Simplification is regarded by many as part of the solution to poor take-up rates of protection products. The recent Chartered Insurance Institute report, Building Resilient Households, states possible changes to the way products are designed and underwritten may be a significant influence.
So how are critical illness insurance providers responding to the need for simple and affordable products when this area can be highly complex and expensive? And can the simplification process only work if the products themselves are simple?
For product providers, the result is a trade-off between the simplicity required by consumers and the complexity that comes with the flexibility they want to give advisers.