What's on the menu?

Kimberley Dondo   00:00 - 00:37 
Welcome to Money Talks in association with Royal London. In this episode, we will explore the practical power of menu plans in modern protection advice. Moving away from off-the-shelf single products, multi-benefit plans allow advisers to build truly bespoke budget-friendly portfolios that adapt as a client's life evolves. Joining us today to unpack the benefits for both clients and advisers, we have Shelley Read from Royal London. Thank you for joining me, Shelley. 
 
Shelley Read   00:38 – 00:43 
You're welcome. I'm looking forward to chatting about menu. It's something that I'm very passionate about. 
 
Kimberley Dondo   00:44 – 00:55 
And as you said, you are passionate about menu plans, but for our listeners who might not be quite sure what that is, what do we mean by menu plans? 
 
Shelley Read   00:56 – 01:59 
So, menu based protection, or I think you referred to it a little earlier just in your introduction, we sometimes call it a multi-benefit plan. They do offer a very flexible and also cost-effective way to really secure real robust cover, I think. And it allows individuals or families to mix and match protection plans for different, it can be for the different life assured, different amounts and also different terms. And I think one of the most important aspects of a menu approach is that they're really flexible, they can adapt to changing circumstances and just continue to provide that peace of mind. And each cover within a menu plan can be increased or decreased or even cancelled if that's what's needed at any time during the life of that plan. So, I think flexibility and providing covers for many more eventualities than just a basic life cover. 
 
Kimberley Dondo   02:00 – 02:06 
Right. So, what protection products can be introduced or included in a menu plan? 
 
Shelley Read   02:07 – 02:37 
Yeah, so they can include a broad range of covers dependent on obviously what the customer needs, but you can include life cover, critical illness, income protection, and even monthly-based family income benefit. They can all be included under one plan. Most protection plans, modern protection plans, allow you to add quite a few different covers, maybe even up to ten different covers, all within one menu plan. 
 
Kimberley Dondo   02:38 – 02:54 
Yeah, and that's something that's starting to make more and more sense to me personally, as I've just purchased a home and you realise the amount of things that you need to add together. So having that beneficial kind of multi-benefit plan makes sense, I think. 
 
Shelley Read   02:55 – 02:56 
Yeah. It does, it does. 
 
Kimberley Dondo   02:57 – 03:00 
So what are the advantages for customers? 
 
Shelley Read   03:01 – 04:06 
So personally, I think it moves the conversation away from the adviser saying, here's a policy I think you should have to the advisers or just saying, here are the risks you face and we can look to protect them, so let's decide what matters most to you. So it puts the customer back in control they can see the different protection needs and make those choices. And I think you were just saying it can be quite complicated. And I think a menu plan makes protection easier to understand. So life cover, critical illness, income protection, family income benefit - it can feel quite complicated, but a menu, I think, separates them into clear choices. And it will then help the customer to prioritise needs. So it helps them, I think, to think about what would really test their financial resilience. And then the adviser can look at a protection solution to those. 
 
Kimberley Dondo   04:07 – 04:18 
So there's also the consideration of budget. So budget is an important consideration in this, right? 
 
Shelley Read   04:19 – 05:23 
Of course. It is definitely. And as I said right at the beginning, I think menu allows a cost-effective way to get as much cover that is possible within a client's budget. And I think when they look at their budget, then they can choose the essentials first and then add what their budget allows. And then going forward, if there are any gaps that budget is restricting, I think it makes it a bit easier to revisit at hopefully ongoing reviews. 

And again, outside those reviews, a menu plan, as we've said, can easily adjust to major life events such as, oh, I don't know, like getting married, getting divorced, moving house, maybe even having a new baby. And I think the message is that overall, within budget, having a small amount of each cover is generally better than having none at all because it will provide a sort of safety net for even more scenarios. 
 
Kimberley Dondo   05:24 – 05:32 
Right. So we've already talked about the advantages for the customer, but what are the advantages for the adviser? 
 
