Events

As every adviser knows, no two clients are the same. All will have very different goals and objectives, and understanding these are key when it comes to successful financial planning. In the context of legacy planning, it is also important to gain a true understanding of client’s individual beliefs, values and aspirations. For some clients, legacy planning may be primarily focused on ensuring that as much of their wealth as possible can be passed on to their loved ones. Others may be looking to use their investment power to make a wider positive change, seeking opportunities to invest in sectors that they know will be improving the world for generations to come. In the context of leaving a legacy, Business Relief investment services can offer a dual benefit. They provide a fast and flexible method of leaving a tax efficient financial legacy to loved ones. They can also provide a direct route to sustainable investment, providing access to sectors such as clean energy generation. This session will take a deep dive into how Business Relief solutions can provide both benefits. The sustainable investment sectors within our Business Relief service will be explained and analysed. The session will also provide the audience with an in-depth understanding of what planning options exist to help protect and maintain a financial legacy for future generations. These include combining Business Relief with trust planning to create a holistic, tax efficient plan that can satisfy the objectives of such clients. Consideration will be given to how financial planners can work effectively with other professional connections when building sustainable, lasting legacies.

FCA Business Interruption Test Case - the judgement This comprehensive and interactive one-hour webinar will focus on the judgement following the FCA’s ground-breaking test case at the High Court. The hearing concluded on 30 July and the judges have agreed to hand down their judgement for mid September. Eight days have been spent analysing countless policy wordings and individual words and their everyday meanings. The FCA consider some 370,000 insureds have had payments denied as insurers have interpreted wordings only to suit themselves and each of the eight insurers’ counsel has presented evidence and argument as to why their interpretation is correct and why the FCA has got this wrong. This case will be momentous and will set clear precedent as to the clarity of wordings and what needs to happen to ensure future cover is clear and understood by all parties. At the same time it will highlight the exposure for insurance brokers all of whom will have arranged these covers for clients (and some will be classed as co-manufacturers under PROD) and encourage them to robustly reassess their advice process under ICOBS and their overriding professional duty to clients thus ensuring their own professional indemnity costs remain reasonable (clearly not knowing how the case will go at this stage!).

‘If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you. If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, then yours is the hard insurance market and all the distressed clients within in it.’ (an insurance version of Rudyard Kipling). There have been hard markets before, there have been recessions before, but never have the two emerged with such force at the same time. Policyholders desperate for savings will be receiving the unwelcome news of significant premium increases. The door of client inertia will be swung wide open, presenting fantastic new business opportunities, as well as offering serious threats to renewal books.

We know pretty much the whole market will apply some sort of pandemic exclusion for pandemics/covid-19 or more worryingly the words communicable diseases will be used, this starts bringing all sorts of extra scenarios that will be excluded for clients. Importantly, this will be for liability as well as property and Bi and could leave a policyholder with a lawsuit that is not covered by their insurance policy. How exclusions are worded will be incredibly significant, with some proposed wordings being very scary indeed. An example being 'losses whether caused directly or indirectly by communicable diseases are excluded' - this does not look too scary, but it is! if a fire engine is delayed getting to a fire because the part time crew were in pandemic lock down then this loss may not be covered, the disease does not have to be the proximate cause with this proposed wording. All insurance staff need to understand the law relating to exclusions. This webinar will take delegates on a plain English walk on how the law applies to policy exclusions and proximate cause, so that they can explain to clients clearly and confidently the implications of the differing communicable disease exclusions that will be applied to your policyholders wordings. This webinar is suitable for brokers, underwriters, claims staff and loss adjusters.