PMS Mortgage Club has announced it is expanding its Zenith protection panel for directly authorised (DA) firms with the addition of six new providers.

British Friendly, Canada Life, Guardian, Shepherd’s Friendly, The Exeter and Unum will join existing providers on the panel that include Aegon, AIG, Aviva, L&G, LV=, Royal London, Scottish Widows, Vitality and Zurich.

The new panel offers advisers enhanced terms and is backed by support from PMS’s in-house experts, along with the 15 product providers to represent the majority of the UK protection market.
 
The Zenith protection proposition offers advisers and their customers solutions to a range of needs including term assurance, critical illness cover, income protection, family income benefit, private medical insurance, whole of life, relevant life, business protection and group risk.

Bankhall and PMS managing director, Ross Liston, commented: “The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted people’s vulnerabilities – both health-wise and financially. Advisers have a critical role in responding to this increased consumer interest and helping to strengthen their clients’ financial resilience, by having more meaningful protection conversations.

“It’s a double-edged sword for advisers – increased consumer interest on one hand, but with protection products in a state of flux, which in some cases is making it more difficult to place business with confidence. Offering increased provider choice through our new Zenith protection panel provides a greater range of solutions to this potential problem for advisers and their clients.”
 
PMS has also announced the launch of a Fair Value Framework for directly authorised firms, and suggested the move will help advisers to ensure that customers enjoy strong value from the protection and general insurance (GI) products they recommend through the club.
 
Commenting on the launch of the framework, PMS campaigns and propositions director, Jeff Woods, said: “All advisory firms offering protection and GI have a regulatory obligation to undertake product governance to ensure the products they distribute are right for their customers.

“However, some directly authorised firms struggle with this due to limited resources and confusion as to how this can be demonstrated in practice. That’s where PMS is seeking to help, with the launch of our Fair Value Framework.

“Working closely with our provider partners, we will ensure the products available through Zenith are in line with the latest regulatory guidance and offer true, ongoing value to the customer.”

Share Story: