Read our interview with Laura Hassall and Kate Whelan, Business Development Consultants at Shepherds Friendly, where we talk all things intermediary – including the success of our recent launch on iPipeline, how the Mutual Advantage benefits you and your clients, and some exciting news about award nominations!

It’s been a busy few months since our last newsletter, what’s been going on at the Society during that time?

KW: Towards the end of 2018 we successfully launched our Income Protection on iPipeline’s Assureweb and Solution Builder platforms, giving us a much wider exposure to lots of new companies we haven’t worked with before, as well as strengthening our presence among those who we work with already.

LH: We also had the exciting news that we’ve been nominated for Best Underwriting Team, Best Claims Team and the Above and Beyond Award in the Cover Customer Care Awards! As a mutual society, everything we do is in the interests of our advisers and members, so to be recognised by Cover for these efforts is really pleasing!

And Laura, having been with us for over a year now, how has your role changed since progressing to Business Development Consultant?

LH: Since progressing to Business Development Consultant I’ve certainly taken on more responsibility within the Business Development Team. I’m on the road a lot more than before, some weeks I can be on the road three or four days which is great as I get to meet a lot of the advisers and brokers that use Shepherds Friendly plans currently, as well as meeting with advisers who haven’t yet heard of us and telling them about the Society and the great plans that we offer.

Please could you give a quick reminder of the benefits of our Income Protection & Over 50s Life Insurance plans?

KW: With regards to Income Protection, our main selling point is that we never rate premiums for any reason, regardless of occupation, smoker status or BMI – meaning we offer a ‘buy it now’ price to clients. We cover 70% of income for the employed and self-employed, and offer a range of additional features such as career breaks of between three- and 24-months preventing commission clawback for you, and Working Person’s Benefit, which tops-up a client’s income if they return to work part-time or on restricted duties. We also offer a two-year payment option, alongside our full-term plan.

LH: Our Over 50s Life Insurance plan offers guaranteed acceptance to all clients aged between 50 and 80, regardless of any medical conditions they may have. They can put away between £10 and £50 per month and can have multiple plans with us providing they don’t exceed the £50 maximum amount. With our Golden Charter funeral benefit option, clients can also receive an additional £300 towards the cost of their funeral.

Finally, what added benefits can we offer to advisers that work with us as opposed to other providers?

KW: Our Mutual Advantage offering means that we work with you to help you grow your business, not treating you as just another number that submits business to us. A key part of this is our claims and underwriting approach. We aim to support you before, during and after you submit a case to us – through pre-underwriting enquiries and our 24-hour case turnaround promise, to on-going support and guidance while your client is in claim.

And we are proud to have one of the highest claims paid rates in the Income Protection market, paying out 95.8% of all claims in 2018, proving the Mutual Advantage works for you and your clients.

If you would like to speak to our Business Development Team for any reason, please call 0161 495 6495 or email [email protected], where a member of the Team will be happy to help.