.

You can make a real difference

  1. Don’t forget tenants want to protect their income and families too. Offer them a review to ensure they are kept secure.
  2. Don’t forget that Landlords also need protection and there are a number of landlord focused products available to support across a number of areas.
  3. Don’t have the time? Referring Landlord Insurances, LPS and Rent Guarantee offers security and will open the door to new future clients.
  4. Win, win – offer an enhanced letting agreement for better protected tenants.
  5. You can support your landlords in getting back to auctions and undertaking refurbishment with Bridge-to-Let products.
  6. Clients of tomorrow – don’t underestimate the value of Contents Only policies.
  7. Create loyalty with existing landlords, use the agent’s knowledge to guide where they buy. This will create an instant let, the landlord is then happy to give the agent yet another property.
  8. Tenants giving notice are potentially your purchasers of today. Referrals from the letting agent can benefit all concerned.
  9. Free marketing literature to support referral business is available from most insurance providers.
  10. Increase your brand awareness, board presence and overall business growth by developing string relationships with agents in your area.


Let’s not forget landlords

With rental property demand the highest it has been in decades, and more clients entering the Buy-to-Let space- have you considered targeting portfolio and landlord clients in your area?

Following the turbulent year that was 2020, the mantra ‘expect the unexpected’ never rang truer. Landlords and letting agents place great value on loyal and dependable tenants who provide regular income. Landlord insurance is a viable solution to all landlords ensuring that if the property is damaged, uninhabitable or lays vacant for an extended period that the property is repaired, and the landlord is not left out of pocket.

You can offer to work in association with your local letting agents in a mutually beneficent manner, you work can provide them, and you, with an income, it can safeguard the owner of the property against having to find another tenant, thus running the risk of a loss of income and, perhaps most importantly, it will also provide safety and security for the renting party. Quite literally, and like every fairground across the UK, everyone’s a winner.

So, hopefully you are now thinking which letting agents you have in your area, and who will benefit from your experience, knowledge, and professionalism. Please remember a lot of these business leads can be referred, ensuring you receive maximum income for minimum time spent.

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How the pro’s do it launch

How the pro’s do it launch

Uinsure has announced their new ‘How the pro’s do it’ campaign, designed to raise awareness and understanding of how some of the most successful firms in the UK integrate GI into their service to customers.

A series of videos from Uinsure’s GI experts will be released weekly. There will also be guest blogs and emails to help share best practice and success stories, so advisers are better equipped to provide a general insurance service to their clients.

Uinsure will host a number of sales workshops throughout July and August, providing practical tips on how to integrate GI into their sales process.

Wednesday 18th August: 10am

Thursday 19th August: 2pm

Friday 20th August: 11am

Advisers who’d like to join a sales workshop can do so here: https://www.getfeedback.com/r/OWnk7u56

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Golden insurance opportunity for advisers

Golden insurance opportunity for advisers

By Lauren Bagley

If there was ever a time to discuss home insurance, it’s certainly good time now, given so many of your remortgaging clients will likely have held their existing insurance policies for multiple years and could be paying more than what they should.

Industry data shows that over £183bn worth of residential mortgages will expire by the end of 2021, and as we head into Autumn, the remortgage and product transfer opportunity is expected to be strong as we switch focus from an extremely busy purchase market in the first half of this year.

The FCA’s well-documented general insurance pricing practices market study found the home and motor insurance markets are not working well for all consumers. Customers are often penalised for their loyalty and may well need your help and guidance in ensuring they are not caught in the loyalty trap.

This led to new regulations being introduced by the regulator that come in at the end of the year. The FCA will ban insurers from artificially discounting new business premiums with the intent to hike them in subsequent renewals.

The FCA’s analysis estimated that the insurance industry gained £1.2bn from six million policy holders through price walking in 2018 and it predicts that the new ban will save customers £4.2bn during the first ten years following its introduction in January 2022.

The role of an adviser to inform and educate about insurance has never been more important and, as this wave of remortgaging clients start to reengage, there’s a golden opportunity to demonstrate the value of advice, ensure fair value and potentially save your clients’ money on their existing insurance.

So what do you need to be considering when reviewing you remortgaging customers insurance?