Shelley Read   05:33 – 08:03 
So I think having worked with advisers for many, many years now on the protection side, a really robust, well-designed menu plan, I think, can support advisers in meeting their Consumer Duty responsibilities because it helps demonstrate that the advice process is centre and it concentrates on customer needs and outcomes rather than looking just at a particular product. Sometimes we sort of call this the four Rs. So, if we look at risk, I think first of all, the menu plan allows the adviser to recommend solutions that provide some level of protection and also looks at individual needs and budgets. So, it enables the adviser to manage risk where it's needed most. And as we've said, gives multiple opportunities to make a claim. 

The other, the next ‘R’ is revenue that we tend to look at. And again, by mixing and matching covers to create a solution that fits your client's circumstances, I think means the adviser can offer more solutions to more clients. And obviously, that's going to create more income for the adviser's business.  

Retention, this is probably, I think, one of the most important ones for me. I think building a bespoke solution makes advice harder to copy. And I think a plan where flexibility is talked about at outset so clients know that it can change as their job, their family, their housing, their career evolve, helps to avoid lapses of those policies and hopefully to create future advice opportunities. And the final one, Kim, in my 4Rs, is reputation. And I think, unfortunately, if a client does have to make a claim, then the real value of the advice pays off. And additions such as added-value support services that come with most modern protection plans now, things such as access to a GP 24/7, will also enhance the adviser's reputation. 
 
Kimberley Dondo   08:03 – 08:25 
Right. And those are all great examples of good advantages for the adviser, but we all know that there are some advisers that are a little bit more stuck in their ways potentially, or they just have the route that they always took. So, what would you say to those advisers who still advise a more traditional approach? 
 
Shelley Read   08:26 – 09:57 
Yeah. Yeah, I think I would say, I think we're all aware there's never ever been a more important time to demonstrate value and quality of your advice. And I do, hopefully you can see, I do really believe that moving the conversation away from individual products being more customer-led becomes much more engaging. And it's so much easier for someone who's not in our industry to see what each cover does. For example, this part of the menu plan protects your mortgage, this protects your income, this protects your children. So, each element of the plan has a really clear purpose. And remember, I'm not saying that a menu approach, it doesn't mean you've got to recommend everything. It means making sure that the customer has had the opportunity to consider anything that might be relevant. And I know that in an ideal world, everyone would like to afford as much protection cover as they need. But I think I like to think of it as discuss, then prioritise. You might want to defer some things or you might even want to decline. And I think if advisers can have this in their head, then we are going to get better outcomes for our customers. 
 
Kimberley Dondo   09:58 – 10:19 
Yeah, no, I think, yeah, having dealt with that approach myself after purchasing this home, there are certain things where I was like, oh, I would want that, but right now I'll have to defer. So, it makes sense to do that. And finally, what tools are available to help these conversations? 
 
Shelley Read   10:19 – 11:29 
Well, Royal London, like most modern protection providers, offer a wide range of tools to help advisers have really engaging menu plan conversations. So as a starting point, things like a risk report, I think can help advisers explain why income protection or critical illness are often even more important than life insurance by showing personalised percentage risks of the worst happening, of dying prematurely, of being diagnosed with a critical illness, or even for something less sinister but still having to take some time off work. And other tools, such as tools that show the value of a menu plan. It can demonstrate the difference between a traditional protection approach and the value of menu solution, and it will compare premiums and also the types of cover and the amount of opportunities to claim under that one menu plan. 
 
Kimberley Dondo   11:30 – 11:38 
Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Shelley, for speaking with me about this. It clearly is something you're quite passionate about, and I understand why. 
 
Shelley Read   11:38 – 11:58 
You're welcome. Absolutely, I think it's like a real key part of advisers' recommendations and I do, as you've seen, I think it does make it easier for the adviser and much more easy for the customer to understand. 
 
Kimberley Dondo   11:59 – 12:24 
Yeah. So for our listeners, if you want to explore the risk reports tools and sales aids mentioned in today's conversation, please head over to our show notes and our description for further resources from Royal London and make sure to subscribe to listen to more of our Money Talks podcasts and we will see you in the next episode.