Five ways an insurance adviser can help secure your financial future

Five ways an insurance adviser can help secure your financial future

Traditionally, an insurance adviser may have been seen as the ‘middleman’. Often, they were regarded as a type of salesperson, primarily selling clients insurance policies to provide cover on their properties and possessions, as well as assisting them with the claims process. However, in today’s rapidly evolving world, advisers are increasingly called upon to be more than just product specialists. Instead, advisers are now fully entrenching themselves as valuable partners with a unique and an agile understanding of their clients’ risks. As the nature and level of risk continues to change throughout a client’s lifetime, advisers play an important role in helping clients mitigate new and emerging risks. They also assist clients with planning to help mitigate losses and ultimately ensure that clients maintain optimal financial health, by selecting the right kind of cover and adopting sound risk management strategies.

1. The right amount and level of cover as your life changes
   Ensuring that insurance policies remain relevant to the lifestyles and changing needs of clients as their lives progress, is one area where advisers can make a real impact and add immense value.
   
   For example, the insurance needs of a household that includes children will change as those children leave school to attend university or move out to live on their own. At this point, a motor vehicle insurance policy may need to be adjusted to reflect the change in primary driver, which may lead to changes in a client’s monthly premium.
   
   Building client relationships that encourage regular, open conversations enables an adviser to provide clients with the most appropriate advice, including how they can tailor their insurance policies as their lives change over the years.
   
   
2. Information on industry developments
   Another key benefit of maintaining a close relationship with your adviser is gaining access to the most up-to-date information on how developments in the social, economic, geographical and technological landscapes will affect the level and nature of the cover you need.
   
   A key example of this is the dramatic upsurge in cybercrime – particularly in South Africa, which has earned a reputation as one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to opportunistic cybercrime.
   
   Part of an adviser’s role is to keep abreast of these types of developments and to communicate changes and risks to their clients. For business owners who need to invest in cyber insurance, for example, their adviser could serve as a crucial source of information and insights on risks that may otherwise not be top of mind.
   
   
3. Expert assistance during the claims process
   The role of advisers is also immensely valuable during the claims process. Equipped with a comprehensive history of their clients’ policies, advisers are in the best position to assist clients in lodging claims correctly, where necessary helping them to collate documents to be submitted, and navigating the claims process. Advisers can also help streamlining the claims process, ensuring that payouts are made timeously and that any disputes are filed and dealt with as efficiently as possible.
   
   
4. An in-depth understanding of your role in protecting your assets
   Policies contain specific clauses stipulating terms and conditions to be met in the event of a claim. For example, clients who have taken out insurance against theft or burglaries will need to ensure that their security systems (such as electric fences) remain fully operational during load shedding. Helping clients to ensure that their responsibilities are met, is a key area where advisers can provide practical tools and insights.
   
   
5. Support in maintaining financial wellness
   Advisers play a significant role in helping their clients attain optimal financial wellbeing, with insurance serving as the most effective risk mitigation measure clients can implement to safeguard their assets. Insurance is also an essential tool to help clients prepare for the unforeseen. Having adequate cover will provide much-needed peace of mind and is one of the key components of sound financial management, protecting your personal wealth as well as the financial future of your business.
   
   In many cases, and for many clients, advisers provide a service that may span a number of generations, helping individuals and families protect the assets they accumulate over their lifetimes. Therefore, clients would be well advised to keep their advisers in the loop when major life changes occur.
   
   Advisers have a wealth of experience and expertise across many different types of portfolios. Their unique and extensive knowledge is an invaluable tool that clients are encouraged to rely on and utilise.