iPipeline has reported that 47% of the advisers in the UK who responded to the company’s recent survey say they “strongly agree” that 2024 is shaping up to be a positive year in terms of protection sales growth. This is nearly a 10% increase on a comparative reflection of last year (39%).

Specifically, advisers reported they are most positive this growth is coming from Income Protection (43%), followed by Critical Illness (23%), and Term Assurance (21%).

The research, conducted through iPipeline’s SolutionBuilder portal in May, coincided with Swiss Re’s Term & Health Watch 2024, which was released on 21 May; key statistics from that survey show that although sales of new long-term individual protection policies in 2023 decreased by nearly 6%, according to the 2024 Swiss Re report, new Income Protection policies increased by 10% to 198,566 policies.

Stephanie Hydon, director of client distribution at iPipeline, said: “There does seem to be a growing sense that protection advice is changing for the better and that quality is starting to trump quantity. The move to recommending a better-quality mix of protection solutions could be why we are seeing the growth of Income Protection.

“Our own data also evidences the continued popularity of multi-benefit plans, which accounted for 46% of new policy value applied for through our adviser portals last year, up from 42% in 2022.

“Advisers continue to strive to ensure every customer is properly protected across multiple areas and increased efficiency in providing advice gives them back the most important thing, time; Time to properly engage customers and find the very best option for them, which is time well spent as the data suggests.”