Guardian

What sets Guardian apart is that they came into a mature market and led with product quality where most compete on price. They pushed the bar up on critical illness cover in particular, which is where it matters most, because CI is the area where the differences between insurers actually show up when a client comes to claim. They've kept innovating too, adding services around the core policy and continuing to develop it, and it's clear they're still focused on improving into next year. That's why brokers rate them. When you're placing cover that only really matters at the worst moment of someone's life, the strength of the definitions and the claims experience is what counts, far more than the headline premium. Guardian built their whole proposition around that and have stayed consistent on it. Protection is a big part of what we do, and they're a name we're confident with.

Guardian has done a good job of building features around what actually happens when somebody needs to claim, rather than just competing on headline price. Keeping each person's cover separate on a dual-life policy is a good example, because one partner claiming doesn't automatically remove the other's protection. Premium waiver and the ability to direct life payouts outside the estate are practical features clients can understand the value of. We do place business with Guardian where it suits the client, but like any insurer it still comes down to the individual's needs, underwriting and budget.

question for management: Protection products keep becoming more feature-rich. How do you make sure innovation genuinely improves outcomes for clients rather than simply making policies harder for consumers and advisers to compare?

The main benefit of Guardian is the quality of their Critical Illness Cover:

• Cover Upgrade Promise – Guardian keeps your cover updated with future improvements to their definitions. For example, Major Organ Transplant now includes certain animal & synthetic organs, not just human organs. This could be vital as medicine develops over the next 10–20+ years.
• Cancer – Extremely broad definition, covering cancers where malignant cells are identified, without requiring a particular severity.
• Heart attack/stroke – Focuses on the medical diagnosis rather than requiring specific scan results or enzyme levels.

Other benefits:
• Waiver of Premium included automatically, with additional cover for maternity/paternity and redundancy.
• HALO – a dedicated claims handler supports you throughout a claim.
• Terminal illness benefit - Includes Stage 4 cancer, regardless of life expectancy.

Overall, Guardian focuses on quality and future-proofing, rather than simply being the cheapest option.

Guardian comes up regularly when I arrange protection because they seem to design products around the problems advisers actually encounter rather than simply adding another condition to a brochure. The underwriting journey is a big part of it. Being able to get a meaningful indication before submitting a case saves enormous amounts of adviser and client frustration, particularly where there is medical history. I also like the thinking behind dual life rather than traditional joint life, Premium Waiver being built in, Payout Planner and the Cover Upgrade Promise. Those are practical features clients can actually benefit from rather than marketing decoration. Their claims philosophy also interests me. If a provider is genuinely broadening definitions so people receive money when they need it, that matters far more than being £2 cheaper a month. They are not automatically right for every client, but they are regularly part of my research because there is substance behind the proposition.