iPipeline reports 31 per cent increase in new business protection applications

26 September 2017

iPipeline® – a leading provider of next-generation solutions and services to the life and pensions market – has announced their latest new business figures. The firm reported a 31 per cent increase in the number of completed new business protection applications in H1 2017, based on provider supplied data, as compared to H1 2016. The number of unique clients receiving quotes increased by 23 per cent, with comparison requests increasing by 34 per cent.

iPipeline’s SolutionBuilder – the research, quote and application solution for advisers – continues to attract record numbers of users requesting quotes, with Q2 2017 seeing the highest number of users per quarter since the company began. The latest results for August 2017 show that iPipeline new business is up 39 per cent compared to August 2016, which was highly impressive for the ‘holiday season’. So, the indicators for our market continue to be positive.

Income Protection continues to perform robustly and Level Term activity grew strongly in Q2 2017. Across all protection products, premiums averaged £45 per month.

Growth in multi-benefit plans, having increased significantly from 3 per cent of protection transactions in July 2015 to over 12 per cent in March 2017, has now levelled off and accounts for a consistent 12 per cent of total new business applications.

Chris Carter, Divisional Manager, Newcastle Financial Advisers says: “It’s always good to hear data that suggests protection sales are on the rise. One of the keys to increasing the uptake of protection products is making the solution relevant for each client’s situation. Technology allows the flexibility to tailor a quote to very specific needs and circumstances for each client, which often involves a range of products and multiple purchases. Tools like SolutionBuilder will continue to play an important role in making protection sales easier.”

Ian Teague, Managing Director at iPipeline said: “We’re engaged with many adviser businesses, working with them to grow protection opportunities and the outcomes are astounding. The results for the first half of the year indicate that our customers’ protection volumes are moving in the right direction. Our 39 per cent increase in business during August is a very positive indicator of continued growth. Most of this growth comes from existing clients gaining the business benefits of moving from Assureweb to SolutionBuilder.”

“Our protection sourcing tool, SolutionBuilder, is forever evolving, enabling advisers to rethink how they engage with their clients and their protection needs. We believe this is a major part of why our business figures are strong and we’re very pleased that it means more advisers are being helped to sell protection and more clients are gaining quality cover. We’re continually innovating and will be announcing new capability in Q4 that will support our customers to better serve their clients and further increase protection volumes.”