Midwinter to make addition to Reasonable Basis
Midwinter will be introducing a new addition to its insurance module which it claims will provide financial advisers with adequate research on legacy insurance products before they make the decision to switch their clients.
A large amount of older insurance product information is either difficult to find or isn't publicly available, Midwinter managing director Julian Plummer said.
He said in order to meet the reasonable basis for advice rule, it was essential for an adviser to know their client and know the advice they are providing, as well as meeting other product replacement requirements.
"You have to find out what sort of charges are incurred, whether there are any lost benefits or any other significant consequences that are likely to occur - and that's really difficult to get a hold of," Plummer said.
Set for release in late July, Midwinter's addition to the insurance module of its Reasonable Basis solution provides a list of expired policies dating as far back as 1991.
"This allows advisers to compare their client's existing legacy insurance policies against current insurance policies available on the market," he said.
He added that by having access to the module, advisers are able to properly weigh up the cost of replacing a policy versus whether they are appropriately serving a client's needs.
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