The MorganAsh Resilience System, MARS, utilises health information collected as part of the vulnerability assessment to triage the likely prospects of life, critical illness and income protection. MARS will assess suitability, provide a rating and suggest the best way to proceed – whether it’s online or to pass to a nominated protection specialist.
This information is provided automatically for each consumer, without the user having to input data into any other system. The triage is provided in real time, as soon as any data is entered, with the assessment recalculating automatically if the consumer’s health data changes at any point.
This addition to MARS comes as experts continue to highlight the gap in recommending protection in the mortgage market to protect the loans. Research by investment firm Charles Stanley found that fewer than one-in-four people have life insurance, while only seven per cent have critical illness protection – and seven percent only have income protection.
With Consumer Duty just weeks away, Andrew Gething, managing director of MorganAsh, believes that the advice gap is even more important.
Andrew said: “One of the problems is the fear that brokers have about whether a protracted protection sale and medical issues will interrupt their mortgage transaction – so they have avoided them. This new addition to MARS is designed to help mortgage advisers, and those that don’t do much protection, by prompting suitable products and the best approach for each application. This will ultimately help to increase the level of protection – something that has long been a hot topic – and is really relevant, since Consumer Duty comes into force at the end of the month.
“Everyone within financial services has to assess the vulnerability of all their customers – from credit loans to equity release and defined benefit transfers. This enables the assessment of health, and unprotected assets, for a far wider audience than presently served – and the opportunity to raise the risk of lack of protection as a harm. We see this as a real opportunity to support areas previously underserved.”
The protection triage is just one of multiple next steps - called treatments - suggested in response from vulnerability assessment data. It is part of a full suite of treatments provided within MARS, which users can select in line with their vulnerability strategy and risk appetite.
Each assessment and recommendation is recorded as an integral part of the audit trail, and summated results generate in real time within the tool and monthly management information reports.