{"id":27983,"date":"2014-11-11T19:40:18","date_gmt":"2014-11-11T08:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/?p=27983"},"modified":"2014-11-25T20:09:47","modified_gmt":"2014-11-25T09:09:47","slug":"product-complexity-a-part-of-the-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/2014\/11\/11\/product-complexity-a-part-of-the-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Product Complexity a Part of the Problem?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"polls-131\" class=\"wp-polls\">\n\t\t<div class=\"pollHeader\"><strong>The growing complexity of retail life insurance products creates more problems than it solves<\/strong><\/div><div id=\"polls-131-ans\" class=\"wp-polls-ans\"><ul class=\"wp-polls-ul\">\n\t\t<li>Agree <small>(73%)<\/small><div class=\"pollbar\" style=\"width: 73%\" title=\"Agree (73% | 88 Votes)\"><\/div><\/li>\n\t\t<li>Disagree <small>(24%)<\/small><div class=\"pollbar\" style=\"width: 24%\" title=\"Disagree (24% | 29 Votes)\"><\/div><\/li>\n\t\t<li>Not sure <small>(3%)<\/small><div class=\"pollbar\" style=\"width: 3%\" title=\"Not sure (3% | 3 Votes)\"><\/div><\/li>\n\t\t<\/ul><div style=\"text-align: center\"><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" id=\"poll_131_nonce\" name=\"wp-polls-nonce\" value=\"dfa0aab086\" \/>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>Our latest poll asks whether you believe the complexity associated with many of today&#8217;s retail life insurance products is doing more harm than good.<\/p>\n<p><!--more-->Consumers in 2014 are being offered an ever-increasing array of choice when it comes to life insurance products. This includes the expanding direct insurance market and the increasing availability of retail-style policy features within the group insurance sector.<\/p>\n<p>Within the retail life insurance market, advisers see the constant upgrading of risk products as both a blessing and a curse: a blessing because product upgrades offer new solutions for clients and prospective clients; a curse because of the growing complexity involved in the adviser&#8217;s assessment of whether it is in the best interests of their client to move to the new product, if the enhanced features are not automatically passed back to existing policy holders.<\/p>\n<p>A key argument supporting the growing complexity of retail life insurance products is that they can offer better solutions for consumers. Examples include the ability to link products both inside and outside superannuation in order to optimise tax-deductible premiums while retaining more flexible benefit options outside the super environment. Constant medical diagnosis and treatment advancements also lead to new ways of delivering product solutions, including updating trauma insurance features and benefits.<\/p>\n<p>The argument against such progress is that more complex products, by their very nature, make it more difficult for both adviser and client to navigate their way to the most appropriate outcome. It becomes more difficult to determine exactly what options ultimately serve the client\u2019s best interests.<\/p>\n<p>And while free market forces encourage innovation, advisers sometimes view product enhancements simply as life companies engaging in \u2018one-upmanship\u2019, rather than truly delivering a better solution (eg introducing more \u2018exotic\u2019 trauma conditions under which a future claim may be possible).<\/p>\n<p>While our poll question itself may be a little simplistic, that is, this is not a black and white, yes or no issue, its purpose is to generate a conversation about the pros and cons associated with the evolution of more complex retail life insurance product solutions.<\/p>\n<p>The issue of product complexity is discussed in some detail in our most recently-published industry round table feature (see: <a href=\"http:\/\/magazine.riskinfo.com.au\/17\/the-age-of-the-consumer-bt-thought-leadership-round-table\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Age of the Consumer: BT Thought Leadership Round Table<\/a>). Complexity issues also exist within the claims and underwriting environment, and we will address this type of complexity in another conversation.<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, where are you placed when it comes to embracing the seemingly growing complexity of life insurance products? Do the perceived benefits outweigh the perceived disadvantages? Should life companies consider offering more \u2018back-to-basics\u2019 product solutions within the retail advice market? How should the industry move forward when it comes to developing new product solutions for consumers? Tell us what you think\u2026<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our latest poll asks whether you believe the complexity associated with many of today&#8217;s retail life insurance products is doing more harm than good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,49,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-general","category-polls","category-products"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27983\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}