If you had a 1 in 10 chance of winning, would you buy a lottery ticket?
Most people would think of it as a simple decision – make a small outlay to get life-changing rewards.
Even though the odds of needing protection insurance are just as high, if not higher, many customers remain hesitant. This is a paradox that the industry has been having to grapple with. People happily spend money chasing unlikely dreams, but often fail to protect against risks that could truly upend their lives.
Customer psychology
At the heart of the matter is psychology. Clients underestimate the likelihood of serious illness, death, or loss of income, but often overestimate their ability to recover.
The first is optimism, “This isn’t going to happen to me.” There’s also the idea that paying premiums today for benefits that may not be realized in a few years is abstract and intangible. So it’s easy to understand why conservation still faces resistance.
Comparisons help change customers’ perceptions of risk
But the numbers are grim. Take, for example, a non-smoker in his 40s. Before the age of 65, they face:
- One in 10 chance of not being able to work for six months or more
- The chance of serious illness or death is nearly 1 in 10
- The chance of dying before retirement is one in three.
In comparison, the odds of winning the EuroMillions jackpot are just one in 140 million. Yet lotteries capture people’s imaginations, while protections struggle to break through.
Despite £5.32 billion being paid out in pure protection claims in 2024 (according to the Association of British Insurers and GRiD), too many households are still uninsured. Ongoing market research by the Financial Conduct Authority highlights how wide the gap remains.
Make risk a reality
A recent positive development is the rise of online tools designed to help advisors bring risk to life. Zurich’s Risk Reality Calculator, launched in July, is the latest example. It creates customized reports that show an individual’s likelihood of illness, death, or loss of income.
Advisors can refocus the conversation from covering the mortgage to protecting the impact of debt
Delay times can be customized, and the tool can also consider children, broadening the conversation beyond just the breadwinner.
The real value is turning abstract percentages into personalized scenarios and turning the “it won’t happen to me” mentality into something more difficult to ignore.
LV= has also long provided a calculator to support these conversations. For advisors, they provide more than just numbers and can help illustrate why conservation matters and resonate with real life.
human terms
Advisors need to have conversations that are immediate and relevant. Protection should not be sold as a product, but as a way to maintain one’s lifestyle when the worst happens.
Rather than just focusing on clearing your mortgage debt, ask what would happen if your income stopped for six months and what bills would still need to be paid. Which lifestyle elements are considered essential and which are optional?
A recent positive development is the rise of online tools designed to help advisors bring risk to life
For a family, satellite television may be a dispensable luxury. Watching sports channels, on the other hand, may be strongly associated with happiness. The consultant’s role is to listen and reflect what is important to the client.
Starting with a broad understanding of the policy that your client may ideally need will allow for refinement based on budget and priorities. It’s a process of sifting out the essentials from the extras and ensuring that when compromises are necessary, what’s truly important is still protected.
cost issue
Cost is a common objection, but comparison can help change perspectives. Customers may not hesitate to spend £20 or £30 a month on streaming services, a night out or a takeaway coffee. But the potential to maintain a lifestyle and have a roof over your head can suddenly make the same conservation spending take on a very different weight.
Exploring which bills might not be paid without income can make the consequences concrete, moving away from assumptions and into everyday reality.
People happily spend money chasing impossible dreams, but often fail to guard against the risks that could truly upend their lives
Advisors have a vital role to play by having the tools, statistics and real-life stories to counter skepticism, but success depends on how these are presented.
Online tools help make risks more tangible and can provide advisors with better ways to illustrate true probabilities. However, advisors can reframe the conversation from paying the mortgage to protecting what the debt comes with, namely the family home and lifestyle they built.
Chloe Davies is Head of Assurance Distribution at L&C Mortgages
This article appears in the October 2025 edition Mortgage strategy.
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