This week, our ‘In Focus’ series examines the strategic role of financial resilience within the insurance and protection sector. Through insights from leading experts, we explore how protection planning underpins long-term client stability and enables advisers to deliver truly holistic outcomes in an increasingly complex landscape.
In the following insight, professionals from across the insurance and protection space share their perspectives on the question: “How can protection planning help strengthen clients’ financial resilience in today’s environment?” Drawing on practical experience and market knowledge, they highlight approaches advisers can take to structure protection solutions and help clients navigate some of life’s unexpected events.
Holly Hill, Director at John Lamb Hill Oldridge (JLHO), comments:
“Protection planning is too often treated as an afterthought, something to revisit once wealth has been accumulated. In reality, it is the foundation upon which all meaningful financial resilience is built. Without it, even the most sophisticated investment strategy can quickly unravel.
From our perspective, effective protection advice is about far more than product selection. It begins with understanding the client’s vulnerabilities: loss of income, ill health, or premature death. These are not abstract risks; they are real events with immediate and lasting financial consequences for individuals and their families. A well-structured protection portfolio ensures that, when the unexpected happens, financial plans remain intact.
Crucially, the role of the adviser is to translate complex risks into clear, practical solutions. This requires both technical expertise and the ability to engage clients in conversations they may otherwise avoid. When done well, protection planning builds trust and long-term client relationships.
In an environment marked by economic uncertainty and evolving client needs, advisers who prioritise protection are not only safeguarding their clients’ futures, but they are also reinforcing the value of holistic financial advice.
Nigel Bradshaw, Founder of The Interesting Life Company:
“The biggest risk to financial resilience is poor health. Death removes an income. Poor health impacts income, but also long-term expenses: treatments, lifestyle adaptation, and family time devoted to caring.
Financial stress worsens the emotional impact of an accident or illness, but it can be mitigated. Insurance provides money when it’s needed, so clients can concentrate on more important matters.
Question: Who is most likely to suffer from poor health? Answer: those who already have health or lifestyle issues.
Question: How do advisers get themselves match-fit to help such clients? Answer: right attitude, right training, right systems.
Healthy clients are easy to help. More “interesting” clients require a can-do attitude, prioritising holistic advice. This requires a wider breadth and depth of training.
Fortunately, systems can help. It is not necessary to swallow an underwriter’s manual to be able to access in-depth knowledge on medical conditions, ratings and what matters protection. Advisers can just ask ISLA, from The Interesting Life Company. A simple conversation interface gives market ratings, explanations and further questions to ask when an issue is first disclosed. And its support continues through to drafting plain English emails explaining insurer decisions. ISLA can be trialled for free at https://interestinglife.co.uk/isla/.”
Edward Durell, Managing Director at Cover Direct:
“Protection planning is often positioned as a discretionary layer of advice, yet in reality, it underpins a client’s financial resilience.
Today’s environment is not defined by a single shock, but by a gradual tightening of household finances. As fixed-rate mortgages reset into higher-rate deals and real income growth remains constrained, financial headroom is quietly eroding. For many people, this amplifies a simple but critical dependency: the need for income continuity.
What makes this particularly relevant is how differently risk is perceived across life stages. A parent’s concern is rarely abstract – it is whether the mortgage gets paid and their children’s future remains intact. A younger client, by contrast, is often more exposed to income shocks but less engaged, requiring reframing around independence and stability. For those approaching later life, the focus shifts to preserving accumulated wealth and avoiding burdening the next generation.
Protection aligns directly with these concerns. Income protection safeguards earning capacity; while life and critical illness cover stabilise the balance sheet at points of maximum stress.
Crucially, it also supports better financial behaviour. Clients with appropriate protection are more likely to maintain long-term strategies, rather than react defensively.
Ultimately, protection planning converts uncertainty into certainty, ensuring that when life deviates, the financial plan does not. This is the foundation of financial resilience.”
Jamie Page, Head of Protection Distribution, The Exeter:
“For clients feeling the pressure of today’s living costs, it doesn’t take much for finances to feel stretched if something goes wrong. In these moments of uncertainty, protection planning becomes invaluable as it provides a strong line of defence when faced with the worst.
With only 22% of UK adults feeling very confident that their family would be financially secure if the unexpected happened, millions of people are currently exposed. Putting these protection measures in place encourages a more realistic consideration of what life could look like if income did suddenly stop, rather than discovering the impact when it’s too late.
Planning also creates a backstop for cases where savings or state support, including Statutory Sick Pay, don’t quite go far enough. Being able to keep up with bills and day-to-day costs can be the difference between a tough period for individual or family finances and a genuine financial emergency. This preparation allows clients to see that protection can be both relevant and accessible, especially with adviser support to help spot gaps early and find solutions that work within their budget.”
Mike Farrell, LV= Protection Sales and Marketing Director, said:
“Protection, in all its forms, plays a crucial role in building financial resilience, offering a structured way to safeguard income, manage risk and maintain stability when life takes an unexpected turn.
Our Reaching Resilience research reveals half of UK households believe they could manage for only three months without an income, while 48% hold less than £10,000 in savings. This could leave many feeling exposed, with around half saying they would feel more financially resilient if they had a protection policy that could provide a lump sum or income during illness.
This fragility has been shaped over time. Millennials and working families have contended with a global recession, rising housing and rental costs, a pandemic and ongoing geopolitical instability. Meanwhile, access to state support has become more restricted, increasing the need for individuals to take greater control of their own financial safeguards.
Advisers tell us that clients are increasingly recognising the value of strengthening their personal safety net through protection planning. The right cover can help households absorb income shocks, maintain stability and navigate uncertainty with confidence.”
