The UK protection market has seen a buoyant start to the year, with new data from iPipeline revealing marked growth in both sales and sentiment.

The digital solutions provider’s latest figures show the Annual Premium Equivalent (APE) for the first quarter of 2025 rose by 17% compared to the same period last year, with overall new business volumes also increasing by 4%.

A significant driver of this growth was a sharp increase in the “other” types of cover, where APE volumes rose by 77% year-on-year. Most notably, underwritten Whole of Life policies surged by 92% in the first quarter, a trend likely linked to a growing focus on inheritance tax planning.

Outside of this standout growth area, more conventional products also performed well. Level or decreasing life cover recorded a 16% rise in APE, while multi-benefit products climbed by 10%. Both critical illness and income protection posted modest but positive growth of 4% each.

ADVISER CONFIDENCE

Encouragingly for the industry, the rise in business volumes appears to be accompanied by a broader upswing in adviser confidence. iPipeline’s latest sentiment survey of advisers found an average optimism score of 7.8 out of 10 in March 2025, up from 7.3 in September 2024. Confidence in regulatory alignment with consumer needs also improved, with scores increasing from 6.8 to 7.3 over the same period.

Perhaps most notably, advisers are now significantly more likely to see themselves remaining in the protection space in the long term. When asked whether they believed they would still be protection advisers in five years’ time, the average score rose from 6.9 to 7.9, reflecting a growing sense of stability and purpose in the profession.

Paul Yates, product strategy director at iPipeline, said: “There has been a positive mood in the protection market in the first quarter of 2025, and these figures back up that sentiment. It’s encouraging to see all indicators pointing in the right direction, reflecting the growing awareness around the need for financial protection, particularly among younger adults.

“Given the uncertain nature of the world economy and rise in stamp duty, it will be very interesting to see if these increases continue into Q2 and beyond.”

Tom Conner, strategy development director at Dewberry Insurance, added: “Following a strong 2024 for protection sales, it does feel like the momentum in the market is carrying on into this year. The last few years have shown people that anyone can be vulnerable to illness and the importance of becoming more financially resilient.

“It does feel like clients are more open to conversations around protection and securing the things they have worked so hard to achieve. Hopefully, this sense of optimism will continue for the rest of the year and beyond.”