1. Educate your clients to consider more than just price

As the name suggests, price comparison sites are largely useful for comparing on price. Although, understandably, price is the dominant factor of any conversation, it’s also vital to weigh up whether a policy is offering good value.

You can use Uinsure’s Defaqto Compare tool to compare policies available across the market and this will instantly highlight gaps in cover. This, in turn, allows you to explain how certain policies do or do not meet the client’s needs and steer the conversation away from base price to best value. 

2. Introduce a GI conversation early on

Ask for a copy of your clients existing home insurance schedule as an addition to any other documents you require as part of your remortgage advice process.

3. Simply explain what price walking means and how they could be paying more than what they should

The ban on price walking will come into force from January 2022, and so ahead of rules being implemented, it’s a really important time to discuss with clients who have held insurance policies for multiple years to review their needs.

Want to know more? Uinsure is currently running a series of How the Pros do it workshops to help give advisers this skillset and confidence to offer general insurance to more of their clients more often.

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How the pro’s do it

How the pro’s do it

https://youtu.be/womEyK1kpKo

General insurance used to be a complex beast. Applications were confusing, the process was long winded and forms were full of questions that were virtually impossible to answer correctly.

Fortunately, times have changed.

With the increasing digitization of our industry and advances of our own technology, home insurance can be quoted in just three questions with an application typically taking around 60 seconds.

And, with home insurance being a legal requirement with any mortgage, it’s our collective responsibility to ensure the UK’s homes are properly protected should something go wrong.

As a result, the team here at Uinsure have launched a series of How the Pros do it workshops that aim to give advisers the knowledge and confidence to offer general insurance to every client.

Working alongside advisers and general insurance experts, we have built a workshop specifically for those who have little knowledge of writing general insurance but want to add this skillset to their offering so they can offer their clients the full package.

The one-hour workshops give practical guidance and useable advice and, as part of the workshops, those in attendance get top tips and information from experts who offer general insurance on a daily basis with thousands of applications to their names.

Check our intro video with home insurance specialist, Dawood Patel, to get a taster for what’s included.

To find a date and time that works for you, click on the link here – https://www.getfeedback.com/r/OWnk7u56/6c45bc95-a2da-404c-8c63-8e3e40123242

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Perfect season to advise on home policies

Perfect season to advise on home policies

By Lauren Bagley

If there was ever a time to discuss home insurance, it’s certainly a good time now.

This is especially given so many of your remortgaging clients will likely have held their existing insurance policies for multiple years and could be paying more than they should be.

More than £183bn of residential mortgages will expire by the end of 2021. As we head into autumn, the remortgage and product transfer opportunity is expected to be strong, with the focus switching from an extremely busy purchase market in the first half of the year. 

The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) well-documented general insurance pricing practices market study found the home and motor insurance markets are not working well for all consumers. Customers are often penalised for their loyalty and may well need your help and guidance in ensuring they are not caught in the loyalty trap.  

Gen up on price walking

The FCA’s study led to new regulations which are due to come in from January 2022. These will ban insurers from artificially discounting new business premiums with the intent to hike prices in subsequent renewals. 

The regulator has estimated that the insurance industry gained £1.2bn from six million policy holders through price walking in 2018. It predicts that the ban will save customers £4.2bn during the first 10 years following its introduction.  

The role of an adviser to inform and educate about insurance has never been more important and, as this wave of remortgaging clients start to re-engage, there’s a golden opportunity to demonstrate the value of advice, ensure fair value and potentially save your clients money on their existing insurance.  

So, what do you need to consider when reviewing you remortgaging customers insurance?

Educate your clients to think beyond price

As the name suggests, price comparison sites are largely useful for comparing on price. Although, understandably, price is the dominant factor of any conversation, it’s also vital to weigh up whether a policy is offering good value.

This, in turn, lets you explain how certain policies do or do not meet the client’s needs and steer the conversation away from base price to best value.

Introduce general insurance early on

Ask for a copy of your clients existing home insurance schedule as an addition to any other documents you require as part of your remortgage advice process.

Explain what price walking means

Show clients how they could be paying more than they should be. The ban on price walking will come into force from January 2022. So, ahead of the rules being implemented, it’s a really important time to discuss with clients who have held insurance policies for multiple years to review their needs.

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