Help all your clients protect what’s important with Refer & Protect
Guest Blog Writer: Craig Kerrigan, National Account Manager at Paymentshield
29 May 2025
Research highlights the gap between intention and execution
In our most recent Adviser Survey, conducted with 526 advisers, 92% of respondents agreed that it’s best practice to speak to their clients about GI. And yet, against prevailing market conditions and growing resource demands, delivering this all-encompassing level of service is much easier said than done. Worryingly, the same survey also found that 57% of respondents sometimes miss opportunities to sell GI, bring focus to the significant gap between intention and execution and highlighting advisers now need more options that provide a greater level flexibility when selling GI. Addressing this discrepancy is a mission that we’re deeply committed to, by helping advisers to seamlessly integrate GI conversations into their daily duties/agenda. By embracing varied approaches such as offering advice themselves, employing an in-house GI specialist or, utilising a referral service where the client can buy quality insurance rather than going it alone – there really is a solution for everyone out there.
A sense of duty
We know that advisers typically feel a strong sense of duty towards seeing their clients through the entirety of the purchase journey, so they must be whole heartedly confident in their recommendations. Therefore, if firms are determined to offer advice themselves then we’d strongly encourage them to take advantage of the support available. This might be in person support from our experienced intermediary sales team or simply utilising our marketing toolkit, which includes resources that help guide them through the GI sales process.However, we recognise in today’s market that advisers don’t always have the luxury of time, to do that, which is why Paymentshield developed its Refer and Protect proposition.
Refer & Protect
Referring clients, can provide an easy option for advisers who may be pressed for time but still want to offer comprehensive protection options to their clients. By offering a referral service, advisers can ensure their clients access to advice and a 5 Star Defaqto rated home insurance quote. We’ve always worked to underline the mantra that “advice is best” when it comes to GI. But, with advisers contending with a complex and ever-changing market, we recognise this isn’t always possible and referring a client for a call-back from our team can, at least ensure continuity of care.
If a client opts to speak to one of our in-house specialists, they’re given the option to choose their call-back times to ensure they receive calls at a time that’s convenient for them, then they are given the VIP treatment by our highly trained telephone team.
This approach not only aligns with Paymentshield’s mission of ensuring more homes are adequately protected but will also reinforces the reputation of the advisers as reliable and knowledgeable financial experts.
Paymentshield has seen year-on-year growth in its Refer and Protect proposition, with total new business volumes rising by 219% since its launch in summer 2023 and when comparing July-December 2024 to the same period in 2023, Paymentshield exceeded expectations for sharp growth.
In addition, when comparing the same period, total quotes delivered increased by 289%, while new business sales via telephone rose by 193% and the quote to sale conversion rate from the telephone referral team improved from 42% to 44%.
It’s clear that even in a tough market, there’s consumer demand for proper protection of their most valuable possessions and we’re in a powerful place to support this.
Customer care
We’re immensely proud of results our Refer and Protect Proposition has delivered which are a testament to the faith that advisers have placed in Paymentshield to look after their clients and demonstrate we’re providing the same high levels of service and care that advisers would provide themselves. The fact that customers can set the date and time and therefore know exactly when they’re going to have a conversation about their insurance needs underpins our strong conversion rates which is then further supported by the hard work and expertise of our telephone referral team who deliver fantastic conversion rates across the board.
Once a referral is submitted, advisers are then able to track their clients’ journey via Paymentshield’s unique Adviser Hub. Adviser Hub is an online platform designed to simplify general insurance management for financial advisors. It provides advisors with a centralised hub for managing their business, including quote submission, renewal tracking, performance monitoring and various support tools. The hub aims to offer greater transparency and control over general insurance activities. Therefore, whether obtaining a quote themselves or referring their clients to us, they have access to an easy-to-use dashboard and tracking capabilities so advisers can see exactly where their customers are in the purchase process with real team feedback enabling the adviser to follow up with their clients should they wish.
So, if your firm isn’t currently referring, we’d urge you to explore it’s benefit to your business and your clients. You can even consider combining approaches and switching between offering advice on general insurance yourself and referring your clients depending on the situation. So that every client gets the opportunity to buy quality insurance. By taking this approach, we’re confident that you’ll see better outcomes for you and your clients in the long run. Aside from referring, we’d really encourage you to get to grips with the wider spectrum of support and options on offer from Paymentshield
As 2025 enters the end of its first half, we’ll remain on hand to support advisers with adopting new general insurance capabilities and to harness the significant opportunities presented by general insurance to grow client satisfaction and loyalty as well as growing their business and income.
